Apple-polisher

[Arnold Zwicky]

dInIs:
 >For me an "apple-knocker" is the same as a "shit-kicker" - an
 >(exaggeratedly) rural person. I lack the verb "to apple-knock."

my own usage is much more restricted than any of the meanings listed
in DARE: an (exaggeratedly) rural person *from upstate new york*.  or,
by extension, anyone from upstate [new york].  probably because i
heard the expression only from new yorkers (meaning people from nyc).
(exaggeratedly) rural people in eastern pa. where called (politely)
"hicks" or (rudely) "shit-kickers" or (if ethnically appropriate)
"dumb dutch".

arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)