clodhoppers
In Appalachian and Southern speech, "clodhoppers" means heavy work shoes or boots - and, figuratively, a country or unsophisticated person. It’s a down-home term with roots in older English.
#SouthernWords #Appalachia #PeopleandRelationships #Southern
synonyms: work boots, farm shoes, bumpkin
Hillbilly Dude Says...
Big 'ol heavy shoes have always been called 'clodhoppers' - I still hear this one. Pronunciation
[KLOD-hop-ers]
Meaning & Usage
- Heavy work shoes or boots (noun)
Mae:
Those boots seen better days.
Those boots seen better days.
Earl:
Yeah - just old clodhoppers I wear to the barn.
Yeah - just old clodhoppers I wear to the barn.- An unsophisticated or rural person (figurative noun)
Mae:
City folks look down on us.
City folks look down on us.
Earl:
They call us clodhoppers but we know how to work.
They call us clodhoppers but we know how to work.★ "Clodhoppers" comes from older British English for plowmen stepping over clods of earth. In Appalachia and the South it stuck as both a literal term for work shoes and a figurative term for country folk. ★
Origin
First recorded in the 1600s in Britain as "clodhopper" for a farm laborer. Brought to America by settlers, it took root in the South and Appalachia as a familiar, folksy word for sturdy shoes and unsophisticated people.
Notes
Still heard today in the South, especially among older speakers and in country humor. Outside the region it’s often recognized but used mostly as a joking or old-timey insult.
Say It Like a Southerner
Say it plain: "clodhoppers." "Clod" like a lump of dirt, "hopper" like stepping or hopping.