Can anyone find the origins of this word?

[anotherbanana]

blédard

A challenge for Norman, maybe?

[betise]

"Bled" is an Arabic word meaning country or region. [...]

BUT, a "bledard" usually means a "yokel" or a "bumpkin" ( or "oaf", "hillbilly" or "rustic") according to context as mentioned upthread, someone not sophisticated, but who might be crafty. It's pejorative, but it can be admiring too. Very confusing!

In my dictionary, it says: "soldierwho served in the interior of North Africa"

Another interpretation could be the following:
As a "bled" means a village in the middle of nowhere (pejorative word), a "bledard" could be a person that comes from that hole.

Taken from ...

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/blédard.159694/

[anotherbanana]

Thank you, Betise, I was being lazy; the word occurred in this headline in Le Monde and also reminded me of ‘yokel’

“Au lycée, tous les élèves qui ne sont pas originaires d’Europe occidental5e sont qualifiés de “blédards””

 

[NormanH]

My North African friends use 'bled' in both a pejorative and ironic sense. 'Je vais passer mes vacance au bled' is not totally negative  for example.

Edited November 21, 2023 by NormanH
correction

[menthe]

Always raises a smile or two when I describe somewhere as a bled though I am very careful not to describe our own village as such.  I suppose it is either perjorative or ironic, depending on context😜