Where did the word “honky” come from? Are white people offended when they are called this?

Question

I’m curious to know where the term “honky” came from & I know it is not the TV show The Jeffersons. Would it be very offensive for a non-Caucasian to call a Caucasian a honky?

Answer 1

I personally would not be offended, in fact I'd probably laugh outloud.

Answer 2

Personally, I think that words like ****, ****, white trash honky, ****** and horrible words.

On the other hand, regardless of race, there are idiots and there are cool people. I'm not offended at the term honky because I know I'm not one - I'm just a white guy. If I was one, I'd probably be offended at the world anyway so a term like that wouldn't really make much difference would it?

My thinking is this. These words are not needed. If someone is an asshole, people know it and such terms are not needed as labels - the person has already shown what they are like.

Why do you need to say "Hey, have you met that guy Jim? He's such a (****, ****, honky, ******)!"

More like you have proven yourself to be a "****/****/honky/******/whatever stupid label you want to use the moment you use those terms yourself. I suppose having used those words in discussion makes me a 'honky'. lol Oh well, so much for discussion.

I never did understand why words are racially allowable or not. Its a word. Someone who would use words like that prove their character and will do it with or without such words anyway.

Answer 3

a derogatory term for a Caucasian person.
there are three main theories for the origin of the word:
1. the word originated from the practice of white males wishing to hire African-American prostitutes in the 1920's, and going to the appropriate part of town while honking their car horns to attract the whores. Some versions state that the reason for this was that the white men were too afraid to actually stop in those neighborhoods, so the honking would bring the hookers to them. Others say that since few African-Americans could afford cars back in that time, the honking signaled a higher-paying white client and would quickly gain the prostitutes attention.
2. the term comes from the word "honky-tonk", which was used as early as 1875 in reference to wild saloons in the Old West. Patrons of such disreputable establishments were referred to as "honkies", not intended as a racial slur but still a disparaging term.
3. "honkie" is a variation of "hunky" and "bohunk", derogatory terms for Hungarian, Bohemian, and Polish immigrant factory workers and hard laborers in the early 1900's. African-Americans began to use the word in reference to all whites regardless of specific nation of origin.

Answer 4

I don't know the origin of the word, but as a Caucasian person I would not be offended if another Caucasian person called me that, or if a friend of a different race called me that all in fun. But like any other descriptive term you would use for a person of another race , I would be very cautious how you use it. Best not to use it at all.

Answer 5

The word "honky" is actually a corruption of another ethnic slur - "Hunky"

In the early 20th century, many immigrants from Eastern Europe came to the United States.

Even though most of them were slavic, they were generically known as Hungarians, since most of these immigrants came from a country called the Austro Hungarian Empire (which broke up after World War I into the modern states of Eastern Europe - the Czech Republic, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia ect).

Other White people really disliked these immigrants, so they derisively called them "Hunkys".

At the same time as these HUngarian immigrants were moving to the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, many African Americans were moving from the segregated South to the North

Many of these Black migrants worked side by side with the Hungarians - oftentimes they were rivals for the same low paying jobs. So, the Blacks began to dislike the Eastern Europeans too (but for different reasons than the American born Whites did).

The Blacks probably began using the ethnic slur "Hunky" to refer to their Eastern European co-workers - but, since most Black Americans were Southerners, they pronounced it differently than Northern-born Whites did

And that's how "Hunky" became "Honky"

Answer 6

I guess because white people speak more nasally than most black people. Like we "honk" like geese (which have very nasal honks.)

I personally think it's kinda funny. It's not nearly as offensive as some of the terms used against people of other races. I don't care about "honky" but I don't use it and I don't use other derogatory terms.

Answer 7

It started in the 60's with racially motivated actions between black & whites. The word itself was supposed to be equal to the "N" word. There were also other words which were formed out of frustration, such as cracker, whitey, etc. The 60's were a turbulent time and streched the pendulum of emotions.

Answer 8

Think its cause the booty is allways lighter than the rest of the body and honky is a reference towards that lol who gives a fug.

Answer 9

I heard that it comes from the way northern people honk through their noses when they talk. That's why I find it offensive. And yes, not only is it ludicrous for caucasions to stoop to that kind of perjorative, but some places it can lead to violence.

Answer 10

It's one of those age old situations ... white people could care less about slangs but when the shoe is on the other foot ......... WATCH OUT! (see Michael Richards vs. Chris Rock)

Answer 11

Honky, ofay, cracker, whitey, white-boy/girl, etc etc etc... Who cares? Elevator operator, shoeshine boy, shine, darky, *******, etc etc etc Who cares? all terms the ignorant, ill-bred, uneducated, foolish, use. Consider the source. They are doing you a favor indentifying themselves as people you want to avoid.
Justin has it right here.