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    From where comes the word "hobo?"

    Question #117818. Asked by star_gazer. (Sep 27 10 5:59 AM)


    Snowman

    		The where: the word is cited as an Americanism by the Oxford English Dictionary.

    The when: between 1885 and 1890.

    The why: It's origin is uncertain but it seems to have originated from the American railroads and may be a contraction of the phrase "Homeward Bound", inspired by the railroad greeting, "Ho beau!" or taken from a slang term for a farmhand, "Hoe-boy".

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobo#Etymology

    Sep 27 10, 9:47 AM

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