ENGLISH
REFERENCE

yokel

n.
US //ˈjoʊkɛɫ// UK //jˈəʊkəl// yokel Slang Vulgar
Synonyms
Origin

First use appears c. 1812, possibly from dialectal German Jokel, diminutive of Jakob, cf. Yankee (“little John”) and jacquerie (“a peasant uprising”). Alternatively, from dialectal English yokel, yuckle (“a European green woodpecker”), itself probably a variant of hickwall.

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