For the sake of my cousin I'll weigh in about rednecks and trailer trash as I'm well aquainted with both. While being from the industrial north I was 'raised' by southerners with southern values and traditions. Trailer trash is a relatively new term to have evolved in the American slang pool. When someone in the south would describe another whom they thought of as lazy or 'no-account'(which became no'count)the term used was often 'trashy'(like Londoners would describe a Swansea accent as 'Welshy'...same sort of thing) Often a person off ill repute would be described as 'trash'. It's not a compliment. The term 'welshy' is not 'always' derogatory, sometimes it's just desciptive. Trashy is always derogatory. It's a reference to the time-honored tradition in the American rural south to allow things to clutter up their yard areas. Old washers, cars up on blocks, a broken down lawn mower and 4-5 stringy haired young'uns with dirty feet and a magnifying glass to burn up ants are all pretty much standard 'trashy' images. Then the term 'white trash' came into prominence to delinate, racially from the same types(rural, no'count), but of African heritage rather than European. I gotta go, but will post later with more descriptions and references