hobo synonymous with panhandler or beggar

[Michael McKernan]

I can't help thinking that a set of Linnean binomials might be useful for
analysis of the genus Hobo:  the rare species Hobo sapiens and Hobo
erectus; the more common Hobo inebriatus...and the noble Hobo rex, king of
the jungle.

Michael McKernan
Benson, Arizona

On Sun, Apr 1, 2012 at 6:15 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: hobo synonymous with panhandler or beggar
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I don't understand the conversation.
>
> Is a hobo only a hobo when he is traveling? If he arrives somewhere and
> does some work, is he no longer a hobo? What is he then? A bum? A homeless
> person?
>
> Look at the main character in "Hobo with a Shotgun". He is a hobo riding
> the rails, then he stops and gets odd jobs. I think he was a hobo while he
> was traveling and still a hobo while he got off the train.
>
> DanG
>
>
> On Sun, Apr 1, 2012 at 3:52 PM, Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:
>
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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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