different between loafer vs hobo

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?l??f?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?lo?f?/
• Rhymes: -??f?(r)

Etymology 1

Perhaps short for landloafer, possibly a partial translation of German Landläufer (compare dialectal German loofen (“to run”), and English landlouper); or connected to Middle English love, loove, loffinge, looffinge (“a remnant, the rest, that which remains or lingers”), from Old English l?f (“remainder, residue, what is left”) (more at lave), which is akin to Scots lave (“the rest, remainder”), Old English l?fan (“to leave behind”) (more at leave).

Noun

loafer (plural loafers)

1. An idle person.
2. A shoe with no laces, resembling a moccasin.

Synonyms

• (idle person): bum, bumpkin, footler, idler, lout, yob, yobbo
• (footwear): penny loafer
• See also Thesaurus:idler

Translations

Etymology 2

From American Spanish lobo (“wolf”) (/?lo?o/), reinterpreted as or conflated with loafer (“idler”); compare the alternative forms which reflect other re-interpretations and conflations. Doublet of lupus and wolf.

Alternative forms

• lobo, lobo wolf
• lofer (wolf), lover (wolf), loper (wolf)

Noun

loafer (plural loafers)

1. (Southwestern US dialects) A wolf, especially a grey or timber wolf.

Usage notes

• Often used in compound with "wolf": "loafer wolf".

Further reading

• Robert N. Smead, Vocabulario Vaquero/Cowboy Talk: A Dictionary of Spanish Terms from the American West

Anagrams

• Florea, florae, floræ

English

Etymology

Unknown. Possibly a term for a stowaway traveler out of the Hoboken, NJ train yards, or a contraction of ho, boy, or the dialectal English term hawbuck (“lout, clumsy fellow, country bumpkin”). It could also be an abbreviation for homeless boy, homeward bound, or homeless Bohemian.

Pronunciation

• enPR: h?'b?, IPA^(key): /?h??.b??/
• Rhymes: -??b??

Noun

hobo (plural hobos or hoboes)

1. (Canada, US) A wandering homeless person, especially (historical) one illegally travelling by rail or (derogatory) a penniless, unemployed bum.
2. (Canada, US) Any migratory laborer, whether homeless or not.
3. A kind of large handbag.
   • 1989, Susan Ludwig, Janice Steinberg, Petite Style (page 46)

     Avoid bulky styles such as duffle sacks, buckets, doctors' satchels, and hobos.

Usage notes

• Often used attributively, as if an adjective. For example, "hobo stew", "he was leading a hobo life."
• Although informal usage considers hobo synonymous with bum, self-proclaimed hobos sometimes distinguish themselves as migrant workers rather than unemployed bums.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:vagabond

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

hobo (third-person singular simple present hobos, present participle hoboing, simple past and past participle hoboed)

1. (intransitive, perhaps pejorative) To be a hobo, tramp, bum etc.

   Joe idly hoboed through half the country till he realized hoboing never gets you anywhere in life.

References

Anagrams

• Boho, boho

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch hobo, from French hautbois.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /????b??/

Noun

hobo (plural hobo's, diminutive hobootjie)

1. oboe

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French hautbois, from Middle French [Term?].

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?o??bo?/
• Hyphenation: ho?bo
• Rhymes: -o?

Noun

hobo m (plural hobo's, diminutive hobootje n)

1. oboe (woodwind)

Derived terms

• hoboïst

Japanese

Romanization

hobo

1. R?maji transcription of ??