peckerwood
Prison slur-turned-badge for a white inmate.
Definitions
Inside, a white inmate — particularly one tied to the white-power prison subculture. Originally a Southern Black slur for poor rural whites (pecker + wood, an inversion of woodpecker), it got flipped and worn as a badge by white prison gangs from the 1940s onward. Shortened to 'wood' in everyday yard talk.
peckerwood In A Sentence
Origin & Usage
19th-century Southern Black English inversion of 'woodpecker', used as a slur for poor rural whites. Reclaimed by white prison gangs in mid-20th-century California as a self-identifier.
People Also Ask
What does peckerwood mean?
Peckerwood is a prison term for a white inmate — originally a slur, but reclaimed as a badge inside.
How do you use peckerwood in a sentence?
"He rolled with the peckerwoods on the yard."
Is peckerwood offensive?
It can be — it started as a racial slur, though within prison culture some white inmates wear it as a self-identifying label.
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