# Relationship between "Hoboken" and "Hobo"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 2, 2001, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177 "2001-11-02T19:08:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2001, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/1 "2001-11-02T19:08:30Z")
Hello, A word colleague of mine lives in this fabled NJ city and has a question - she knows that the city name is based on a Native American word, but did the city name lead to the naming of “hoboes”? She has heard that it did because Hoboken was a clearinghouse city and saw a lot of people down on their luck looking for opportunity. Thanks in advance for your help. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2001, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/2 "2001-11-02T19:10:28Z")
uh…that’s “work” colleague…must preview, must…preview ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2001, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/3 "2001-11-02T19:15:03Z")
[Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate dictionary](http://www.m-w.com) says “etymology unknown.” Who around here has an OED? ---
**Author:** ![cleops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2acd7d/32.png) [@cleops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cleops)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2001, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/4 "2001-11-02T19:17:42Z")
I always surmised the work “hobo” was a corruption from the French “hobereaux” which meant a former nobleman down on his financial luck or who had done something unaristocratic–like getting his hands dirty actually trying to make money–to lose his noble status. But, just a surmise. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2001, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/5 "2001-11-02T19:19:49Z")
Uh, I am under the impression that the New York town is named after a town in the Netherlands, as are Nieuw Amsterdam (New York), Haarlem, Schenectady, and Beverswyck (Albany). ---
**Author:** ![cleops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2acd7d/32.png) [@cleops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cleops)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2001, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/6 "2001-11-02T19:20:13Z")
word ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2001, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/7 "2001-11-02T19:21:32Z")
Uh, I am under the impression that the New Jersey town is named after a town in the Netherlands, as are other places in the area like Nieuw Amsterdam (New York), Haarlem, Schenectady, Breucklen (Brooklyn), Bronx, and Beverswyck (now Albany). ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2001, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/8 "2001-11-02T19:23:26Z")
My bad on that semi-double post. And apparently the old Hoboken is now in Belgium. . . ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2001, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/9 "2001-11-02T19:28:27Z")
According to _Cassell’s Dictionary Of Slang_, the etymology of _hobo_ is unknown. Claims have been made for _hoe-boy_, a migrant farm worker, and the cry _Ho, boy!_ used regularly by northwestern railway mail handlers c. 1880-90. There is no mention of _Hoboken_ in the definition. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2001, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/10 "2001-11-02T20:15:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by capybara \* > \*\* as are other places in the area like Nieuw Amsterdam (New York), Haarlem, Schenectady, Breucklen (Brooklyn), Bronx, and Beverswyck (now Albany). \*\* Actually, Beverswyck isn’t a town in the Netherlands. It means “beaver district”, because there was a trading post for beaver pelts there. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/11 "2001-11-03T00:10:55Z")
Here’s the full text of the OED’s information about the origins of this word: > [@](#): > > orig. Western U.S. First cite: > [@](#): > > **1889** _Ellensburgh_ (Wash.) _Capital_ 28 Nov. 2/2 The tramp has changed his name, or rather had it changed for him, and now he is a ‘Hobo’. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/12 "2001-11-03T02:40:31Z")
just a wag here - since hobo’s usually travel via feight trains and hoboken is basically a big rail yard - maybe the bums from NYC who wanted a change of carear got across the river and hopped a freight. ---
**Author:** ![arara123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@arara123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arara123)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/13 "2001-11-03T05:23:39Z")
I saw Patti Smith in concert at a street fair/summer festival in Hoboken a couple of years ago. FWIW, she mentioned the Hoboken/hobo tie-in. ---
**Author:** ![Neologian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9de0a6/32.png) [@Neologian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neologian)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/14 "2010-06-25T06:55:42Z")
My understanding was that “hobo” was an abbreviation for “home bound” as when the men riding the rails or camping on riverbanks were challenged by local authorities what they were doing, they would plead that they were “homebound.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/15 "2010-06-25T12:12:16Z")
Since the OED indicates the origin is from the western US and Hoboken is in the east, it seems unlikely there’s an etymological connection. ---
**Author:** ![Rodney\_of\_Texas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cab0a1/32.png) [@Rodney\_of\_Texas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodney_of_Texas)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/16 "2010-06-25T12:56:08Z")
I can’t find a link, but Garrison Keillor once explained that the gardening hoe was invented near the end of the civil war, and that destitute confederate veterans who could obtain one turned to wandering the countryside carrying their few belongings in a pack attached to the hoe. The cartoon image of a hobo with his pack on a ‘stick’ developed from this. These “Hoe Boys” would go door to door and offer to weed gardens or fields in exchange for food, shelter or money. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/17 "2010-06-25T13:22:21Z")
> [@Neologian](#): > > My understanding was that “hobo” was an abbreviation for “home bound” as when the men riding the rails or camping on riverbanks were challenged by local authorities what they were doing, they would plead that they were “homebound.” Almost certainly false. I realize this is a “zombie” thread, but might as well update it with the latest information. The word sleuths still haven’t discovered the etymology, at least not the smoking gun. But they have gotten a lot closer. The earliest cite is now from 1885 and shows the most likely derivation–a cry uttered by the tramps themselves– > [@](#): > > St. Paul daily globe. (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896 > November 30, 1885, Page 8, col. 1, Image 9 > > The Hobo, the “Workers,” the Crook and Tramp at home–Their Slang and Their > Habits > Something About Their Most Salient Characteristics–How They Act and Talk > … > THE “HOBO” > The genus tramp, i.e., the “bum” or “Hobo” is usually made up of a > conglomeration of human outcasts… > THIEVES’ VOCABULARY > …An overcoat is a “Ben.” Hobo is a call to attract attention, the same as > Hello in the average citizen’s vernacular. It is pronounced with the > long sound of the vowel, o, in both syllables, and is sometimes uttered with the aspirate omitted, as “Obo,” and is the shibboleth of the fraternity of bums and crooks. It is now commonly applied by them as a generic term to designate the order. Hence “Hobo,” when used in a substantative sense, means tramp or crook, as the case may be. For instance, when one says “That man is a Hobo,” he means tramp or crook… [col. 2]…further particulars will be postponed until another issue of The Globe. Rhue Saga. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/18 "2010-06-25T13:23:35Z")
> [@Rodney\_of\_Texas](#): > > I can’t find a link, but Garrison Keillor once explained that the gardening hoe was invented near the end of the civil war, and that destitute confederate veterans who could obtain one turned to wandering the countryside carrying their few belongings in a pack attached to the hoe. The cartoon image of a hobo with his pack on a ‘stick’ developed from this. > > These “Hoe Boys” would go door to door and offer to weed gardens or fields in exchange for food, shelter or money. Mr. Keillor tells a great story. 🙂 Nothing to back it up. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/19 "2010-06-25T14:11:10Z")
The relationship is that one is the other’s kin. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177/20 "2010-06-25T14:17:05Z")
> [@Rodney\_of\_Texas](#): > > I can’t find a link, but Garrison Keillor once explained that the gardening hoe was invented near the end of the civil war, and that destitute confederate veterans who could obtain one turned to wandering the countryside carrying their few belongings in a pack attached to the hoe. The cartoon image of a hobo with his pack on a ‘stick’ developed from this. > > These “Hoe Boys” would go door to door and offer to weed gardens or fields in exchange for food, shelter or money. Bindles predate the US Civil War (though the word does not). [Dick Whittington](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Whittington#Dick_Whittington_-_Stage_character) is typically depicted carrying a bindle as he leaves London, and one such image I’ve seen dates to the 17th century. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relationship-between-hoboken-and-hobo/91177.md?page=2)