The etymology of palurdo takes us to the French word balourd , according to what is indicated by the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) in its dictionary. Palurdo is an adjective that is used in a derogatory sense to refer to a brute, crude or illiterate individual .
For example: “The company is in the hands of a yokel who always makes the worst decisions,” “Only a yokel can say something like that,” “I don't tolerate yokels who try to discuss issues that they are completely unaware of.”
Suppose a man tries to contact someone by phone but cannot do so due to some type of signal problem. The subject, with the intention of solving the problem, begins to hit the equipment against the ground. Another individual, upon seeing the situation, points out to a friend: “Look at that yokel how he intends to fix his phone…” This is a disparaging comment that is offensive.
The notion of hillbilly is also used with reference to what is typical of someone who is rude or ignorant : “The scientist spent more than an hour refuting hillbilly arguments at the end of his dissertation,” “The hillbilly justification given by the accused outraged the victim's relatives” , “There are crude ideologies that are dangerous for society due to their possible effects” .
Take the case of a journalist who, after reporting on the environmental degradation of a Caribbean beach, alludes to the rural tourism that destroyed the local ecosystem . Visitors who leave their garbage on the sand, buildings built meters from the shore without any type of planning and boats that offer rides but are not controlled by the authorities and pollute with their fuel are mentioned by the reporter as responsible for the problem. .
Since it is a term generally used in a derogatory tone and in everyday speech, a good resource to expand its definition is to use its synonyms. In this case we can see a list in which other terms are also presented whose use is limited to certain Spanish-speaking regions and does not always have the same connotations: catechist, paleto, ordinary, coarse, cerril, basto, patán, maleducado, zafio and rustic . Regarding its antonyms, we can mention the following: cultured, fine, courteous and exquisite .
The adjective catheto , which can also be used as a noun, has a derogatory meaning in everyday speech to refer to a small-town person. Unfortunately, our language considers that a term that in principle designates those who were born in a town or who live in it serves to be used as an insult. Perhaps the most serious thing is that part of the negative connotation of this pejorative use refers to characteristics that either should not be qualified or that we do not find in all individuals of the same origin.
Returning to its relationship with palurdo , it is another way of describing people who have certain traits in their personality that are associated with life in the countryside and, in an absolutely arbitrary and offensive way, are considered part of the set of bad manners. or a lack of refinement that the city left behind a long time ago.
It is not only serious that we use an adjective like this to insult someone, but that we oppose it to another that at first does not define qualitative issues but simply regional or cultural issues. To say hillbilly , therefore, is to take those traits that we believe belong to small-town people and turn them into defects, while at the same time we directly or indirectly oppose them to the traits of a city person, which we also incorrectly convert into virtues.