Dorado Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 Well I was watching American Pickers the other day and they went to meet a fellow called Hobo Jack or something like that. What got me thinking was that word "hobo". I can't seem to figure out where it came from. Does anyone here know where hobo came from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uno Mas SASS #80082 Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 From Wikipedia (and the intrawebs don't lie, right?) The origin of the term is unknown. Etymologist Anatoly Liberman says that the only details certain about its origin is that the word emerged in American English and was first noticed around 1890.[1] Liberman points out that many folk etymologies fail to answer the question: "Why did the word become widely known in California (just there) by the early Nineties (just then)?"[1] Author Todd DePastino has suggested that it may come from the term hoe-boy meaning "farmhand," or a greeting such as Ho, boy!.[3] Bill Bryson suggests in Made in America that it could either come from the railroad greeting, "Ho, beau!" or a syllabic abbreviation of "homeward bound."[4] H. L. Mencken, in his The American Language (4th ed., 1937), wrote: Tramps and hobos are commonly lumped together, but in their own sight they are sharply differentiated. A hobo or bo is simply a migratory laborer; he may take some longish holidays, but soon or late he returns to work. A tramp never works if it can be avoided; he simply travels. Lower than either is the bum, who neither works nor travels, save when impelled to motion by the police.[2] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 The Word Detective Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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