Does the term reference somehting like the Australian Outback "The bush", meaning a bit barren, and under-developed? Or is it a reference to YouKnowWho?
No, it's a term that is much older than dubya. I always assumed that it meant a league "out in the sticks" (another expression to denote more obscure places) or not in the major urban areas.
You know I kinda figured, but just wanted to check. Doesn't phrasing like that piss off rural folk? I mean, if I called someone here in Europe a "peasant", which is pretty much "Hick", "Redneck" or such...he'd probably take my head clean off.
While it's not necessarily a good idea to go around calling people rednecks and hicks, it's not as offensive as calling someone a "peasant" in Europe. The rural population in the U.S. was never "tied to the land" in the same way that the peasantry in Europe was (aside from folks who came over as indentured servants, usually for periods of seven years or so...after which they were free to move on), and there was never any hereditary nobility (not that you'd know based on our current president), so there's not less of a stigma about being "countrified" here. Folks are generally proud of their rural heritage. Of course, the above historical statement doesn't include the very large population of slaves, whose plight was even worse than that of medieval European serfs...and yeah, any insult drawing on that particularly sad/tragic/horrific chapter in U.S. history would likely get you a well-deserved ass kicking.
Google is your friend. "Bush league is a general term used to describe an action or thing as being amateur, inferior or crude. In a literal sense, it refers to a low quality minor-league in baseball not associated with any of the major league teams. The term originated from the state of minor-league fields that often were ringed with shrubs and bushes."
Many rural and small town folk in the United States embrace the word "Redneck" and wear it like a badge of honor. It draws a nice distinction between them and the Yuppie scum that live in our more urban areas.
Who the hell are you calling folk? DISCLAIMER: That was a joke. It's sad that I always have to do these disclaimers on BS.
Calling another team baseball team bush league is almost immediate grounds for a fight. Losing teams usually say it after they get humiliated or after a trick play.