1. A term in Southeastern United States English to describe poor white trash, derived from the Scottish meaning of the verb "to crack," which, in this sense denotes ostentation.

"I should explain to your Lordship what is meant by crackers; a name they have got from being great boasters; they are a lawless set of rascalls on the frontiers of Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas and Georgia, who often change their places of abode." 1766, G. Cochrane

2. In more general and contemporary U.S. usage, the term has become an ethnic slur for all Americans of Northern European decent.

A cracker is not a slave owner or overseer cracking a whip. "Cracker" predates the plantation era; and it refers to someone who would have been too poor to own slaves. It is a farmers who raised only cracked products, such as wheat and corn. "Cracker" was a derogatory term applied to these poor farmers from before the American Revolution.

Derogatory term for lower income Caucasians in the South. Also know as po' white trash. Usually make their living as sharecroppers.

Comes from grinding or "cracking" corn to use for cornmeal rather than buying cornmeal or flour at a store.

Not a saltine cracker.
Not a wealthy plantation owner.
Not a Massa crackin' de whip

Originally the white slave driver because he would "crack" the whip, hence the noun cracker.

A name given to the original cowboy's who were actually from Florida, it is derived from the sound of the whip they use while rounding up cattle. To them the nickname is a compliment not an insult.

An unsweetened biscuit.
Ha!

Cracker, n, (Krah-ker).
1. A type of flat wafer-like food item made from wheat, or grain.
2. A native Floridian, one who was born in Florida, also called a “Florida Cracker.”
3. A person of Caucasian descent.
4. A person who boasts.
5. One who “cracks” software programs, see hacker.
6. A device made to open a canister of N20.

Crackers are most commonly a food item made from wheat or grain, often salted. Crackers are used as a base or vessel for spreads or dips. RJR-Nabisco produces several brand names of crackers such as Ritz, Triscuit, Wheat Thins, Cheese Nips, and Premium. Other brands include North Carolina based Lance corporation, and Keebler, which makes Club, Munch ‘ems, Wheatables, and Town House. The “Body of Christ” communion wafers are made from unleavened bread.

A highly misinterpreted word, but which has come to mean Caucasian. However, the word originated from the American civil war of the 1860s. During this time, Florida, which was a neutral state, provided supplies to many southern states. These supplies were delivered via horse drawn carriage. The drivers used a whip for driving these horses, and thus the slaves called them “Crackers” as they cracked their whips. When the slaves heard the cracking of the whip, they would say “Crackers’ a comin,” and thus the Floridians were given this nickname.

However, over time, the Floridians kept the name in their vocabulary, not as a racial term, but as a badge of honor. (Author is a genuine Cracker from Ft. Lauderdale) The now free slaves began to refer to southerners as “crackers.” Eventually, the term was used as a general term for a white person. It’s the equivalent of nigger or spic, used for blacks and Hispanics respectively. Among other common racial epithets for whites are honky, which comes from the term honky-tonk, a western style saloon, or a type of upright piano used for ragtime music.

Other usages include the Criminal Hacker, A.K.A. “Cracker,” a person who pirates software or commits illegal acts via a computer’s Internet connection. Hackers fall under White Collar Crime. Larceny is a common crime associated with hacking, as is the illegal acquisition of Confidential Information or Documents.

Cracker can also mean the device used to open a canister of Nitrous Oxide (N20), also called Laughing Gas, which is an inhalant and anesthetic most commonly used in dental work and oral surgery. N20 is a gas; it’s occasionally used in cars as a very high performance fuel. N20 is also found in airbags as the propellant gas that expands them. N20 is comprised of 2 Nitrogen and 1 Oxygen molecule.