Even though this is hardly a satisfactory solution hob does not seem to be among the common American synonyms for hillbilly , Poetto may have been right in looking on hobo as both hob-o and ho-bo and aligning it with words like weirdo and kiddo. Certain factors are not strong enough to effect the birth of a new word but they may go a long way toward expediting its appearance.
Perhaps hobo is hob-o. However, apart from the fact that in this etymology hob remains unexplained or so I think , we are left with our main questions: why in the western part of the United States and why around This post failed to clarify the history of hobo , but perhaps it cured some hotheads of offering nonsense dished up as wise musings.
If I succeeded in this moderate endeavor, my essay has not been written for nothing. His column on word origins, The Oxford Etymologist , appears here, each Wednesday. Send your etymology question to blog. Our Privacy Policy sets out how Oxford University Press handles your personal information, and your rights to object to your personal information being used for marketing to you or being processed as part of our business activities.
We will only use your personal information to register you for OUPblog articles. Or subscribe to articles in the subject area by email or RSS. However, hobos defined themselves like this—hobos worked, tramps worked only when made to, bums did not work at all. Hobu accent on 1st syll. Dakota-English Dictionary by S. There was, however an old tramp sat by the side of the road. The tramp screamed and touched her finger to the oozing blood.
The weather was calm, and the rustle and tramp of the French troops already beginning to move to take up their positions were clearly audible. All rights reserved. Filters 0. Words form: tramped tramping tramps. See word origin. The definition of a tramp is a homeless vagabond who wanders from place to place, or is slang for a loose woman who is immoral and sleeps with everyone and anyone.
A hobo jungle along riverfront in St. Louis in Photo by Arthur Rothstein, Library of Congress. Writers on the other end of the spectrum felt downright venomous toward these vagabonds, suggesting women leave poisoned meat on their back porches. Towns and cities would pass strict vagrancy or trespassing laws.
When wandering tramps arrived in Oakland, Maine, at the turn of the century, they would be imprisoned in a chair-shaped cage and mocked and tormented for a full day. As bleak as it was, hoboing gave many young men the hope that they could leave their hometowns, find work, and have great adventures along the way.
If the roots of the hobo are fairly well understood, the origins of the term itself, which was first recorded in the late 19th century, are murky. Around the same time, hoboes were starting to organize and codify their world, known as Hobohemia. They concluded they needed to form a union, as unemployed union members would not be harassed for coming to town. That night, they formalized the rights and duties of dues-paying union members, drawing up the papers for National Tourist Union 63, so named after the number of hoboes present.
During the Great Railroad Strike of , railroads hired guards like this one to protect strikebreakers and prevent train hopping. The Tourist Union started holding annual Hobo Conventions in different cities around the country to gather yearly dues one nickel per hobo , recruit new members, and reconnect with old friends.
The union sought to build a better relationship between itinerant workers and municipal and railroad police and hoped its conventions would improve their public image. Because these events drew so much attention, dozens of other similar groups formed and began hosting similar gatherings. At the Tourist Union convention held on the banks of St. Louis, the union members drew up a Hobo Code of Ethics. Hoboes at a jungle hang their washed laundry on a clothesline.
Via project. He must always look for work, particularly jobs no one else will do. Others are gifted musicians. Liberty Justice, who passed away, was a great hobo singer. He entertained at the jungle all the time by the campfire. Many current and past hoboes have published their stories in books. Expose all molesters to authorities; they are the worst garbage to infest any society. He would have to live in the garage and re-court his wife all over again until he earned his way back in the house.
According to the code, a hobo is expected to clean up after himself and pitch in with chores when he stays at a jungle. Temporary camps would become permanent jungles if they were located near a spot with frequent train stops. The campsite usually had kitchen utensils and pots and pans , a clothesline for doing laundry, and a shaving mirror.
It was at the jungles that new hoboes would learn the ropes of hoboing from older, more experienced men, as well as stories and songs. Then they would sleep next to the fire. The next day, a hobo would wash his one set of clothes in the river, to make sure it was clean for job-hunting, and hang it up in the trees. They always made sure their jungle was clean, so it was ready for the next bunch of hoboes who came through.
At some jungles, fires at night were verboten, because the local police and railroad officials loved to scapegoat hoboes, and camping together at a jungle made them easy targets.
Hoboes watch out after each other. South Main, and Baltimore Pratt Street. The men could also pick up odd jobs at hotels or restaurants.
The flophouses were usually dirty, rat-infested places filled with tuberculosis-riddled residents. According to Parker, four times as many hoboes stayed in a Chicago jail as they did flophouses during the s. According to White, often, both laborers and employers were required to pay the agency. Way, T. Potter, and W. Bradford—were looking for a way to put their tiny town on the tourist map, and give it the credentials of a big city. According to H.
Noe, to invite to him host the convention in Britt. Louis, Philadelphia, and Omaha; horse races; barbequed ox; baseball; roulette; many gallons of beer. Editor W. Via booksbrainsandbeer. But when I was growing up, these guys had to go out and make their own jungle along the railroad tracks for the convention.
The town butcher would throw scraps of meat out for them at the end of the night so they could put something in their stew.
And they went from house to house and would ask my mother and other women if they could have carrots, beans or potatoes out of the garden.
In exchange, they did work for these women, be it sweeping the sidewalk or washing their windows. When those old guys came into town, it was like our grandpa came to see us. That goes back to the day of piracy—the sailors had to tie ships together using this type of a knot. At the Hobo Convention in Britt, Frisco Jack, a master knots-man and seaman, would always make knots for everyone. A hobo college would offer a place to sleep, wash up, and cook mulligan stew.
Hoboes could also take free classes on industrial law, vagrancy laws, basic social science, how to prevent venereal disease, and how to get a job. The hobo colleges also attempted to usurp the disreputable employment agencies and become a reliable resource for job information.
Via the National Archives, WikiCommons. At its peak, the paper had a circulation of 20, and included information on jobs and labor organizing, pieces on hobo lore and living the life, poems, and personal essays. Most of the writing was submitted by readers, and some of the most famous authors included Zandt Spies, Voltairine de Cleyre, and Eugene Debs. Resident hoboes would provide each other services such as tailoring, barbering, and cooking. At the convention in Pittsburgh, Davis was elected King of the Hoboes for life.
I pledge myself to assist all runaway boys and girls, and induce them to return to their homes and parents. I solemnly swear never to take advantage of my fellow men … and to do all in my power for the betterment of myself, my organization and America—so help me God.
Walsh, traveled from Seattle through the Great Plains to Chicago and back, recruiting hoboes from boxcars, jungles, and main stems to organize and join unions. Hoboes were not so interested in the binding labor contracts that typical trade unions offered, but preferred direct action against exploitative employers, including strikes and sabotage. They were speedily rescued; following which Ginger Bitch gave birth to the first of a large litter of pups. Ginger Bitch was allowed to go free because she was daily expected to give birth to pups.
The Wolf stay'd till he had almost loaded again, but the Bitch making a great Noise, at last left us and went aside. Bitch , ram, buck and sow went the same way, and there was a day when even mare was prohibited. New Word List Word List. Save This Word! See synonyms for bitch on Thesaurus.
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