Honky

Disrespectful term for a white person, typically used by Black Americans in the late 1960s and early 1970s, at the height of the Black Power movement, as a conscious retort to the n-word. There is no general agreement on the derivation of the term. The term 'hunky', once used as a slur against Hungarian and other Central European immigrants, may have served as a model: or it may have been adapted from 'honky-tonk', a type of country music favoured by whites, to signify whiteness in general.

Unlike the n-word, 'honky' achieved little cultural traction in its original usage, and never seems to have been reappropriated by those at who it was aimed (there are no 'proud honkies'). It is mainly encountered now in popular literature and movies of the period, and otherwise sounds very much of its time.

"What would you know about funk, honky?"

by Paul Bee March 14, 2021

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Honky

A person in any parking lot that notices that I’m of a different skin color than theirs, immediately grabs their car keys, and proceeds to honk their vehicles horn multiple times to say “My car is locked so don’t try to pull my door handle to get in and take my stuff”, as they walk into an establishment.

These honkies usually return to their vehicle, with a handle full of random items, pull their door handle as they forgot it was “secured” and have to put all their items down to retrieve the keys from their pocket/purse.

My son - Who keeps blowing their horn?!?

Me - Don’t worry, it’s just another honky

by Me. 3 iii’s May 21, 2021

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