hobo synonymous with panhandler or beggar

[Victor Steinbok]

Perhaps "drifter" might be an improvement over "migratory laborer" or
"migrant worker". Drifters are not averse to taking jobs just as hobos
are not averse to taking charity. Lately, "drifter" appears to have
become the tag for "non-local criminal", particularly in murder cases in
the South.

     VS-)

On 4/1/2012 3:52 PM, Baker, John wrote:
>          "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

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