good old boy

good old boy

English

Alternative forms

• good ol' boy, good ole boy

Pronunciation

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Noun

good old boy (plural good old boys)

1. (idiomatic) A male friend or chum, especially a schoolmate; a man with an established network of friends who assist one another in social and business situations; a decent, dependable fellow.
   • 1899, Stephen Crane, chapter 5, in Active Service:

     "Billie, what kind of a lad is that young Coke up at Washurst?" He addressed an old college friend. . . .

     "He's one of those Ohio Cokes—regular thing—father millionaire—used to be a barber—good old boy."

   • 1910, H. Rider Haggard, chapter 7, in Queen Sheba's Ring:

     Tell these fellows to say to their Sultan that he is a good old boy, and that we thank him very much.

2. (idiomatic, chiefly Southern US, sometimes derogatory) A friendly, unambitious, relatively uneducated, sometimes racially biased or misogynistic white man who embodies the stereotype of the folksy culture of the rural southern USA.
   • 1973, "Quick Cuts" (film review), Time, 24 Sep.:

     "White Lightning" concerns a good old boy named Gator McKluskey (Burt Reynolds) who is serving time in the Arkansas pen for messing around with illegal liquor.

Synonyms

• (male friend): buddy, pal
• (friendly, unambitious white man in rural southern USA): bubba, cracker, redneck

Derived terms

• good old boy network

See also

• old boy

References

• good old boy at OneLook Dictionary Search