clodhopper

1. One who walks over plowed land; a plowman or agricultural laborer; a country lout; hence, a clumsy awkward boor, a clown

2. A plowman's heavy shoes

Clodhopper is used in //Light in August// by Bobbie Allen, the prostitute from Memphis, who calls Joe Christmas a "clodhopper" when McEachern violently attempts to disrupt their time at the schoolhouse dance. Bobbie mistakenly assumes that Joe Christmas invited McEachern to assault her in retribution for her sinful prostitution, and thus responds with this slur in an insulted and frightened effort to defend her pride and bring Joe down a notch. Coming from more urban areas (Memphis/town), she can feel superior to Joe's rural background.

//"And you! You brought me here. Goddman bastard clodhopper. Bastard you! Son of bitch you and him too. Putting him at me that never ever saw..."// (LIA 206).