What is another way to say 'unsophisticated' without sounding like a racist or a snob?

[Randomguy]

I sometimes want to reach for a phrase or word to describe something, and then realize that that phrase or word doesn't really capture exactly what I want to say, or that it might be is absolutely is racist or insulting on many different levels.  At times, I just don't care if it is a little bit that way if it conveys the meaning I want exactly, but then in more aware moments realize that the word or phrase just might not be fair to some people almost everyone.  On the other hand, I do like playing with words and meanings, and also detest PC culture and social justice warrioring (as accurately explained by Couch), so there is that.

I was going to describe something as 'white trash', then realized a very long while back what that implies from a racist standpoint, and that is also makes you a bit elitist AND condenscending.  Yes, it hits the trifecta, but can we soften that a bit?

The substitute without the racism is 'trailer trash'.  Also evocative, but that also assumes a bit that may not be accurate about trailer park residents in terms of unfortunate life events or turns of fate that bring you there.

Using 'ghetto' as a way to describe making shortcuts is also kind of racist, although the generalized meaning can actually be not racist and is kind of favorable to ghetto residents in that it shows resourcefulness in using what you have at that moment.  Still, others might not consider all angles and might be less favorable in their assessment because they might not be inside your head like you are.

Interesting, yet confounding.  Also limiting in a way, what descriptions do you use?

[Further]

wife beating knuckle dragger

[Ralphie ★]

dirtbag.

[Ralphie ★]

BTW, rube is one of my favourite words.  Mainly because Opus was sometimes referred to as one in Bloom County

 

[Randomguy]

Just now, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

rbe

Do you mean 'rube'?  I consider that word on occasion, but the definition there is pretty simplistic sometimes.  Plus, I never used it growing up.  'Hillbilly' works sometimes, but is sorta like white trash.  

'Florida man' sometimes is nice and all-encompassing.

[Chris...]

Hunyuck

[jsharr ★]

simpleton

[Further]

uneducated, intolerant asshole as compared to an educated, intolerant asshoe

 

[Ralphie ★]

nimrod

[Prophet Zacharia]

3 hours ago, Further said:

an educated, intolerant asshoe

 

A so-called “Randomguy”?

[Page Turner]

..."douchebag" is a good one.  It's neither racially nor sexually preferential, easily recognizable, and it has a certain guttural lyricism as it rolls off the tongue.

[Page Turner]

4 hours ago, Randomguy said:

Do you mean 'rube'?  I consider that word on occasion, but the definition there is pretty simplistic sometimes.  Plus, I never used it growing up.  'Hillbilly' works sometimes, but is sorta like white trash.  

'Florida man' sometimes is nice and all-encompassing.

...in teh P+R (where you never venture), @onbike1939 has been belittling me with "bumpkin".  But I have cleverly turned the tables and embraced it with #bumpkin_pride. 

[donkpow]

lout

[jsharr ★]

Republican, Texan, Southern

[MoseySusan]

4 hours ago, No One said:

..."douchebag" is a good one.  It's neither racially nor sexually preferential, easily recognizable, and it has a certain guttural lyricism as it rolls off the tongue.

There are no guttural phonemes in that word. Maybe if you draw out the g at the end. 

[MoseySusan]

foolish

unwise

narrow

or, the profane dipshit 

[Ralphie ★]

@Scraprwould say big dummy.

[Page Turner]

1 hour ago, roadsue said:

There are no guttural phonemes in that word. Maybe if you draw out the g at the end. 

Quote

guttural. Guttural describes a hoarse sound made in the back of the throat. Your friend's voice might get low and gutturaljust before he bursts into tears. Growls and cries are often described as guttural. The Latin word guttur, "throat or gullet," is the root of guttural.

...don't lecture me on guttural lyricism, Missy.  I been gutturally lyrical since you was a babe in arms. The lyrical world is not limited to your mundane phonemes.  English teachers....harrumph.

[sheep_herder ★]

This might be one of those cases, where if you cannot say something nice, it might be best to keep your mouth shut.

[BuffJim]

Yokels

[Square Wheels]

2 hours ago, sheep_herder said:

This might be one of those cases, where if you cannot say something nice, it might be best to keep your mouth shut.

Have you met @Randomguy?

[onbike1939]

10 hours ago, sheep_herder said:

This might be one of those cases, where if you cannot say something nice, it might be best to keep your mouth shut.

I have to applaud the above approach and view with distaste the voicing of vulgar-sounding reproaches.....dear me yes. Best to adopt an Olympian perspective and merely arch a disapproving eyebrow...I know from personal experiences that this can be absolutely devastating.

[shootingstar]

uninformed /  not willing to learn.

Saying nothing doesn't help either in certain situations. If I didn't speak ...then people don't know I speak and understand English...very well.  

[Parr8hed]

"special"

[MoseySusan]

12 hours ago, No One said:

...don't lecture me on guttural lyricism, Missy.  I been gutturally lyrical since you was a babe in arms. The lyrical world is not limited to your mundane phonemes.  English teachers....harrumph.

Or, your comment was just wrong. And your pronunciation of “douchebag” is also wrong if it’s gutteral. 

[Page Turner]

36 minutes ago, roadsue said:

Or, your comment was just wrong. And your pronunciation of “douchebag” is also wrong if it’s gutteral. 

...#word_nazi

[Kzoo]

"wingnut" always worked for me.

[jsharr ★]

2 hours ago, Parr8hed said:

"special"

Well bless your pea pickin lil ol heart!

[Kzoo]

7 minutes ago, jsharr said:

Well you bless your pea pickin lil ol heart!

You missed the context of RG's OP.

[jsharr ★]

3 minutes ago, Always Wong said:

You missed the context of RG's OP.

If I am going to hold up my end of this ignorant / apathetic platform, the least you can do is ignore my stupidity.

[onbike1939]

20 hours ago, No One said:

...in teh P+R (where you never venture), @onbike1939 has been belittling me with "bumpkin".  But I have cleverly turned the tables and embraced it with #bumpkin_pride. 

Why do I have to keep repeating this? Stop this dreadful self-deprecation....it's unjustified. The warp and weave of every society needs a certain number of pig-ignorant people, prized for their irredeemable stupidity and you have shown that you more than adequately fill this need....dear me yes. Indeed there are some who say that you are equipped to do this all on your own but I'm not sure that I can agree with this.

Whatever.....be proud of your role and walk tall, knowing that all here feel that little bit more intelligent from just knowing that you exist.

[late]

At times in europe, Jews used to be forced to live in ghettos. The name implies that culture, or the state (or both), were actively holding the minority down.

Ghetto isn't inherently racist, depends on how it's used.

 

[Kzoo]

1 hour ago, jsharr said:

If I am going to hold up my end of this ignorant / apathetic platform, the least you can do is ignore my stupidity.

My attitude.... 

[goldendesign]

I have always like the term "douche canoe"

As in I was all ready to have a nice day until this douche canoe opened their mouth. 

 

Mixed metaphor insults are rarely the cause for racial/cultural insensitivity. 

[jsharr ★]

1 minute ago, goldendesign said:

I have always like the term "douche canoe"

As in I was all ready to have a nice day until this douche canoe opened their mouth. 

 

Mixed metaphor insults are rarely the cause for racial/cultural insensitivity. 

How do you feel about twat waffle?

[Razors Edge ★]

Just now, goldendesign said:

I have always like the term "douche canoe"

As in I was all ready to have a nice day until this douche canoe opened their mouth. 

 

Mixed metaphor insults are rarely the cause for racial/cultural insensitivity. 

Azzclown always works.  But folks don't take well to being called an azzclown, so it is more a "this azzclown tried to cut in front of me..." sort of description to an audience not including the azzclown.  I think we're looking for the proper way to call the azzclown an azzclown to his/her face without being so bold as to actually call them an azzclown.

Tom

[Page Turner]

1 minute ago, jsharr said:

How do you feel about twat waffle?

...I interpret that one as leaning toward the sexist.

[Razors Edge ★]

1 minute ago, jsharr said:

How do you feel about twat waffle?

South Korean surgeons can fix that!

Tom

[goldendesign]

Just now, jsharr said:

How do you feel about twat waffle?

[MickinMD ★]

When I was in grad school in 1973 on a T.A. and scholarship, I was finally rich enough to get contact lenses because the Illinois College of Optometry was part of IIT and we students got a big discount.  The optometry student who was working on me had a couple of other students look in and say to him, "I see you got an IIT grad student - the rest of us are working on NBW's."

I asked, "What's an 'NBW'?"

"The typical idiots we get off the street who have No Brain Waves."

Elitist and insulting but not racist and not entirely inaccurate!

[Dottleshead ★]

All your troubles and inquiries go away if you just acknowledge you are a racist and a snob.  Just sayin'...

[Razors Edge ★]

On 10/28/2018 at 9:04 AM, Randomguy said:

Interesting, yet confounding.  Also limiting in a way, what descriptions do you use?

Just between you and me, I often call people like that who work in my office or down at the local coffee shop "Kzoo".  I sometimes get a giggle and a questioning, "Kazoo? Huh?", but I always correct them and say "No, it is 'Kzoo'! There is no 'a' in it." 

Tom 

[Kzoo]

@Randomguy, you're from New York.  You can't help sounding like a snob.  Now if you were from some place like Cleveland we would know you're not a snob.  We'd have pity on you.

[Dottleshead ★]

2 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

@Randomguy, you're from New York.  You can't help sounding like a snob.  Now if you were from some place like Cleveland we would know you're not a snob.  We'd have pity on you.

And if he were from Texas?

[jsharr ★]

1 minute ago, Dottles said:

And if he were from Texas?

We would know he was a state centric snob and most likely a racist.

[Prophet Zacharia]

5 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

@Randomguy, you're from New York.  You can't help sounding like a snob.  Now if you were from some place like Cleveland we would know you're not a snob.  We'd have pity on you.

I have a hard time believing that Randomguy would care about seeming snobbish irl. Not wanting to appear racist, I can understand completely.

[The_Karen_Cooper_Incident]

'Canadians'. 

Couch 

[MoseySusan]

13 hours ago, No One said:

...#word_nazi

Rule of law.

Get over yourself. 

[Page Turner]

8 minutes ago, roadsue said:

Rule of law.

Get over yourself. 

...English bullies are so predictable. Anyone who uses the word "douchebag" on a regular basis (unlike you madam), knows that it is most satisfyingly pronounced with a full, throaty  "ooooo" on the ou (similar to the Germanic umlauted "O") with the "G" on the tail end used as a kicker for emphasis.  That's plenty guttural enough for the rule of law.  You are trapped in an English prison, walled in by grammar and usage rules that the world of practical application and communication has long abandoned.  I'm throwing you a lifeline here, only out of pity.

[MoseySusan]

45 minutes ago, No One said:

...English bullies are so predictable.

It didn’t take much to get you all the way to nazi and bully. I like more banter before the other person shoots their wad.