The original root of this is the middle english word crack meaning entertaining. Georgiacracker dictionary definition georgiacracker defined. Cracker the white man with the whip chancellorfiles. The first settlers in what is now the state of georgia came in waggons, and used long whips that they cracked over the heads of the animals dragging the waggons. One theory is that the team was named after local farmers who cracked whips over oxen and horses.
Its usage is similar in meaning to cracker especially regarding texas, georgia, and florida, hillbilly especially regarding appalachia and the ozarks, and white trash but without the last terms. Usage of the term cracker generally differs from hick and hillbilly because crackers reject or resist assimilation into the dominant culture, while hicks and. Cracker, the old standby of anglo insults was first noted in the mid 18th century, making it older than the united states itself. The crack sound from their bull whips led to the term geogia crackers. Coalcracker is from 1853 of persons, 1857 of machinery that breaks up mined coal. Georgias now a rising star among the feminizations of george, helped by associations with the southern state named for british king geogre ii and painter georgia okeeffe, with the ray charles song georgia on my mind or maybe sweet georgia brown playing. And, by the 1800s, the name cracker wasnt used to describe only impoverished settlers. The term cracker was in use during elizabethan times to describe braggarts.
With a single phrase, rachel jeantel, that friend of trayvon martins, may have lit a fuse in the trial of his accused killer. Crackers meaning in the cambridge english dictionary. At the same time, curiously, many plead ignorance when asked about the meaning of that statement. The meaning of the word has changed a lot over the last four. Crackers definition of crackers by the free dictionary. But this theory doesnt answer the question of how the word got applied almost exclusively to folks in rural areas of south georgia and florida. Jul 18, 2019 cracker barrel has dotted the sides of u.
Dec 31, 2006 the term cracker was and is used most frequently in the southern u. The term cracker was in use during the elizabethan era to describe braggarts. Its usage is similar in meaning to cracker especially regarding texas, georgia, and florida, hillbilly especially regarding appalachia and the ozarks, and white trash but without the last terms suggestions of immorality. There are several other compounds besidescorn cracker associated with the word cracker. The term cracker originated in england, it was used to describe a person was a braggart or who told jokes. The term cracker was in use during elizabethan times to describe braggarts who liked to boast. Lured to florida by cheap and plentiful land, these pioneers arrived with few provisions and needed to erect shelter quickly and cheaply. The meaning of the word has changed a lot over the last four centuries, said dana ste. Cracker the white man and the whip, the origin of why white people are called crackers. As it turns out, in the area in which rachel jeantel was raised, the word cracker isnt a racial slur at all, but rather, a proud nod to the regions history, and ones own ancestry. The atlanta black crackers were founded as the atlanta cubs as a semiprofessional team of black college students. Cracker meaning in the cambridge english dictionary. Since the corn kernel had to be cracked in order for fermentation to occur, the term cracker was used to describe those who made corn liquor in georgia. The term cracker cracka is used as an ethnic or racial slur for americans of european descent, but more specifically for americans of.
Cracker style in its simplest form, a cracker house is a wooden shelter built by the early florida and georgia settlers. Meaning instrument for crushing or cracking is from 1630s. An original colonizer of the state of the american state of georgia, or one of their descendants. Georgia used as a nickname meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples.
Cracker barrel old country stores serve, or offer to serve, persons who are interstate travelers. The name georgia is a girls name of english origin meaning farmer georgia is so rich, lush and luscious, its almost irresistible. They began to play independently in 1919 and changed their name to the black crackers because fans had already begun to call them by that name. Cracker definition of cracker by the free dictionary. This is where the expression crack a joke originated. Cracker barrel old country stores affect commerce within the meaning of 42 u. How did the slang term cracker come about to mean white. It will consist of 5 different skill games such as crosswords.
What is the origin of the term cracker as it refers to. Another theory is that the name originated from the citys previous team, the firecrackers. They were known as the group that put hawkinsville, georgia on the map. The cracker term was soon associated with the descendants of these early settlers, especially the cowboys and farmers of georgia and florida. A thin crisp wafer or biscuit, usually made of unsweetened dough.
When used in this sense, a cracker is somebody who cant afford any other food. The publishers of the georgia crackers song folio no. The early scotsirish settlers were mostly presbyterian, baptist and methodist. Georgia cracker refers to the original american pioneer settlers of the province of georgia later, the state of georgia, and their descendants. She says it means simple folks who can only afford to eat crackers. Jan 16, 2007 the area of southeast georgia, and north centralflorida are most closely associated with word. All the way back to the age of shakespeare, at least. Cracker, sometimes white cracker, is a slur used against white people, used especially against poor rural whites in the southern united states. It was used to refer to poor whites, particularly those inhabiting the frontier regions of maryland, virginia and georgia. Cracker was once a derogatory term for a poor white southerner, but it was also used to denote someone quick and efficient at any task. According to some, cracker is short for corn cracker, which was a name fora southern highlander in the nineteenth century allen, 50. Known to be very selfsufficient by growing or hunting their own food and building their own homes.
Moonshining, the illegal distilling of corn liquor, became rampant. My grandmother from georgia openly refers to herself and other white southerners as crackers, and sometimes adds a state as in georgia cracker or florida cracker. Where does the term cracker come from, and how disparaging. The term cracker was and is used most frequently in the southern u.
Redneck is a derogatory term chiefly but not exclusively applied to white americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the southern united states. Georgiacracker dictionary definition georgiacracker. What is the origin of cracker as an ethnic slur for. It implies a person who lives in the utmost worst conditions and a person who no one really cares about.
Cracker means something entirely different in florida. Georgia has also been known as the buzzard state from laws georgia introduced to protect buzzards. The latter explanation makes sense, because in piney. The cracker state definition and meaning collins english. In on the origin of species, charles darwin quotes a professor wyman as. Coastal georgia was settled largely by descendants of scottish and irish extraction, and the term cracker was used to describe a braggart or a wise cracker. Mencken wrote, one school holds that many of the early crackers were teamsters and. Where does the term cracker come from, and how disparaging is it. The term cracker is derived from the gaelic craic, meaning entertaining conversation or boasting, with the latter sense still attested in the idiom not all its cracked up to be. People of color for example african indentures and slaves and men of property repeated what they heard from white male elites and wrongly white historians racialized it. Today, cracker is often used as a derogatory term for a white person for obvious reasons. Cracker state definition and meaning collins english. Cracker state definition and meaning collins english dictionary.
How did the slang term cracker come about to mean white people. The original root of this is the middle english word crack, meaning entertaining conversation as one may be said to crack a joke. Georgia cracker refers to the original american pioneer settlers of the province of georgia later, the state of georgia, and their descendants in the late 19th century and the early part of the 20th century, georgia ranchers came to be known as georgia crackers by floridians when they drove their cattle down into the grassy flatlands of central florida to graze in the winter, stopping. The epithet cracker has been applied in a derogatory way, like redneck, to rural, nonelite white southerners, more specifically to those of south georgia and north florida.
I should explain to your lordship what is meant by crackers. The origin of the term as epithet is a matter of dispute. Crack definition is to make a very sharp explosive sound. Georgia has also been known as the buzzard state from. Cracker conveys history of bigotry that still resonates. It is documented in william shakespeares king john act ii. What is the origin of the term georgia cracker answers. But it turns out crackers roots go back even further than the 17th century. A term in southeastern united states english to describe poor white trash, derived from the scottish meaning of the verb to crack, which, in this sense denotes ostentation. The english meaning of cracker as a braggart appears by elizabethan times, as, for example, in shakespeares king john 1595.
When oglethorpe founded the colony of georgia, alcohol was prohibited. They got their start in music when they saved up some money from a good tobacco crop and got themselves a mail order guitar. The atlanta black crackers originally known as the atlanta cubs and later briefly the indianapolis abcs were a professional negro league baseball team which played during the earlytomid20th century. It is ulster gaelic and scots gaelic creachadair word meaning, raider and freebooter, but also associated with the free range cattle drovers in ulster. Folk etymology claims the term originated either from their cracking, or pounding, of corn rather than taking it to mill, or from their use of whips to drive cattle.
Cracker barrel in georgia ga cracker barrel locations. A native to the state of georgia whose family has lived out in more rural parts of the state for many generations and continues to do so. Jul 01, 20 but it turns out cracker s roots go back even further than the 17th century. This is the word i believe is the actual origin of cracker. Many georgians were proud to call themselves georgia crackers who took. Coal cracker is from 1853 of persons, 1857 of machinery that breaks up mined coal. The 1911 edition of the encyclopedia britannica, notes that cracker is a term of contempt for the poor or mean whites, particularly of georgia and florida. Britannica notes that this usage of the term dates back to the american revolution, and is derived from the cracked corn which formed their staple food. Information and translations of florida cracker in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. Particularly are they uncertain about that term cracker.