Megathread - Hobo Glossary | Squat the Planet

Megathread Hobo Glossary

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-- Hobo Glossary --
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International:

TBD (mark countries the word is used in after what kind of word it is)


Canada:
Squeegee Kid - Cleans car windows while traffic is stopped at an intersection in exchange for money. Not as common as it used to be since the passing of The Safe Streets Act in Ontario.

TBD


United Kingdom:

TBD


United States:

Bull
- Noun
Railroad police

Busk - Noun
To play an instrument and/or sing for donations on the street.

Carhartt - Noun
Overalls that many travelers wear, usually still called Carhartts even if they're another brand name.

Fly a sign- Verb
Panhandle by hanging out with a sign that solicits donations, or makes a joke that will encourage folks to donate. "Traveling, Broke, and Hungry" is the classic here; "Money Needed For Beer [or Weed] Research" is another.

Freddie - Noun
A yellow box on the back of a train, looks like this and flashes. Useful for knowing which was the train is going. When cars are put together by the yard dog, these are added when the train is getting ready to leave the yard.

Grainer - Noun
Train cars that carry grain, very uniquely shaped. There is also a Canadian variant.

Ground score- Noun or verb
Anything useful or interesting found lying on the ground/road/sidewalk, or the act of picking up such things.

Homebum - Noun
What people usually think of when they hear the word homeless. Catch all for a non-hobo houseless person who does not travel, but stays home.

Home guard - Noun
Rarely used by some homebums in California to differentiate themselves from other non-hobos. Usually very knowledgeable about places to find food, work and where to stay away from.

Hop out - Noun, verb
1) Location where you wait for a freight train to stop; sometimes also referred to as a hop out spot.
2) To leave town on a freight train.

House punk/Housie- Noun, pejorative
A housed person who likes punk rock/punk culture, or dresses punk, as opposed to a houseless traveler punk. Pejorative because "housies" are seen as hypocrites/posers who don't really live their punk values.

Kick-down - Verb or noun
Money or goods donated by someone, or the act of giving such things.

Oogle - Noun, pejorative
An idiot houseless traveling person who makes trouble for others. A person who pretends to be a houseless traveler but has a house to return to and has a credit card; possibly a myth or extremely rare. Sometimes used in an endearing manner between friends, sometimes used to start a fight.

Rubber tramp - Noun
A hobo who owns a vehicle and travels with it.

Schwilly kid - Noun
A young drunk hobo who gets very drunk and often wants to fight, known to blow up the spot and throw bottles. Often called an oogle. Also an adjective: "schwilly", meaning drunk.

Skank - Noun
The bandana most train riders wear around their necks. Usually tied so they can cover their mouths. Harkens back to train engineers who wore them. Origin of it being called a skank unknown, please comment if you know.

Space bag - Noun
Boxed wine, often taken out of the box due to its size.

Spange - Verb
Shorthand for "spare changing", also known as panhandling: asking folks "Got any spare change?" [coins or small denomination bills].

Squat - Noun
A building that is generally previously abandoned that is occupied by those that are houseless. In most cases, the occupants don't try to adversely possess the building.

Stick and poke- Noun
Homemade tattoo done by sticking and poking India ink into the skin, usually with a thick needle.

Unit - Noun
The engine cars of a freight train. Usually in the front of the train but in some cases they're also at the back of the train.

Yard dog - Noun
An engine car that attaches other train cars together in the yard.

 
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RoadFlower33

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Idk the original reason why a skank was started to be called a skank.... but I have a theory, its bc its always dirty wet and hanging around your neck, like a skank.
 

Raggamuffin

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Some input from the UK. Worth a mention that there's huge language variations and dialect between regions. Like huge considering the size of the country. I'd say these are across the board though...

Bait - Adjective
Suspicious

Blag - Verb
To not quite steal, but acquire what you need through clever, dishonest or deceptive means. e.g "I blagged my way past reception"

Burner - Noun
Cheap disposable phone, normally used for illegal activities

Blues and twos - Noun
Police with flashing lights (blues) and sirens on (twos, originally 2 tone sirens)

Busk - Noun or Verb 'to busk'
Same as US

Ends - Noun
The area that you're from. e.g. "we'll go back to my ends"

Fiver / Tenner - Nouns
A £5 note / a £10 note

Graft - Verb
To work physically hard on laborious jobs. Like building, construction or doing up your van

Gypsy - Noun
Derogatory for 'Traveler' or 'Roma' (eastern Europe). People who live a nomadic way of life who are not from a specific ethnicity

Hard - Adjective
Tough e.g. "that security guard's well hard" or 'you're hard' = often said sarcastically for someone trying to act tougher than they are

Hustle - Verb
To earn money any way you can, like hustling the streets

Nick - Verb
To steal or 'to get nicked' = getting arrested

Pissed - Adjective
Dunk OR angry

Rave - Noun or Verb 'to rave'
Underground free parties. Punk / hardcore / reggae and sound-system music in large, abandoned, secret locations (warehouses, military bases, forests, beaches). Illegal. No fashion shows. Just music, sometimes days on end, where punks, hippies, travellers and all things crusty unite

Rollie - Noun
A roll up cigarette

Sesh - Noun or Verb 'to sesh'
A small party or general get together to consume drugs and alcohol

Skank - Noun or Verb 'to skank'
Dance. Like a kicky, stompy dance that originated from ska music in the 80s. Now it means have a good old stomp around e.g. "i'm gonna skank out at the rave"

Skins - Noun
Rolling papers and 'long skins' = joint rolling papers, 'skin up' = roll a joint

Skint - Noun
Broke, no money

Squat - Noun
Same as US

Teknival - Noun
A movement of rave and free parties

Tinnie - Noun
Can of alcohol

Wasted - Adjective
Drunk

Wellies - Noun
Rubber boots

Wasteman - Noun
Derogatory for someone who doesn't do a lot, a waste of space

Wook - Noun
Someone with dreadlocks who wears the persona of a hippie but instead they're unenlightened takers who will beg, borrow and steal with no return, like a 'Scumbag Steve'
 
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Jerrell

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A lot of those cross the board if you kick it with any of us that do that international thing.

The "wook" definition tho. LOL
 

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