cracker穷苦的白人

【使用地区】：美国南部

【释义】：

A poor white person，especially one from Georgia(the Cracker State)，so called，perhaps，from their use of cracked corn．Originally the expression was corncracker，one who cracks corn to make grits or cornmeal．When，after the Civil War，many people in the South became too poor to buy cornmeal and had to make their own，cracker came to mean a backwoodsman and then a poor white，generally a person living in the southern states of Georgia or Florida．Others say that cracker was originally applied to Florida cowboys and derived from their cracking their whips as they herded cattle．In any case，the term is generally an offensive one and is now regarded as a racial epithet．Many people，however，are proud to call themselves Georgia crackers，Florida crackers，etc．，just as long as they’re doing the calling．

此词指穷苦的白人，尤其指来自佐治亚州的白人(因旧时该州多赶马车的贫苦白人，故有“赶马车人之州”之称)。该词可能是因为他们吃碾碎的玉米而得名。起先，该词拼作corncracker，意指把玉米碾碎制成玉米粗粉的人。南北战争以后，当南方的许多人穷得买不起玉米粉时，他们不得不自己做，cracker一词便渐渐地用来指边远落后地区的人，然后指穷苦的白人，通常是生活在佐治亚州或佛罗里达州等南方各州的人。也有人说，cracker原是指佛罗里达州的牛仔，因为他们在牧牛时要把鞭子摔得噼啪作响(crack)。不管怎样，该词通常是侮辱性的词语，现在被认为是种族歧视的用语。然而，许多人在打招呼时却自豪地称自己为Georgia crackers，Florida crackers，等。