Hoosier
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A nickname given to an inhabitant of the State of Indiana.[U.S.]
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St. Louis Meaning: white trash of the worst kind. Also used as an adjective to describe anything several notches below your own perceived sophistication. Dates back to a strike that occurred in St. Louis in the 30's. During this strike, scab workers from Indiana were brought in to fill in for strikers. The perjorative hoosier stems from the St. Louis workers' lack of appreciation for this.
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A name given to people from Indiana. The people of Indiana are proud to bare the name, and it is a misconception that it is derogatory for a red-neck farmer. There are a lot of myths about the origin of the name, but the truth is that nobody really knows where it came from (your guess is as good as anyone elses). Also the mascot of Indiana University.
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Indiana definition (most common and nationally recognized definition): 1. A native or inhabitant of Indiana (taken from Oxford American Dictionary). 2. An alumnus or student of Indiana University. Also Hoosiers: Indiana University sports teams. Note: The Indiana University Basketball team is sometimes referred to as “the Hurryin’ Hoosiers.”
St. Louis Definition (regional slang term): Generally means redneck, hick, or someone from Missouri outside of St. Louis or certain areas of St. Louis.
The word itself and its most common definition have its origins in the state of Indiana (also known as the Hoosier State), though the word has taken on regional meanings outside of Indiana, most commonly in and around the St. Louis, MO area. However, even the St. Louis definition can trace its origins to Indiana and Indiana natives transplanted to the St. Louis area.
There are other definitions on Urban Dictionary that outline the St. Louis definition of the word Hoosier in some detail and the better ones include a history of the word. I won’t go through those definitions again, but I would like to point out, as I did above, that if you look at the origins of the St. Louis meaning you will see that this word, as used in St. Louis, also has its roots in Indiana.
Also, contrary to other definitions listed here, Indiana University has no mascot -- there is no “Indiana Hoosier.”
The following is from the July/August 1992 issue of the Indiana Alumni Magazine:
Still, the many theories are fascinating in their diversity. Take the one that has a contractor in 1825 named either Samuel Hoosier or Hoosher. His workers, who helped build a canal on the Ohio River, were predominantly from Indiana. They were called Hoosiers men or Hoosiers.
A more colorful tale has the word deriving from the phrase fearful early settlers called out when startled by a knock on their cabin door: Whos here? — a call that over time degenerated into Hoosier.
And then theres the tongue-in-cheek explanation of Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley, who related the term to the roughness and ferocity of the states early residents. Hoosier pioneers fought so violently, Riley contended, that noses were bitten off and eyes jabbed out during these brawls. Hoosier, said Riley, descends from the question posed by a stranger after entering a southern Indiana tavern and pushing a piece of human flesh with his boot toe: Whos ear?
Not nearly so clever but perhaps more plausible is the suggestion by Peckham and others that the term may derive from hoozer — a word that in the Cumberland dialect of Old England means high hills.
By extension, it was attached to a hill-dweller or highlander and came to suggest roughness and uncouthness, Peckham states. Thus, throughout the Southeast in the eighteenth century, Hoosier was used generally to describe a backwoodsman, especially an ignorant boaster, with an overtone of crudeness and even lawlessness.
That theory has won the most favor from Warren Roberts, MA50, PhD53, an IUB folklore professor who has shown how family surnames may have brought this form of Hoosier from Britain to its Midwest resting place.
Whatever its origin, historians agree that the nickname for Indiana residents was popularized in the 1800s by novels such as Edward Egglestons The Hoosier School-Master, by Rileys poetry, and by newspaper articles that used it. As a result, although its historical roots may never be discovered, Hoosier is perhaps the most widely recognized state nickname. But even this modern meaning is ambiguous, and the words use ranges from complimentary to derisive, depending on who is using it. -
there are basically two categories of hoosier:
A. hoosier by birth
B. hoosier by lifestyle
a hoosier by birth really has no choice but to be a hoosier. They come from a long line of hoosiers, described by St. Louisian Glenn Savan in his book White Palace as decendants of transplanted Ozark farmers. Usually overweight, trailor inhabiting, junk food eating, quasi-inbred folks whose idea of luxury is shopping at Wal-Mart and when in the mood for gourmet dining, go to Ponderosa. For the ultimate in entertainment, its the Jerry Springer Show or pro wrestling. Of course, NASCAR is big also. But the mecca of the true hoosier is Six Flags Ovcr Mid-America in Eureka, MO. A disproportinate number of hoosiers can be found at hospitals, as both patients and visitors, a result of a lifetime of artery clogging, blood pressure raising diet and smoking cigarettes. Due to its proximity to Jefferson County, St. Anthonys Hospital in south St. Louis County is a prime spot for hoosier watching,
Hoosiers by lifestyle have no excuse. They more often than not come from decent families but once are grown up and on their own, they choose to live like white trash. They listen to metal music, drink beer in excess, spend hundreds of dollars on fireworks every Fourth of July, allow their dogs to shit in their neighbors yard, and attend professional sporting events not affordable for born hoosiers, and of course they are drunk and obnoxious at these baseball/football/hockey games. -
A St. Louis, MO term.
Refers to anyone of limited education and social skills. Often lower-class or working-class people who drive pickup trucks and beat-up American cars more than 10 years old. Often spotted by their mullets, overalls, carhardts, Calvin -
A word describing the most irrationally proud fan base in NCAA Basketball. A Hoosier will swear they have the greatest basketball program of all time yet will offer ZERO empirical data to qualify their answer. 2) White, hairy, wanna be frat boy that resides in Indiana. This type of Hoosier is known to [chug dicks] and hump various farm animals. 3) The offspring of two pieces of white trash conceived out of wedlock typically in an orgy of both human sexes as well as various livestock.
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Noun. Word used by St. Louisians to describe poor white trash found all across the proud state of Missouri. Often associated with trucks, lack of teeth, 80s hairstyles, gun fetish due to small penis, and lack of proper grammar. Commonly racist and person who prefers to drink cheap beer a college student would not touch.
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someone from the US state of Indiana:
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A native or inhabitant of Indiana.
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