Hillbilly Elegy

Hillbilly Elegy Glossary

Mountain Dew Mouth

A nickname for the dental damage resulting from too much soda intake, a common ailment amongst hillbillies in Jackson, Kentucky.

Holler

The hillbilly pronunciation of "hollow," which is a rural valley where hillbillies live.

Mamaw

The hillbilly word for grandmother.

Papaw

The hillbilly word for grandfather.

Holy roller

A derogatory phrase referring to devout Protestants who enjoy fire-and-brimstone sermons.

The Truly Disadvantaged

An expression that Julius Wilson coined in his book, The Truly Disadvantaged. It refers to those who cannot afford to leave town when the factories that provided them with work shut down. These people often find themselves trapped in towns that can't support them, while those who are more privileged leave town.

Hillbilly

A working-class white person from Appalachia or the Rust Belt of America. Stereotypical tendencies are unhealthy eating, a hair-trigger temper, and pessimism about future success.

Hillbilly highway

Highway 23, the road that most working-class whites migrating from Appalachia to the Rust Belt in search of better jobs took to get there.

Social capital

The idea that a person's personal networks and privilege, such as parents or friends who attended a prestigious college, have actual economic value. This is what Vance envisions separates him from his classmates: he has lower social capital.

Snake handler

Mamaw's pejorative term for "holy rollers" or devout Pentecostals.

Learned helplessness

A sociological term for the tendency of working-class poor to believe that their choices have no impact on their life—and that, therefore, they have no control over their success.

Learned willfullness

Vance's own term for the opposite of "learned helplessness." The sense that he controls his own success and thus can choose to try hard because he'll see positive results.

Brain drain

The phenomenon that those who leave smaller cities for larger, metropolitan areas rarely return to their hometowns because they have better job and personal prospects elsewhere.

Payday lenders

Businesses that provide loans for those who live paycheck-to-paycheck. They lend people money until their paydays.

Fall Interview Program (FIP)

The week during which Yale Law School students interview with numerous law firms in the hope of getting job offers. This is set up by Yale, to Vance's astonishment.

ACE

Adverse childhood experiences, or traumatic childhood events that can negatively affect people into adulthood.

Upward mobility

The movement of working-class individuals to a higher socioeconomic class via hard work and advancement.

Scots-Irish

An ethnic group prevalent in Appalachia, descended from Presbyterian immigrants from Ireland.

Appalachia

The region of the United States surrounding and including the Appalachian Mountains, including West Virginia and parts of twelve other states.

Family Memoir

A personal account of one's family story across past generations and into the present.

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