Word of the Day: Maicero

Maicero comes from the word for corn, maíz, and literally means 'corn producer'. However, it is used as a pejorative term for a rural campesino, meaning 'hillbilly' or 'country bumpkin'. The connotation is very negative, essentially like 'hick' and 'redneck' in the English language, but without the playful benignness that is attributed to these words as a result of recent popular culture. (Will anyone doubt that the "Blue Collar Comedy" guys have made being a hick a lot hipper?)