The hick presence is so strong in the Upper Midwest that there are even language manuals on "How to Speak Minnesotan"!
How is a hick defined? Face it, many if not most people of the world grow up and stay in the same place. Especially in village culture, this can be carried further in that many people generally have never traveled far from where they were born.
I feel that I have a fairly solid definition of what comprises a hick society -- there is a third level even beyond the two mentioned above. That third factor is a society where things SUCK so bad that outsiders are driven away and the society operates as a self-sustaining organism. How homey a truism about Minnesota!
Having defined hick, the rest is self-explanatory. Poor eating habits and personal hygiene. Brusque mannerisms. These are all phenomena twice as prevalent in Minnesota as in any Appalachian or Blue Ridge mountain hamlet, or the Louisiana Bayou for that matter.
