Spot the frippet:yokel.

Ah, yokels.

I'm afraid, you know, that some town dwellers think that country folk are slow.
There's a whole genre of yokel jokes that illustrate this.

A townie comes to a ford. He leans out of the window of his car and asks a nearby yokel how deep the water is.
The yokel thinks for a while.
'A couple of inches,' he says at last.
So the townie drives into the water, deeper and deeper, until at last the car floats away and the townie has to jump out, all sodden and furious and dripping green water everywhere.
'I thought you said the water was only a couple of inches deep!' he exclaims, in exasperation.
'Ah,' says the yokel. 'Well, it only comes half way up the ducks.'

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And what happens then? Well, the townie goes off more convinced than ever that yokels are stupid, and the yokel goes home laughing.

Neat eh? So if you do spot a yokel - that is, anyone from the countryside - then take care. They're very clever people, and the chances are they'll not care a bit what you think of them.

Spot the frippet: yokel. This word probably comes from the country name for a green woodpecker or a yellowhammer.

Though I'm certain that a real yokel would be able to tell the difference between a green woodpecker and a yellowhammer, so whoever told the lexicographer that was probably just having a bit of a laugh.