good old boy

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Good old boys or "good ole boys/good ol' boys" is an American slang term that can have both positive and negative meanings, depending on context and usage.

Complimentary Slang

The term can be used for well socialized men who live in rural and generally southern areas. If a man is humble and well thought of, he can be referred to as a "good old boy," regardless of his age. It is also commonly applied to men whose families have been well respected in the area for some time.

Pejorative Slang

It can be used as a pejorative term, referring someone who engages in cronyism among men who have known each other for a long period of time. Collectively these people are referred to using the slang term, Good ol' boy network.

In popular culture

"The Good Ole Boys" was also the name of a fictional country western band in the film The Blues Brothers.

In 1974 Randy Newman released a song cycle centered on characters from the American South, Good Old Boys.

The TV series, The Dukes of Hazzard, followed the adventures of two good old boys, Bo and Luke Duke, living in an unincorporated area of the fictional Hazzard County, in Georgia, racing around in their modified 1969 Dodge Charger, The General Lee, evading corrupt Boss Hogg and his inept county sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane. Bo and Luke had been sentenced to probation for illegal transportation of moonshine. The theme song by Waylon Jennings refers to them as "just two good old boys."