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clay eater
noun
, Usually Disparaging.
- (in the South Atlantic States) a term used to refer to a poor, uneducated person from a rural area.
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Sensitive Note
This term refers to the eating of clay-rich dirt, a persistent custom among poor white and Black people in some rural areas of the South.
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Word History and Origins
Origin of clay eater1
An Americanism dating back to 1835–45
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Example Sentences
The term "sand-hiller," or "clay-eater," is a terrible one of reproach, and is applied unsparingly by the aristocrats.
From Project Gutenberg
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[tawr-choo-uhs ]
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