Honky
Encyclopedia
Honky is a racial slur for white people
, predominantly heard in the United States
. The first recorded use of honky in this context possibly dates to 1946 (although the use of Honky Tonk
appeared in films well before that time), yet the exact origins of the word are generally unknown.
Honky may be a variant of hunky
, which was a variant of Bohunk, a slur for Bohemian
-Hungarian immigrants in the early 1900s. Honky may also derive from the term "xonq nopp" which, in the West African
language Wolof
means, literally, "red-eared person" or "white person". The term may have originated with Wolof-speaking slaves
brought to the US.
Another documented theory and possible explanation for the origins of the word is that it was a nickname
African-American people
gave white men (called "johns" or "curb crawlers
") who would honk their car horns for prostitutes to come outside in urban area
s such as Harlem
and red-light district
s in the early 1910s.
Honky was adopted as a pejorative
in 1967 by black militants
within Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC) seeking a rebuttal for the term nigger
. National Chairman of the SNCC, H. Rap Brown
, on June 24, 1967, told an audience of blacks in Cambridge
, "You should burn that school down and then go take over the honky's school." Brown went on to say: "If America don't come round, we got to burn it down. You better get some guns, brotha. The only thing the honky respects is a gun. You give me a gun and tell me to shoot my enemy, I might shoot Ladybird
."
Honky has occasionally (if intentionally ironically) used even for whites supportive of African-Americans, as seen in the 1968 trial of Black Panther Party
member Huey Newton, when fellow Panther Eldridge Cleaver
created pins for Newton's white supporters stating "Honkies for Huey."
or entertainment
, most commonly provided at bars
for its patrons.
Country musicians such as David Allen Coe and other successful artists have used the words honky and honky-tonk in popular songs such as: "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels
" (Kitty Wells
), "Honky Tonk Women
" (The Rolling Stones
), "Honky Cat
" (Elton John
), "Honky Tonk Blues
" (Hank Williams), "Chasin' That Neon Rainbow
" (Alan Jackson
) and "Honky Tonk Man
" (Johnny Horton
).
Honky Tonk Man
has also been used for popular culture
purposes including The Honky Tonk Man
(a ring name
and persona
for professional wrestler
Roy Wayne Farris) and Honky Tonk Man
(an album by innovating country rock
musician Steve Young
).
Other uses of honky in music may refer to Honky
(an album by Melvins), The Chicago Honky (a style of polka
music), MC Honky
(DJ
stage persona
), Honky Château
(an album by Elton John), Talkin' Honky Blues
(an album by Buck 65
) and Honky (an album by Keith Emerson
).
, Chevy Chase
and Richard Pryor
used both nigger
(Chase) and honky (Pryor) in reference to one another during a "racist
word association
interview". SNL, during this period, also aired (musical guest and stand-up regular) Steve Martin
's rendition of "King Tut
," which contained in its lyrics the word honky. Even though it was intended as light
hearted humour, it questions the Afro
/Arabic ethnicity of Tutankhamun
-disputed amongst Egyptologists to this day.
On the TV series The Jeffersons
, George Jefferson
regularly referred to a white person as a honky (or whitey) as did Redd Foxx
on Sanford and Son
. This word would later be popularized in episodes of Mork & Mindy by Robin Williams
and Jonathan Winters
.
The black neighbor on the TV show Love Thy Neighbour
, played by Rudolph Walker
would often refer to his bigoted white neighbor (Jack Smethurst
) as 'honky'.
The Canadian TV show Jamaican For Honkeys, starring comedians Kevin Jackal Johnston and Trixx, uses the term in the show title.
These and other shows, as exemplified by the controversial All in the Family, attempted to expose racism/prejudice
as an issue in society using the subversive weapon of humor. However, the effect that this theme had on television created both negative and positive criticism.
Honky
is a 1971
movie based on an interracial
relationship (starring Brenda Sykes as Sheila Smith and John Neilson as Wayne "Honky" Devine).
There were some movies using honky without any derogatory
connotation. Honky Tonk
is a 1929
American
musical film
starring Sophie Tucker
. And Honky Tonk
is also a 1941
black-and-white
Western film
starring Clark Gable
and Lana Turner
.
Honky Tonk is also a 1974 Western film starring Richard Crenna
and Margot Kidder
. Additionally, Honkytonk Man
is a 1982
drama film
set in the Great Depression
. Clint Eastwood
, who produced and directed the film, stars in the film with his son Kyle Eastwood
.
, the term is used in a casual nature to refer to people originating from Hong Kong
.
Honky is also a familiar short form for "honcarenko" which is the Slavic
word for "Ukrainian
".
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
, predominantly heard in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The first recorded use of honky in this context possibly dates to 1946 (although the use of Honky Tonk
Honky Tonk (disambiguation)
A honky-tonk is a type of bar. The phrase may also refer to:In music:*Honky tonk music, a subgenre of country music*Honky Tonk , by Dude Mowrey...
appeared in films well before that time), yet the exact origins of the word are generally unknown.
Honky may be a variant of hunky
Hunky Culture
The "Hunkies" are a composite Polish, Hungarian , Rusyn, Slovak ethnic group which primarily inhabits western Pennsylvania and Upstate New York and speaks English. The immigrants came en masse prior the turn of the century searching opportunity and religious freedom...
, which was a variant of Bohunk, a slur for Bohemian
Bohemian
A Bohemian is a resident of the former Kingdom of Bohemia, either in a narrow sense as the region of Bohemia proper or in a wider meaning as the whole country, now known as the Czech Republic. The word "Bohemian" was used to denote the Czech people as well as the Czech language before the word...
-Hungarian immigrants in the early 1900s. Honky may also derive from the term "xonq nopp" which, in the West African
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
language Wolof
Wolof language
Wolof is a language spoken in Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania, and is the native language of the Wolof people. Like the neighbouring languages Serer and Fula, it belongs to the Atlantic branch of the Niger–Congo language family...
means, literally, "red-eared person" or "white person". The term may have originated with Wolof-speaking slaves
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
brought to the US.
Another documented theory and possible explanation for the origins of the word is that it was a nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
African-American people
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
gave white men (called "johns" or "curb crawlers
Kerb crawler
A kerb crawler is a person who drives around areas known for street prostitution soliciting prostitutes for sex. The act is known as "kerb crawling" because the person will typically drive very slowly along the kerbside....
") who would honk their car horns for prostitutes to come outside in urban area
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
s such as Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
and red-light district
Red-light district
A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...
s in the early 1910s.
Honky was adopted as a pejorative
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
in 1967 by black militants
Black Power
Black Power is a political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies. It is used in the movement among people of Black African descent throughout the world, though primarily by African Americans in the United States...
within Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ' was one of the principal organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged from a series of student meetings led by Ella Baker held at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in April 1960...
(SNCC) seeking a rebuttal for the term nigger
Nigger
Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...
. National Chairman of the SNCC, H. Rap Brown
H. Rap Brown
Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin , also known as H. Rap Brown, was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s, and during a short lived alliance between SNCC , later the Justice Minister of the Black Panther Party...
, on June 24, 1967, told an audience of blacks in Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, "You should burn that school down and then go take over the honky's school." Brown went on to say: "If America don't come round, we got to burn it down. You better get some guns, brotha. The only thing the honky respects is a gun. You give me a gun and tell me to shoot my enemy, I might shoot Ladybird
Lady Bird Johnson
Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 during the presidency of her husband Lyndon B. Johnson. Throughout her life, she was an advocate for beautification of the nation's cities and highways and conservation of natural resources and made that...
."
Honky has occasionally (if intentionally ironically) used even for whites supportive of African-Americans, as seen in the 1968 trial of Black Panther Party
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
member Huey Newton, when fellow Panther Eldridge Cleaver
Eldridge Cleaver
Leroy Eldridge Cleaver better known as Eldridge Cleaver, was a leading member of the Black Panther Party and a writer...
created pins for Newton's white supporters stating "Honkies for Huey."
In music and entertainment
The word honky-tonk may refer to a particular type of country musicCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
or entertainment
Entertainment
Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...
, most commonly provided at bars
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
for its patrons.
Country musicians such as David Allen Coe and other successful artists have used the words honky and honky-tonk in popular songs such as: "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels
It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels
"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" is a 1952 country song written by J. D. "Jay" Miller, and originally recorded by Kitty Wells. It was an answer song to the Hank Thompson hit "The Wild Side of Life."...
" (Kitty Wells
Kitty Wells
Ellen Muriel Deason , known professionally as Kitty Wells, is an American country music singer. Her 1952 hit recording, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts, and turned her into the first female country star...
), "Honky Tonk Women
Honky Tonk Women
"Honky Tonk Women" is a 1969 hit song by The Rolling Stones. Released as a single on 4 July 1969 in the UK and a week later in the US, it topped the charts in both nations.-Inspiration and Recording:...
" (The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
), "Honky Cat
Honky Cat
"Honky Cat" is a song from the 1972 Elton John album Honky Château, the album's lead-off track.A fast, spirited number played without any guitar, with Davey Johnstone playing banjo instead, "Honky Cat" is essentially about the illusion created by city life...
" (Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
), "Honky Tonk Blues
Honky Tonk Blues
"Honky Tonk Blues" was a hit country and western song written and performed by Hank Williams. The original 1952 recording was a major hit, and it later became a hit for later-day superstar Charley Pride.-Song history:...
" (Hank Williams), "Chasin' That Neon Rainbow
Chasin' That Neon Rainbow
"Chasin' That Neon Rainbow" is the title of a song written by American country music artist Alan Jackson and Jim McBride, and recorded by Jackson...
" (Alan Jackson
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson is an American country music singer, known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits. He has recorded 13 studio albums, 3 Greatest Hits albums, 2 Holiday albums, 1 Gospel album and several compilations, all on the Arista...
) and "Honky Tonk Man
Honky Tonk Man (song)
"Honky Tonk Man" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Johnny Horton. It was released in March 1956 as his debut single, reaching #9 on the U.S. country singles charts...
" (Johnny Horton
Johnny Horton
John Gale "Johnny" Horton was an American country music and rockabilly singer most famous for his semi-folk, so-called "saga songs" which began the "historical ballad" craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s...
).
Honky Tonk Man
Honky Tonk Man
Honky Tonk Man may refer to:*The Honky Tonk Man, ring name of professional wrestler Roy Wayne Farris*Honkytonk Man, 1982 American film starring Clint Eastwood*Honky Tonk Man , 1975 album by country singer Steve Young...
has also been used for popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
purposes including The Honky Tonk Man
The Honky Tonk Man
Roy Wayne Farris , better known by his ring name The Honky Tonk Man, is an American professional wrestler. A 1975 graduate from University of Memphis with a B.S. degree in Education. Coached high school football 2 seasons at Munford High School in Munford, Tennessee...
(a ring name
Ring name
A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...
and persona
Persona
A persona, in the word's everyday usage, is a social role or a character played by an actor. The word is derived from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask. The Latin word probably derived from the Etruscan word "phersu", with the same meaning, and that from the Greek πρόσωπον...
for professional wrestler
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
Roy Wayne Farris) and Honky Tonk Man
Honky Tonk Man (album)
Honky Tonk Man is the third album by pioneer Country rock musician Steve Young, although this album has more of a straight country sound.-Track listing:#"Honky Tonk Man" - 2:23...
(an album by innovating country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
musician Steve Young
Steve Young (musician)
Steve Young is an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist, known for his song "Seven Bridges Road"...
).
Other uses of honky in music may refer to Honky
Honky (album)
- Personnel :* Buzz Osborne - Guitar, vocals* Dale Crover - drums* Mark Deutrom - Bass* Katherine Bjelland - Additional Vocals * Mac Mann - Piano, Bells and Synthesizer...
(an album by Melvins), The Chicago Honky (a style of polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
music), MC Honky
MC Honky
MC Honky is a stage persona whose only album release is I Am the Messiah. Although supposedly a middle-age disc jockey from Silverlake, California, MC Honky is promoted by and widely considered to be Mark Oliver Everett of Eels...
(DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
stage persona
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
), Honky Château
Honky Château
Honky Château is the fifth studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1972. In 2003, the album was ranked number 357 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was certified Gold on 7/24/1972 and Platinum on 10/11/1995 by the R.I.A.A...
(an album by Elton John), Talkin' Honky Blues
Talkin' Honky Blues
Talkin' Honky Blues is a hip-hop album by Buck 65. The title reflects research Buck did into the early 20th-century blues style called the talking blues before recording the album.This album won the 2004 Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year....
(an album by Buck 65
Buck 65
Richard Terfry , who uses the stage name Buck 65, is a Canadian experimental artist, MC and turntablist. Underpinned by an extensive background in abstract hip hop, his more recent music has extensively incorporated blues, country, rock, folk and avant garde influences.Terfry is also a radio host,...
) and Honky (an album by Keith Emerson
Keith Emerson
Keith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...
).
Television and film
In a popular sketch on Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
and Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
used both nigger
Nigger
Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...
(Chase) and honky (Pryor) in reference to one another during a "racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
word association
Word Association
Word Association is a common word game involving an exchange of words that are associated together. The game is based on the noun phrase word association, meaning "stimulation of an associative pattern by a word" or "the connection and production of other words in response to a given word, done...
interview". SNL, during this period, also aired (musical guest and stand-up regular) Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
's rendition of "King Tut
King Tut (song)
"King Tut" is a novelty song performed by Steve Martin and the Toot Uncommons . It was released as a single in 1978, sold over a million copies, and reached number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Martin previewed the song in a live performance during the April 22, 1978 episode of Saturday...
," which contained in its lyrics the word honky. Even though it was intended as light
hearted humour, it questions the Afro
African diaspora
The African diaspora was the movement of Africans and their descendants to places throughout the world—predominantly to the Americas also to Europe, the Middle East and other places around the globe...
/Arabic ethnicity of Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun , Egyptian , ; approx. 1341 BC – 1323 BC) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty , during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom...
-disputed amongst Egyptologists to this day.
On the TV series The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons is an American sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, through June 25, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes. The show was produced by the T.A.T. Communications Company from 1975–1982 and by Embassy Television from 1982-1985...
, George Jefferson
George Jefferson
George Jefferson is a fictional character played by Sherman Hemsley in American television sitcoms All in the Family and its spin-off The Jeffersons...
regularly referred to a white person as a honky (or whitey) as did Redd Foxx
Redd Foxx
John Elroy Sanford , better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom Sanford and Son.-Early life:...
on Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son is an American sitcom, based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son, that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977....
. This word would later be popularized in episodes of Mork & Mindy by Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
and Jonathan Winters
Jonathan Winters
-Early life:Winters was born in Bellbrook, Ohio, the son of Alice Kilgore , a radio personality, and Jonathan Harshman Winters II, an investment broker. He is a descendant of Valentine Winters, founder of the Winters National Bank in Dayton, Ohio...
.
The black neighbor on the TV show Love Thy Neighbour
Love Thy Neighbour
Love Thy Neighbour was a popular British sitcom, which was aired from 13 April 1972, until 22 January 1976, spanning seven series. The sitcom was produced by Thames Television and broadcast by ITV. The main cast included Jack Smethurst, Rudolph Walker, Nina Baden-Semper and Kate Williams...
, played by Rudolph Walker
Rudolph Walker
Rudolph Walker, OBE is a British character actor. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Walker came to the United Kingdom in 1960....
would often refer to his bigoted white neighbor (Jack Smethurst
Jack Smethurst
Jack Smethurst is an English TV and film comic actor whose career dates back to the 1950s.-Career:Smethurst made his film debut in 1958's Carry On Sergeant...
) as 'honky'.
The Canadian TV show Jamaican For Honkeys, starring comedians Kevin Jackal Johnston and Trixx, uses the term in the show title.
These and other shows, as exemplified by the controversial All in the Family, attempted to expose racism/prejudice
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
as an issue in society using the subversive weapon of humor. However, the effect that this theme had on television created both negative and positive criticism.
Honky
Honky (film)
-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:...
is a 1971
1971 in film
The year 1971 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music...
movie based on an interracial
Interracial
Interracial is an adjective related to a supposed racial group. It can have different connotations in different contexts:* Interracial marriage is marriage between two people of different races....
relationship (starring Brenda Sykes as Sheila Smith and John Neilson as Wayne "Honky" Devine).
There were some movies using honky without any derogatory
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
connotation. Honky Tonk
Honky Tonk (1929 film)
Honky Tonk is a 1929 American musical film starring Sophie Tucker in her film debut. The film was a flop when released and is now lost, although the soundtrack for the trailer still exists...
is a 1929
1929 in film
-Events:The days of the silent film are numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound is on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona is released. The film is the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors....
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
starring Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker was a Russian/Ukrainian-born American singer and actress. Known for her stentorian delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertainers in America during the first half of the 20th century...
. And Honky Tonk
Honky Tonk (1941 film)
Honky Tonk is a 1941 black-and-white western film starring Clark Gable and Lana Turner.-Plot:Con man "Candy" Johnson and his friend "Sniper" flee town using quick wits and magic tricks. They catch a train to Yellow Creek, Nevada, where a gold rush is in progress. Aboard, he meets Elizabeth Cotton...
is also a 1941
1941 in film
The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
Western film
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
starring Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
and Lana Turner
Lana Turner
Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
.
Honky Tonk is also a 1974 Western film starring Richard Crenna
Richard Crenna
Richard Donald Crenna was an American motion picture, television, and radio actor and occasional television director. He starred in such motion pictures as The Sand Pebbles, Wait Until Dark, Body Heat, the first three Rambo movies, Hot Shots! Part Deux, and The Flamingo Kid...
and Margot Kidder
Margot Kidder
Margaret Ruth "Margot" Kidder is a Canadian-born American actress. She is perhaps best known for playing Lois Lane in the four Superman movies opposite Christopher Reeve, a role that brought her to widespread recognition....
. Additionally, Honkytonk Man
Honkytonk Man
Honkytonk Man is a 1982 American drama film set in the Great Depression. Clint Eastwood, who produced and directed, stars with his son, Kyle Eastwood. Clancy Carlile's screenplay is based on his novel of the same name...
is a 1982
1982 in film
-Events:* March 26 = I Ought to Be in Pictures, starring Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret and Dinah Manoff is released. Manoff would not appear in another movie until 1987's Backfire.* June = PG-rated film E.T...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
set in the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
, who produced and directed the film, stars in the film with his son Kyle Eastwood
Kyle Eastwood
Kyle Eastwood is an American jazz musician. He studied film at the University of Southern California for two years before embarking on a music career. After becoming a session player in the early '90s and leading his own quartet, he released his first solo album, From There to Here, in 1998...
.
Other meanings and uses
In SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, the term is used in a casual nature to refer to people originating from Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
.
Honky is also a familiar short form for "honcarenko" which is the Slavic
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
word for "Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
".