Hillbilly

“What is a hillbilly?” I remember my grandmother asking me this question two summers ago. I remember thinking hard about how to answer this question. I knew it would be difficult regardless, due to the fact that my grandmother knows only a little English, and I only know a little Spanish. However, there was still something else that would prove to be an issue. I didn’t really know what a hillbilly was. I mean, I thought I knew, but when I tried to put it into words to translate for my grandmother, I couldn’t. I kept thinking, “Just what is a hillbilly?” and “Isn’t it just another word for redneck?” I couldn’t answer my grandmother’s question, so I simply told her that I couldn’t explain it; that it was just one of those things you just knew. My grandmother just shrugged it off and didn’t ask about it again, but the question kept popping up in my mind, “What is a hillbilly?”

According to dictionary.com a “Hillbilly” is “A derogatory term for a person from a backwoods or other remote area, especially from the mountains of the southern U.S.; often used offensively.” So basically a not-so-smart, almost hobo-like, person who lives in the woods…Funny, but I don’t think anybody is like that. The people I do know who “live in the woods” are very nice, and well rounded people who in their own way know more than I do. Sure, they may be a bit eccentric when it comes to certain things, but then again, who isn’t? But people would rather label things than look into them. So I guess if my grandmother ever decides to ask me again, I’ll just tell her, “A crazy guy named Billy who lives on a hill.”


Nicolle