peckerwood

Meaning

Noun

• A woodpecker.
• A peckerwood sawmill.
• A white person, especially a Southerner, or one who is ignorant, rustic, or bigoted.
• A white (male) inmate, especially one who is racist or who is a member of a race-based prison gang.

Related

Similar words

• redneck

Origin

• Inversion of woodpecker. Application to white people is due to the perception that the woodpecker is a symbol of whites, whereas the crow or blackbird is a symbol of blacks.