The story
* Historically, honyock referred to immigrant homesteaders "stubbornly" farming "hardscrabble" or "hardpan" land considered better suited to livestock ranching. * The first recorded usage in print appeared before 1860. Usage of the word peaked around 1927, and subsequently fell into relative disuse by 1980. * Multiple possible origins of this word have been suggested: ** Portmanteau word from Hun/Hungarian and the ethnic slur Polack. ** Derivation of the German compound word "Honigjäger", meaning honey chaser; A reference to pursuing "sweet" opportunities and inevitably getting "stung" by unanticipated but predictable consequences. ** Derivation of the Hungarian adjective "hanyag", and its multiple definitions and negative connotations such as careless, sloppy, slothful and slow.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.