Hicksville

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A locality that exemplifies rural charm, often looked upon as lacking sophistication or urban facilities
2. A community that embodies simplicity and is frequently seen as naïve or unrefined, typically situated away from urban centers
3. A small town or rural place regarded as backward or lacking modern amenities

Etymology: "Hicksville" is a made-up place name that became a general insult. The first part comes from "hick," a rustic or country bumpkin, and the "-ville" ending is the French-derived suffix borrowed in American English for naming towns, as in "Nashville" or "Jacksonville." Towns named Hicksville appeared in the United States, and the place-name pattern is the key to the word's sense: someone, perhaps a local resident or a joking neighbour, took the surname Hicks and attached "-ville" to it, the way settlers often named new communities after a founder. The town names are the root of the meaning. Hicksville in Ohio and Hicksville on Long Island, New York, are both associated with the surname Hicks, and the form "hicksville" lowercase grew from those proper names into a common noun for a backward rural town. Because "hick" was already a term for an unsophisticated countryman, a place with that name naturally came to stand for the rustic provincialism the word suggests.