poor white trash
2
9.9
- noun
- Slur
:
[término ofensivo para personas blancas y pobres]
- Despite the accusations of one house member that only "organizationists or poor white trash" wanted to serve on the jury, the house special judiciary committee recommended passage six to one.
- just poor white trash
Also, we grew up dirt poor white trash like borrowing money to buy food.
- Also, we grew up dirt poor white trash like borrowing money to buy food.
Examples
-
In the South, there is still a strong interest by elites to keep the poor white trash from voting, and certainly any blacks.
Blog text (2) -
Good nutrition has given you some length of bone, but you're not more than one generation from poor white trash, are you, Officer Starling?
Fiction book (1991) -
"This poor white trash went on to become...
-
Also, we grew up dirt poor white trash like borrowing money to buy food.
-
"Then my wife is poor white trash," retorted another committee member.
Academic text (2007) -
No poor white trash was going to face Rhett down, or her either.
Fiction book (1991) -
"You'll just get poor white trash on the juries," warned Rep. G. Stuart Watson of Dougherty County.
Academic text (2007) -
Many people unfairly stereotype anyone from a trailer park as poor white trash without knowing their story.
-
The film depicts the struggles of a family labeled as poor white trash trying to make a better life for themselves.
-
He often felt ashamed when others referred to his upbringing as poor white trash despite his hard work and determination.
Synonyms
148
7.4
People who are treated as worthless or unimportant
17
8.2
People who are seen as rude or not honest and looked down on
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositionally derived from the constituents: 'poor' + 'white' + 'trash' yields an insulting label for white people who are poor or regarded as contemptible. A B1 learner who knows each word would reliably infer the derogatory sense (even if they might not grasp all sociocultural connotations), and similar concatenated insults exist cross-linguistically, so the phrase is transparent.
Etymology
Poor white trash is a harsh phrase from the American South that puts poor, white, and trash together to make a picture of a white person treated like garbage. People used it to shame poor white people, so today it is a very rude 'insult'.