hobo
a travelling person without a job or home
TRANSLATION
hobo = der Landstreicher --- GOOGLE INDEX hobo: approximately 10,700,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
He spent four years travelling around America on Greyhound buses and absorbing the realities of the not-so-glamorous HOBO lifestyle…
(The Knoxville Metro Pulse)
---
Wife: That HOBO looks hungry. Shall I give him one of my cakes?
Husband: Why, what harm has he ever done us?
(The Knoxville Metro Pulse)
---
Wife: That HOBO looks hungry. Shall I give him one of my cakes?
Husband: Why, what harm has he ever done us?
Did you
know?
hobo
noun
- someone who does not have a job or a house and who moves from one place to another
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
DID YOU KNOW?
Although people without jobs and homes who are constantly on the move can be found all over the world, the hobo is uniquely American. He has been made fun of and romanticised in books, on stage and in films. The hobo culture evolved in the U.S. in the late 1900s and gained a lot of attention during the Great Depression of the 1930s as hundreds of thousands of (mainly) men jumped on empty freight trains in search of work and a new life.
The origin of the word is unclear, but there are many theories including:
- a syllabic abbreviation of the expression HOmeward BOund
- from hoe boy, another word for a farm worker
- from the railroad greeting "Ho, beau!"
- from the New York city intersection of HOuston and BOwery streets where hobos used to gather
- from the expression "HOpping BOxcars"
Hobos are sometimes characterised as lazy, dangerous, alcoholic bums, an unfair stereotype that obviously cannot be applied 100 percent. They are also often viewed with a sense of humour:
Seen on Wilshire Boulevard, in Los Angeles, California, a tired homeless man carrying a cardboard sign:
"Homeless, hungry, please help. God bless."
Which he flips over to reveal "Or, visit my website at www.hobo.com"
---
SYNONYMS
beggar, bum, derelict, drifter, floater, hitchhiker, homeless person, loafer, outcast, panhandler, vagabond, vagrant, wanderer
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"While modern culture sometimes romanticises the life of the hobo, the reality can be very harsh."
noun
- someone who does not have a job or a house and who moves from one place to another
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
DID YOU KNOW?
Although people without jobs and homes who are constantly on the move can be found all over the world, the hobo is uniquely American. He has been made fun of and romanticised in books, on stage and in films. The hobo culture evolved in the U.S. in the late 1900s and gained a lot of attention during the Great Depression of the 1930s as hundreds of thousands of (mainly) men jumped on empty freight trains in search of work and a new life.
The origin of the word is unclear, but there are many theories including:
- a syllabic abbreviation of the expression HOmeward BOund
- from hoe boy, another word for a farm worker
- from the railroad greeting "Ho, beau!"
- from the New York city intersection of HOuston and BOwery streets where hobos used to gather
- from the expression "HOpping BOxcars"
Hobos are sometimes characterised as lazy, dangerous, alcoholic bums, an unfair stereotype that obviously cannot be applied 100 percent. They are also often viewed with a sense of humour:
Seen on Wilshire Boulevard, in Los Angeles, California, a tired homeless man carrying a cardboard sign:
"Homeless, hungry, please help. God bless."
Which he flips over to reveal "Or, visit my website at www.hobo.com"
---
SYNONYMS
beggar, bum, derelict, drifter, floater, hitchhiker, homeless person, loafer, outcast, panhandler, vagabond, vagrant, wanderer
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"While modern culture sometimes romanticises the life of the hobo, the reality can be very harsh."
