Blueneck

The word blueneck was coined less than fifteen years ago and can take various meanings.

Political Slur

In Canada, the word blueneck is a slur used against the most radical hardliners of the Quebec separatist movement, who, unlike rednecks from small-town and rural Alberta, are generally progressive on social issues, but occasionally express intolerance towards the English-speaking culture.

During the 1997 federal election, Bloc Québécois MP Suzanne Tremblay, who represented the small-town riding of Rimouski-Neigette-et-La Mitis in Quebec, pointed at the fact that then Conservative leader Jean Charest's baptismal name was in fact "John James Charest". Charest, whose dad was a French-speaker and mother was an English-Speaker of Irish descent, grew up in a bicultural household environment. Suzanne Tremblay's move appeared to be a mere attempt to boost anglophobic resentment against Charest.

In the following hours, a columnist blasted Tremblay, declaring that Alberta sure has its share of rednecks, but that Suzanne Tremblay's comments prove that Quebec compensates largely by having its own brand of rednecks: the bluenecks.

The official flag of Canada is white and red; the one of Quebec is white and blue. In Quebec, members of the Liberal Party of Canada, are informally called "les rouges" (rouge = red). The separatist Bloc Québécois uses blue as its color, even though the colloquial expression "les bleus" (bleu = blue) applies to the Conservatives, instead.

Comic Relief Feature

On the blogosphere, the term blueneck is a recently coined corollary of redneck. It extends the traditional redneck stereotypes to more northern locations, such as Canada and Alaska, with a touch of humour, in a style that reminds the one of Jeff Foxworthy (You might be a blueneck if...)

Country Music

In the country music community, a blueneck is a progressive redneck or a redneck who expresses a political opinion that is contrary to the one of most rednecks from the American South. For instance, Texan singer Natalie Maines from the Dixie Chicks can be considered a blueneck, because of her criticism of the George W. Bush's Republican administration.

States that support the Republicans are generally known as red states; the ones voting for the Democrats being the blue states.

ee also

*Redneck
*Blue CollarAn American Blue-neck may also refer to a blue-collar red-neck, or a southern laborer.

ources

Le Blog de Polyscopique : http://www.polyscopique.com/blog/archives/000780.html

The Corner : http://thecorner.typepad.com/bc/2003/12/you_know_youre_.html

Perish the Thought : http://journals.aol.com/gullspirit/PerishTheThought/entries/2005/05/01/fabricating-uncouth-motifs-.....-/1787

Steve Goddard's History Wire : http://www.historywire.com/2006/01/book_alert_redn.html