Honky

Honky (also spelled honkie or sometimes honkey) is mainly a derogatory word for white people, predominantly heard in the United States. The first recorded use of honky in this context may date back to 1946, although the use of "Honky Tonk" occurred in films well before that time. The exact origins of the word are generally unknown and postulations about the subject vary.

Possible meanings, origins and uses

Honky may be a variant of hunky, which was a deviation of Bohunk, a slur for Bohemian-Hungarian immigrants in the early 1900s. Honky may have come from coal miners in Oak Hill, West Virginia. The miners were segregated; blacks in one section, whites in another. Foreigners who could not speak English, mostly from Europe, were separated from both groups into an area known as "Hunk Hill". These male laborers were known as "Hunkies".

Honky may also derive from the term "xonq nopp" which, in the West African language Wolof, literally means "red-eared person" or "white person". The term may have originated with Wolof-speaking people brought to the U.S. It is mainly used by few black Americans as a term of abuse for "white man."

Honky (disambiguation)

Honky is a racist term applied to people of the white race in North America.

Honky may also refer to:

See also

Honky (film)

Honky is a 1971 film directed by William A. Graham that depicts the love story of an interracial high school couple.

Synopsis

It depicts the love story of an interracial high school couple. The tagline for the movie was "A love story... of hate". It was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song for "Something More" by Quincy Jones and Bradford Craig.

Cast

Honky starred Brenda Sykes as Sheila Smith and John Neilson as Wayne "Honky" Devine. Jake Mannion and Harriet Gardiner of H.W.A also featured as themselves.

Reviews

The movie received a poor review from The New York Times. Howard Thompson started his review by saying "Honky is awful".

See also

References

External links