hobo synonymous with panhandler or beggar

[Baker, John]

        I think the record is clear that, although hoboes were willing to work and did not see themselves as beggars, they were in no way averse to handouts, which were fairly common.

        My paternal grandfather, who died before I was born, spent several years traveling around the country.  As it was described to me, he would spend some time working in one place, then go elsewhere once he had saved a little money.  So this discussion is making me wonder if he was not among the hobo fraternity.  Once he settled down, he was seen as quite respectable and reasonably prosperous.


John Baker




-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2012 4:25 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: hobo synonymous with panhandler or beggar

John is right about the connotations of "migrant worker," especially since
_The Grapes of Wrath_.

A hobo, however,  was usually an itinerant or migratory worker rather than
a sponger of some sort. The hobo's most salient characteristic was probably
that he generally traveled by hopping Western freights.

The tramp was a more local character, and the bum or loafer more local
still.

JL

On Sun, Apr 1, 2012 at 3:52 PM, Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Baker, John" <JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM>
> Subject:      Re: hobo synonymous with panhandler or beggar
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>         "Migrant worker" and "hobo" have very different associations in my
> mind.  I think of "migrant workers" as people who travel seasonally for
> agricultural work.  They may have families and vehicles.  They are often,
> but not always, immigrants.  I think of "hoboes" as men (or older boys) who
> travel from place to place, perhaps hopping freight trains or hitch-hiking,
> and support themselves by whatever work is available (not necessarily
> agricultural work) or by handouts.  Hoboes do not have vehicles or families
> (at least not families who travel with them), but there is a large element
> of choice in their lifestyle, and they may subsequently settle down and
> become respectable.  This usage is essentially historical; hoboes were on
> their way out when "King of the Road" was written in 1964.
>
>
> John Baker
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2012 1:04 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: hobo synonymous with panhandler or beggar
>
> As I leraned it, the hobo was the migratory worker, the tramp the migratory
> nonworker.
>
> BTW, "migrant worker" has long been preferred.  Birds are migratory, so
> "migratory" must show disrespect.  (Birds can also be "migrants," but
> perhaps the public is less conscious of that.)
> OED has "migratory laborer" from 1911, "migrant worker" amusingly only from
> 1999.
>
> JL
>
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