the mag
9 Nicknames for Natives
by the mag - November 28, 2008 - 10:25 AM

By Mark Peters

While the meanings of monikers such as Ethiopian, Hobokenite, and Earthling aren’t hard to suss out, it’s a little tougher to guess where to find a Moonraker or a Zonie. And why the heck are Oklahomans called “Sooners,” anyway? Here are the stories behind the nicknames.

1. Moonraker

779a.jpgSo, how’d the residents of Wiltshire, England, end up with this fancy nickname? Legend has it that around 1787, some brandy smugglers were on the run from the Five-0, so they dumped their booze in a pond. They narrowly escaped, but were later caught fishing for their brandy. When the cops asked them what they were doing, the creative bootleggers played dumb—pointing to the moon’s reflection and claiming (in all seriousness) they were fishing for cheese. Apparently, the police bought it, and the name “Moonraker” stuck.

2. Zonie

Zonie is a derogatory term for the crowds of Arizonans who descend upon San Diego each summer, presumably to escape the ungodly heat in their Zonie homeland. San Diego newspapers feature plenty of references to the “Zonie Factor,” and many residents long for a “Zonie-free” environment. Regularly used in that area, it’s a good term to know. Just don’t get it confused with a Zonian, one who lives in the Panama Canal Zone, or a Bizonian—someone who lived in the post-WWII British/American zone in Germany.

3. Sooner

images6.jpgMost people know this term refers to an Oklahoma resident, because of the state’s successful football team. But on the field, actual Sooner-type behavior would result in a false-start penalty. Fact is, a Sooner is a too-early bird. It seems that many settlers entered Oklahoma before the legal time for settlement in April 1889, thereby beating out any law-abiding suckers who followed the rules and moved in on time. Soon after, “Sooner” came to mean both an Oklahoman and anyone who jumps the gun.

4. Hoosier

hoosiers.jpgSome say “Hoosier” is a modification of “husher” (a synonym for bully), while others insist it was a post–bar fight query—“Whose ear?”—that morphed into Hoosier after many retellings (and many drinks). The truth is, Hoosier’s origin is a legitimate mystery. Its connotation, less so. Insulting uses of Hoosier are prominent in Kentucky and Missouri, as well as in the slang of seafarers, loggers, trade union members, and drug traffickers. Notable Hoosier Dan Quayle even mounted a campaign in 1987 to eliminate derogatory definitions of Hoosier from Webster’s New World Dictionary. (He was unsuccessful.) Despite Hoosier’s offensive undertones, though, it’s still better than calling a Hoosier an “Indianan.” In Indiana, that’s the biggest insult of all.

5. Bunnies

You might think residents of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, are sometimes referred to as “Bunnies” because vast hordes of rabbits roam the town, or because carrots are the most popular vegetable, or because locals endlessly set new standards for breeding. Sadly, the jokey name is only a “See Der Rabbits” joke. True. Through 1932, four different minor league baseball franchises in Cedar Rapids used the name Rabbits or Bunnies, and—one would assume—that’s how the joke multiplied.

6. Knickerbocker

Oddly enough, the New York Knickerbockers should really be the New York Irvings, because the word came from Washington Irving’s pseudonym, Diedrich Knickerbocker. Though not nearly as common as Hoosier or Sooner, a “Knickerbocker” is someone who descended from early Dutch settlers—and therefore is from New York State. Irving used the pen name while writing the satiric A History of New York in 1809.

7. Elsewherian

Logically speaking, someone from elsewhere could be from anywhere, but language isn’t especially logical. The term “Elsewherian” is actually specific to California, where it was invented by former Governor Goodwin Knight to refer to anyone who hails from anywhere but the Golden State. The Golden State being, of course, where Californians, Californios (Spanish-speaking settlers in the state’s youth), Gold Coasters, Gold Diggers, and Prune Pickers can be found.

8. Nutmegger

images-11.jpgConnecticut is the Nutmeg State in honor of … deceitful nutmeg peddlers? As the story goes, shady 17th- and 18th-century traders sold useless “wooden nutmegs” when they ran out of the real thing. (In truth, ill-informed buyers might not have known that raw nutmegs are actually solid, wood-like seeds that are ground into powder and not cracked like nuts.) Whatever the truth, Connecticutians loved the notion that their forebears were clever enough to pass off fake nutmegs so much that they happily adopted the name.

9. Appleknocker

“Appleknocker” was originally an insult for a hillbilly, hick, or rube. In 1937, the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce in Washington tried to ban the term from the movies because it gave apple workers a bad name. However, as language changed, Appleknocker evolved into a more favorable, affectionate label for people from parts of New York or Washington State who are hip-deep in apple orchards.

[Author’s Note] Special source credit to Paul Dickson for his book ‘Labels for Locals: What to Call People from Abeline to Zimbabwe’ (Collins, 2006).

« Previous Post   -   Next Post »
Click here to get a Risk-Free issue of mental_floss magazine
Comments (27)

  1. He’s right. Speaking as a resident of the great state of Indiana, we’re “Hoosiers” and we’re proud of it. Calling us “Indianans,” well, them’s fightin’ words!

    posted by Zach on 11-28-2008 at 10:30 am

  2. Can somebody explain to me why a native of Edina, MN is known, perhaps impolitely, as a “cake eater”? A friend of mine from Eden Prairie demonstrated the vaguely offensive nature of the name, and he didn’t know why either. Is it some Marie Antoinette thing?

    posted by Danno on 11-28-2008 at 10:57 am

  3. The state of NJ has 2 derogatory nicknames given to those who flock to the Jersey shore every weekend.

    Bennies- is the term used for the upper part of the shore and shoobies for the southernmost part.

    These both refer to day trippers from elsewhere.

    Bennies is taken from the first letter of northern towns- Bayonne,Elizabeth,Newark, etc

    Shoobies are folks generally from the outlying Philly area who commute in and wear their shoes & socks onto the beach, or carry them in their hand.

    Either way, at the end of summer there are numerous Bennie and Shoobie go home parties.

    posted by QT314159265 on 11-28-2008 at 11:13 am

  4. Also being from NJ I have to correct QT on where the term Bennies came from. It’s not from the town names of the northern cities but rather from the people that travel to the Shore and rent houses there for a week or summer and use the benefits of the beach but do not pay any taxes like the people who live in the Shore towns. Hence the name Bennies.

    posted by Bill on 11-28-2008 at 11:56 am

  5. Bill,

    Dpending on where you live, both explanations for Bennies are correct. I neglected to include the obvious benefits connection, sorry. But thanks for adding it!

    posted by QT314159265 on 11-28-2008 at 12:29 pm

  6. Sounds good to me. BTW, if you look up Bennys on Wikipedia it gives your explanation. i’d never heard it beofre and have lived in NJ all my life. It makes sense though.

    posted by Bill on 11-28-2008 at 1:52 pm

  7. Well, Indianan might not go down too well… but where I grew up in IN, the biggest insult of all was being called a Kentuckian… or any insinuation that you were from the hills down there…

    posted by ann on 11-28-2008 at 2:31 pm

  8. Danno…I vaguely remember a long time ago hearing cake eater in the mighty ducks movie…I always wondered where that came from…

    posted by delawarecub on 11-28-2008 at 2:46 pm

  9. We were taught in grade school that Hoosier was a combination of “who’s there” which is what any good Indiana pioneer would yell out when someone knocked on their cabin door.

    posted by Pam on 11-28-2008 at 5:22 pm

  10. when i lived in kennebunkport, me., we referred to all the flocks of tourists from massachusetts “massholes”. it was quite appropriate. now i live where we get invaded by those damned zonies!

    posted by elih on 11-28-2008 at 7:10 pm

  11. No need to explain why the term “massholes” exists for Massachusetts residents. We’re a proud people, in our own way.

    posted by Cassie on 11-28-2008 at 7:15 pm

  12. Wow, Elih, I must have read your mind. The term mainly refers to our driving, though. :)

    posted by Cassie on 11-28-2008 at 7:18 pm

  13. Regarding the meaning of “Cake Eater”:

    I’m not allowed to type in a link, but go to urbandictionary dot com, and type in “cake eater” – and you’ll see several definitions. Basically, it means spoiled rich kids from Edina, MN.

    posted by Doug on 11-28-2008 at 8:29 pm

  14. I’m from Connecticut, and have always been bizarrely proud of nutmeg. I don’t know why. I have some of it in my spice cabinet, I’ve never used it ever, but feel that as a former resident I should have it in my home.

    And I’m a Masshole now. Cassie was right, people from Massachusetts are proud of that label.

    I’m a Masshole Nutmegger!

    posted by LauraAnn on 11-28-2008 at 11:37 pm

  15. Being from Texas, “hoosier” rather confused me when I first moved to St. Louis. To my understanding, it is a slightly derogatory term akin to the Texan “redneck.”

    Also, being specifically from the Texas Panhandle, we hate being called Oklahomans.

    posted by nutmeag on 11-29-2008 at 12:23 am

  16. I have, like many others, moved around a bit. When I lived in South Carolina, yankee was a derogatory term for northerners. Later I learned that Americans in general are called Yankees by people in Europe. When I lived in the Pacific Northwest, we were called webfeet, because it rains so much there. Now I live in Costa Rica where the people call themselves “Ticos.” Nicaraguans are called “Nicas.” I guess there is some local nickname for just about any group of people.

    posted by Mary Thorman on 11-29-2008 at 5:16 pm

  17. Well I am A Hoosier not From Indiana University, but From Indiana.
    The thing that bothers me is that in writing the article you did not check all of your facts.
    I got a chuckle in hearing all of your theories, yet you missed the mark. Just ask any forth grader that has studied Indiana history and they will tell you it comes from the pioneer times. Yes it is a reply to the knock at the door of the log cabin to see if you were friend or foe. It started as who is your daddy then it was shortened to Hoosier.

    posted by John on 11-29-2008 at 9:37 pm

  18. I’ve lived in St. Louis my entire life and here, a “hoosier” is akin to calling someone trailer trash. I was always curious about why it seemed to only mean that to St. Louisans. I did some research and found out that it had to do with a steel strike in St. Louis in the late 1800s and some people from Indiana were brought in as “scabs.” Therefore, calling someone a “hoosier” was calling them a traitor and eventually it just came to mean anyone thought to be less than desirable.

    posted by Elizabeth on 11-29-2008 at 11:28 pm

  19. John- The story about the word Hoosier coming from pioneer log cabin days may be common knowledge amongst Indiana school children- I learned it too- but that doesn’t make it fact. The origin of the term is indeed a mystery, and that theory is just as likely as any of the other ones.

    posted by Zach on 11-29-2008 at 11:46 pm

  20. I grew up in “See Der Rabbits” uh… Cedar Rapids, Iowa and I’ve never once heard anyone refer to a person from C.R. as a Bunny. Maybe local ball teams used rabbits as mascots in the 30′s but Cedar Rapiddians to my knowledge have never been bunnies!

    posted by Zak on 11-30-2008 at 12:33 am

  21. i can’t believe “yoopers” aren’t on here!

    posted by em on 11-30-2008 at 12:42 am

  22. I’m also surprised “FIB” didn’t make the list. Basically Maine:Masshole/Massachusetts::Wisconsin::Illinois/FIB

    I know this is family blog, but the “I” stands for Illinois and you can fill in the blank for f—- and b—–.

    posted by Meghan on 11-30-2008 at 1:33 am

  23. sorry to burst another bubble of yours but we arent called sooners by the rest of the world we are called okies some from alva oklahoma are called alvanights just becuase of our Oklahoma University having a good football team doesnt mean we are all sooners but i myself im a new mexican born but rasied in oklahoma with all the okies but there are many nicknames for oklahomans such as okie alvanight flatlander and the list goes on

    posted by ryan on 11-30-2008 at 1:34 am

  24. Not native to America, but I come from Auckland, which the largest city in New Zealand – and we are referred to by non-Aucklanders as Jafas – Just Another F***ing Aucklander.

    I guess it comes from the idea that because we’re the biggest city by far, we think the rest of the country revolves around us. And we’re everywhere.

    Funnily enough, Jafas are also the name of a popular chocolate-coated confectionery product in New Zealand.

    posted by dangermouse on 11-30-2008 at 3:52 pm

  25. Much like hoosiers are to indianins, buckeyes are to ohioins…i am proud to be a buckeye but you call me a ohioin and i would prolly just stare blankly.

    posted by Gerg on 12-2-2008 at 4:23 pm

  26. I say this as a lifelong Sooner fan, but “Sooners” = “Cheaters”. “Boomers” were the folks who played by the rules back in 1889, when the shot rang out at noon.

    There’s an Orwell quote that I’m going to mangle: The rich make the rules and if the poor want to rise up from their current state, they have to break those rules.

    Boomer Sooner!

    posted by Pete on 12-2-2008 at 7:50 pm

  27. how about badgers? anyone from wisconsin knows this is our state symbol, but few realize it refers not to the animal (which is not at all native) but to Cornish lead miners from England that were known for living (like badgers) in the tunnels they worked in.

    posted by kyle on 12-30-2008 at 12:46 am

Comment

commenting policy