is an Italian term to designate, in an often pejorative manner, people who dwell in

Southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

or are of Southern Italian descent.

History

The term comes from an agent noun formed from the word ( Italian for "land"). In fact it was historically used, after the

Italian unification The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

, to describe the

landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, ...

s of the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, highlighting the fact that they profited from a type of land property, the

latifundium A ''latifundium'' (Latin: ''latus'', "spacious" and ''fundus'', "farm, estate") is a very extensive parcel of privately owned land. The latifundia of Roman history were great landed estates specializing in agriculture destined for export: grain, ...

, by which they used to own the land without ever working it; the word also stands for "person from a land

uch as Southern Italy Uch ( pa, ; ur, ), frequently referred to as Uch Sharīf ( pa, ; ur, ; ''"Noble Uch"''), is a historic city in the southern part of Pakistan's Punjab province. Uch may have been founded as Alexandria on the Indus, a town founded by Ale ...

prone to

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

s". Until the 1950s, ''terrone'' kept the

classist Class discrimination, also known as classism, is prejudice or discrimination on the basis of social class A social class is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the U ...

meaning of "

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

", that is "person working the land (hence the word ''terra'')"; at one point, even people migrating from the relatively more rural regions of

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

and

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

to the industrialised Lombardy had been accordingly nicknamed ''terroni del nord'' ("Northern ''Terroni''"). However, it was not until the

Italian economic miracle The Italian economic miracle or Italian economic boom ( it, il miracolo economico italiano) is the term used by historians, economists, and the mass media to designate the prolonged period of strong economic growth in Italy after the Second Worl ...

, when a great number of Southerners migrated to the industrial centers of

Northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative Regions ...

, that it began to be strictly used (often as a slur) to indicate people from Southern Italy. From ''terrone'' later derived ''Terronia'' "the land of the ''Terroni''", and the adjective ''terronico'' "anything related to the ''Terroni''". The epithet often implies certain negative stereotypes for the person being labelled, such as laziness, ignorance and lack of hygiene. Similarly, with particular reference to some slang, the term has taken on the meaning of an uncouth person lacking in good manners, like the other Italian words , and . In Italy, the term has strong xenophobic undertones of rejection and has been recognized as a discriminatory insult by the Italian Court of Cassation.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Pejorative terms for European people Society of Italy Italian culture {{italy-stub

History

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography