A Dictionary of Old Hobo Slang



Stephen P. Alpert - March 31, 2004



Compiled from many books on hoboes, and also some original material supplied to the author.



A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

~ A ~

accommodation - a local freight train

ace spot - one dollar

airdale - an extreme loner

alkee stiff - a tramp that consumed alcohol

alki - a) an alcoholic b) alcohol

alligator bait - fried or stewed liver

All Tramps Sent Free - Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe RR

anchor - a pick

angel - a person who gives more than you expect

angel food - a mission sermon

Angelina - a punk or road kid acting as a hobo's companion

Auntie - Angelina grown older

antique - an old-timer on the road

apple knocker - an apple picker

Apple Butter Route - Norfolk and Western RR (southern Ohio)

axle grease - butter

axle swinging - riding under a railroad car



~ B ~

badorder - a boxcar on its way to the repair yard

bad road - a railroad or division where trainmen are especially hard on hoboes

bakehead - a fool or idiot

baldy - an old man

bale of straw - a blonde woman

balling the Jack - speeding

ball lump - sandwiches or cake wrapped up and handed to a tramp

balloon - a pack or bedroll, carried over the back or shoulder

banjo - a short-handed shovel

baraby - a genteel, quiet, respectful tramp

barber - to talk, usually too much

barnacle - a fellow who sticks to one job a year or more

barrel house - a cheap, filthy lodging house

batter - to beg

batting - to wander aimlessly

battleship - a high-sided steel coal car usually with a hopper or dump bottom

bazoo - mouth

beagles - hot dogs

bedroom of stars - a city park

to beef on - to inform

beefer - a) one who whines b) an informer

belly of a drag - the underside of a slow freight train

belly robber - a boarding boss who tries to save money on food

ben - a vest

benny - an overcoat

biddies - hen's eggs

the Big Burg - New York City

big four - a duck egg omelet

Big "G" - Great Northern RR

big hook - a big steam crane

big house - the state penitentiary

big O - a train conductor

Big Ole - a fellow who tries to show the boss how strong he is

big school - the state penitentiary

the Big Smoke - Pittsburgh

Big Rock Candy Mountain - the hobo's paradise

the Big Town - a) New York City b) Chicago

bindle - a bundle, bag, bedroll, or backpack carried by a hobo

bindle stick - a stick used to carry a bindle over the shoulder

bindle stiff - a) a hobo who carries his gear in a sack or bundle b) a hobo who carries his bedding

biscuit - a silver dollar

biscuit shooter - camp waiter or hash slinger

bit - a term in prison

bitch - an improvised candle

Bitter Biscuit Line - Piedmont divisions of the Southern RR

black bottle - poison allegedly given to hoboes in hospitals

black strap - coffee

blanket stiff - a hobo who carries his bedding

blind - the space between the engine and the mail or baggage car

blind baggage - hoboes who ride the blind

blinky - a train rider who lost one or both eyes

blip - a nickel

blister - an old woman

blisters - beggars who put chemicals on their limbs to simulate ugly sores

Mr. Block - one who believes police mean well and sharks are good fellows

block scrapings - meat begged from a butcher

blowed in the glass - trustworthy

blowed-in-the-glass stiff - a) an upper-class tramp b) a true and trusted pal

blowing smoke - boasting

B.N. - Burlington Northern

bob tail - a short local freight train

bo-ette - a female hobo

Bohunk - A Polish or other Slavic laborer

boil up - to wash clothes and kill any vermin therein

bone orchard - a graveyard

bone polisher - a wicked dog

boodle - cheap grafting done by yeggs

boodle jail - a jail providing a good winter's lodging

boomer - a) a transient railroad worker b) a seasonal or migratory worker

booming - going from one job to another

booster - a chronic drunk

booze hoister - a heavy drinker

bossy in a bowl - beef stew

boston - a pool game

Boston bum - a highbrow poser

bottle wagon - an iron coal car

Bowery barometer - curbstone philosopher from the New York main stem

boxcar tramp - one who regularly rides boxcars

boxcar Willies - hoboes and tramps

bracers - legs

braky - a brakeman

Bread and Milk Route - Boston & Maine RR

breezer - a hobo

bridal chamber - a) a flop house where guests lie on the floor b) a miner's workplace

Bridgeport - any hick town

bridge snake - a structural iron worker

bridger - a train rider who has ridden both steam and diesel trains

Broken & Maimed - Boston & Maine RR

Browning Sisters - the Angelina sorority

Buck - a Catholic priest good for a dollar

budge - an upper front pocket

bug - a lamp in a hobo jungle

bull - railroad policeman

bull artist - a hobo with a gift of gab

bull cook - a) a camp flunky; b) a cook's helper

bullets - beans, when poorly cooked and hard

bull horrors - obsessive fear of the police

bull local - a freight which travels between divisions, often stopping at local yards

bum - a skid row alcoholic, infrequently found on freight trains, does not work

bumpers - couplings between freight cars where hoboes sometime ride

bums on the plush - the idle rich

The Bum's Own - Baltimore & Ohio RR

bundle tosser - a hobo harvest hand who pitches bundles

buttermilker - a hobo from Pittsburgh, PA

buzz - to beg



~ C ~

C. and A. pockets - huge pockets on the inside of a coat for carrying food

cackleberries - eggs

cacklers - white collar workers

cages - cubicle rooms in the cheap lodging houses

Cali - California

California blanket - newspapers, used to sleep under

call - a hobo dish of mashed potatoes, butter liverwurst and onions

calling in - a ) using another's campfire to cook b) visiting

cally or callie - a police station (from calaboose)

camp eye - the hobo who looks after jungle while the others are away

candle eater - a Russian

candy job - a pleasant or "sweet" job

canned heater - one who drank a deadly potion of cheap alcohol and water

Canned Meat & Stale Punk - Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul RR

cannonball - a ) a fast freight train b) the mythical hobo's train which is fast and goes everywhere

Captain - a head man or big shot

card man - a union man or hobo with a red I.W.W. card

car knocker - a yard man who works assembling trains

The Carry All - Chicago & Alton RR

carry the banner - to walk the streets all night, not having a place to sleep

case dough - the last of your bankroll

Casey - Kansas City, MO

cat - a young tramp or hobo, new to the roads

cat wagon - a brothel on wheels

catch - to board a train

catch back - to ride the way you have come on a freight

catch him on the run - to board a train while it is moving

catting in - using another's campfire to cook

cattle stiff - a cowboy

chaw - an Irishman

checkerboard crew - mixed crew of white and black workers

cheesy - to be filthy with dirt

chicken in the clay - a fowl rolled in mud and then roasted

chuck-a-dummy - to fake a fainting fit in order to get sympathy

chronicker - a hobo who carried his cooking utensils

Cincie - Cincinnati, OH

cinder dick - a railway policeman who rode the trains

cinder sifter - tramping along the railroad tracks

the City - New York City

clam - one dollar

clay on the shuck - ears of corn rolled in clay and put to roast

clover kicker - farmer

coal passer - fireman

coffee bag - the coat pocket (where the coffee is carried)

Cold, Hungry & Damp - Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton RR

collar and shoulder style - everything is put on the table and the hobo guest helps himself

combination stew - a jungle dish of vegetables and meat

combination train - a mixed passenger and freight local train

comet - a) hobo new to the road b) a high-class hobo or tramp who only rides fast trains

con (or connie) - a) conductor b) a tubercular person

convention - any impromptu gathering of hoboes

coop - jail

Cough and Snort - Colorado and Southern RR

Cousin Jack - a Englishman

cover with the moon - to sleep in the open

cozzy - a men's public lavatory

crimps - rheumatism

croaker or crocus - a doctor, especially a quack

crotch crickets - crabs (lice)

crowbar hotels - local police stations

crumb boss - a janitor or porter for western construction-camp bunkhouses

crumbs - lice

crummy - a) the caboose b) to be lousy

crum roll - a bed roll

crums - lice

culls - hash, inferior

cushions - a passenger train or car

cut out - to drop off one or more freight cars on a siding or in a freight yard



~ D ~

dace - a two-cent piece

daddy - a Cadillac auto

dago red - a cheap wine

Damn Rotten Grub - Denver, Rio Grande RR

damper - cash register

de - the

deadhead - an empty car in back of the engine tender

dead one - a) a retired hobo b) a drunken hobo c) a hobo who just spent all his money

dead picker - a yegg who robs a drunk

dead soldier - an empty whiskey bottle lying beside the road

death wood - plank above the coupling of boxcars

deck address - a secret address

deck 'em - to ride the top of a passenger train

deck hand - a domestic, who does ordinary work around the house

decorate the mahogany - to buy the drinks

deece - a dime

deep-sea chef - a dishwasher

dehorn - denatured alcohol

derail - denatured alcohol

deuce - two dollars

dicer or dice train - a fast freight train

dicer - a hat

dimmer - a dime

ding bat - a dreg of vagrantdom; mooches off other hoboes

dingoes - hoboes who refuse to work even though they claim to be looking for a job

ding shop - a mission or transient camp

dingy - a colored vagabond

dino - one who sponged food off fellow hoboes

dip - a pickpocket

discard artist - one who wears picked up clothes

ditch - to put off a train

division - main freight yards, usually 500 miles apart

doc - someone who supplies alcohol

Doctor Bates - a tough hobo

dog house - caboose

dog robber - a boarding house keeper

The Dope - Baltimore & Ohio RR

double-ender - a train with two engines and two cabooses

doughhead - a baker

doughnut philosopher - a hobo who is satisfied with coffee and feed

drag - a) a slow freight train b) the main street of a town c) a homosexual party

drag, on the - on the road or on the street of a town

drag line - track onto which a train is pulled when being passed on the main line

Dr. Hall - alcohol, liquor

drill - a) to walk or hike b) a switch engine

dry combo - a meal that needed no cooking

ducket - a ticket or card good for a feed or a flop

duffer - bread and coffee

duke player - a person who cheats at cards or checkers

dukie - anything to eat

dummy - a tramp that pretends to be deaf and dumb

dump - a meeting place, a rendezvous

dynamiter - one who sponged food off fellow hoboes

dyno - a) a tramp who follows the highway instead of the railroad b) a tramp who begs off other tramps c) a rock man who handles dynamite



~ E ~

eagle eye - locomotive engineer

eat snowballs - to stay north on the road in the winter

empty - an empty boxcar, without a load of freight

Espee - Southern Pacific RR

exhibition meal - a meal eaten at the doorstep (so neighbors can witness madam's generosity)

extra gang - a crew that works on the railroad track

eye opener - an early morning drink



~ F ~

faded bogey - a Negro acting as an informer

fag - a) a cigarette butt b) a road kid with homosexual tendencies

fakir - a bum or tramp pretending to be a hobo

faith man - a mission stiff

fanner - being hit on the soles while sleeping on a park bench

fielder - a brakeman

fin - five dollars

fingy or fingers - a train rider who lost one or more fingers

fish - jail term for new prisoners

fisheries - missions along the main stem

First of May - an new, inexperienced hobo

five-hundred milers - through freights that stop only at divisions

flannel mouth - an Irishman

flat - a flat car

flat-wheeler - a bad-riding car

fleabag - a bedroll or sleeping bag

flicker - to faint or simulate fainting

flim-joint - a bank

flip - to hop a moving train

flop - to sleep, or a place to sleep

flopper - a tramp that squats on the sidewalk in business thoroughfares; may fake being crippled

flying light - a) hungry b) traveling without a bindle

fly-away - a military deserter

flyer - an express train

fly light - to miss a meal

fly mugs - private police

forty-fives - navy beans

Foul Water & Dirty Cars - Fort Worth & Denver City RR

freezer - a refrigerator car

Frenchy - a French-Canadian hobo

fresno - a roadbed scraper drawn by horses

frisk a drag - to search a freight for a suitable riding place

frog (or frog eater) - a Frenchman

fusee - a warning device to place on the track

fuzzy tail - a) a dreg of vagrantdom b) a tramp in bad humor



~ G ~

galway - a priest

gandy dancer - a) a railroad worker b) a hobo shovel stiff

gandy stiff - one who occasionally labored, a day or two at the most

gas - wood alcohol or doped cider or ether

gat - a gun

gate - a railway switch

gay cat - a) a tenderfoot hobo b) someone employed as a scout by criminal tramps

George - a) one who is shrewd, alert, and well informed b) everything is fine

get a fanner - to be moved on by the police

ghosts - beggars who simulate pallor, haggardness, or disease

ghost story - plausible tale told to the housewife

giggle - a gumbo made by gandy dancers

Gila-monster route - part of the Southern Pacific running through Arizona

gink - a poor unfortunate

gink stiff - same as gandy stiff

gin mill - a) a speakeasy b) a leather wallet

Give Tie Passes - Grand Trunk Pacific RR

glauming - gathering or stealing

glims - spectacles

glomming the grapevine - stealing clothes from a clothesline

G.N. - Great Northern

goat - a yard locomotive

going by hand - walking

going on the farm - a train going on a side track

go junking - to scavenge for scrap metal or other material to sell for salvage

gondola (or gonnie) - a shallow, uncovered car

gonsil - a youth not yet adopted by a jocker

gooseberrying - stealing clothes off a clothesline

gooseberry ranch - a brothel

goozlum - thick and gummy in substance (mud, food, etc.)

go with the birds - to go south for the winter

grab and armful of boxcars - catch a freight train

grabbing scenery - an inexperienced hobo easily spotted as he watches the scenery

grab iron - a bar welded onto a boxcar and held onto when jumping over the couplings

grainer - a freight car for carrying heavy loads that need protection from the elements

graveyard - hash

graveyard stew - hot milk and toast (for those of few or no teeth)

grease ball - a dreg of vagrantdom

grease ranch - restaurant

grease the track - suicide by leaping in front of a train

grinder - teeth

groundhog - brakeman

growler - a can of beer

gummy - a hobo who goes along with the crowd but never contributes

gumbo - an old can used by a tramp or hobo

gump - chicken

gun boat - a) a steel coal car b) an empty tin can for cooking or washing clothes

gun moll - a dangerous woman tramp

gunnels (or gunnells) - the rods of a train where hoboes ride

gunsel (or guntzel) - a green youth

gut plunge - a trip to the butcher to beg for meat for the Mulligan

guts - meat, usually sausage

gyppo - a sub-contractor with poor equipment



~ H ~

half a yard - fifty dollars

halfy - train rider who lost both legs above the knees

ham - to walk about the country

hand the match - giving an intruder a match to make his own fire, indicating he is not welcome

hard oil - butter

hard tails - old mules

harness bulls - uniformed policemen

harvest buzzard - a hobo who works in the harvest

hasher - a female cookhouse helper

hay bag - a female hobo or stew bum

head end - the front section of a train (locomotive and water tender)

headlights - eggs

heifer - any young woman

helpers - extra engines attached to a train to pull it over an upgrade

hidden hands - beggars who hide or bind their hands

hieser - tramp

highball - a ) to go full speed b) two whistle toots signaling that a train is about to move

highball whistle - one short and one long whistle signaling a train is about to leave

high diver - a yegg who picks pockets

high fence - a man's white neck collar

high heels - a woman hobo, or women hoboes collectively

high iron - the main line of the railroad

high jacket - a yegg who robs hoboes

High Line - the old Great Northern route through the Dakotas, Montana, Idaho, Washington

high-roller - a hustling tramp

High Yaller Line - Savannah & Atlanta RR

hiker - town Marshall

the Hill - the Sierra Nevadas

His Nibs - police court judge

hit a lick - make a score

hit the ball - to speed up on the job

hitting grounders - picking up cigarette butts

hitting a New Yorker - finding a long cigarette butt

hitting the grit - a) walking along tracks b) being forces off a fast moving train

hobo belt - the citrus belt of California (a favorite wintering place)

Hobohemia - the universe of the hobo

hobo nighthawk - a railroad policeman disguised as a hobo

hobo shortline - suicide by flinging oneself in front of a train

hobo special - a freight train of empty cars

hog - a locomotive

hogger (or hog mauler or hoghead) - engineer

hogleg - a long-barreled gun

holding the lady (or her) down - riding the rods under a train car

home guard - a native, non-migrating worker

honey dipping - working as a shovel stiff in a sewer, or any unpleasant shovel work

hoop chisler - a peddler of worthless rings and watches

hoosier - the natives, generally simple fellows (rubes, hicks, yaps)

hooty - angry

Hoover blankets - see California blankets

hoppins - ingredients

the Horn - the triangular extension of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy RR

Horned Toad - the Albuquerque-Deming stem of the Santa Fe

horstile - a town unfriendly to hoboes

hot - a) illegal and dangerous b) fast c) wanted by the law

hot boxes - old-style lubrication on boxcar axles that created a rough ride

hot shot (or hotshot) - a freight train that goes cross country without breaking up

hot stuff - stolen goods

hot yard - a freight yard where hoboes are arrested for riding

house dog - someone who cleans windows, beats carpets, does other housework

how strong are you? - how much money do you have

hump - a) a small hill in a freight yard over which uncoupled cars are pushed b) the continental divide

hundred on a plate - a can of beans

hunger lane - a railroad that passes through country hostile to hoboes

hunt a wampus - a wild goose chase

hustle buggy - police vehicle



~ I ~

ice palace - a high class saloon or brothel (with many mirrors)

ink - cheap red wine

Irish turkey - corned beef and cabbage

iron man - a silver dollar

irons - rails



~ J ~

Jack - a generic term for any hobo or man

jack - money

jack-roller - one who robs a drunken person

Jake - everything is fine

jake leg - a chronic drunk

Jane - any woman or girl

java - coffee

jawbone - credit in the company store

The Jawbone - the Montana RR

J.B. - a Stetson hat

jerk town or jerkwater town - a small village or town

jerries - section hands

jerry gang - a railroad construction crew

Jesus guy - a mission stiff

jiggers - pretending affection to elicit sympathy while begging

jitney or jit - a nickel

jocker - a) an experienced hobo who taught minors that way of life b) the relationship was often sexual

Joe - coffee

John Brown Division - Harper's Ferry division of the B & O RR

John Family - farmers, police, or yeggs

John Hollow Legs - a hungry stiff

Johnny O'Brien - a boxcar

John O'Brien - a freight train

Johnson Family - the yegg community

join out - to hire out in order to gain transportation

jolt - a jail sentence

jolt wagon - a rough riding farm wagon

juble joo - yegg term for riding on top of a train

jug - a jail or prison

jug heister - a chronic drunk

jump the blind - ride on the platform of a baggage car

jungle - a) a hobo camp b) a social group that occupies a camp c) to camp together

jungle buzzard - a dreg of vagrantdom; one who begs around hobo jungles

jungle up - to rest, wash, and eat in a jungle

junk - drugs

junker (or junky) - a) fellow who uses drugs; b) a local work train



~ K ~

kale - money

The Katy - Missouri Kansas & Texas RR

Kay See - Kansas City, MO

keister - suitcase

kelly - a hat

kelly stick - a device to aid in washing clothes and boiling up

key men - skilled workers

kick - a pocket in trousers

kicks - shoes

kip - a) to sleep b) a bed

kip house - a tramps or vagrants lodging house

kip jack or dough - money for a bed or lodging

knobhead - a mule

knob-knocker - safe-cracker

knowledge box - schoolhouse where hoboes sometimes sleep

ky wah - a hobo pitchman selling jewelry, pens, novelties



~ L ~

lace curtains - whiskers

the Lake - Salt Lake City

lakers - hoboes who work on the Great Lakes and go south for the winter

lamb - a boy tramp or road kid

lambing - to heard sheep

Land of Manna - State of Utah

Land of Milk and Honey - State of Utah

leather poke - wallet

lee of a reefer - icebox on a refrigerator car, a potential place to ride

lefty - a train rider who lost left arm and leg

Less Sleep and More Speed - Lake Shore and Michigan Southern RR

library birds - unemployed men who lounge in libraries for shelter

lid - a cap or hat

lighthouse - a) one who can recognize plainclothes detectives b) a stingy person

light pieces - small gifts of money

limpy - a cripple

line - the underworld

little red wagon - a dump wagon

little school - reform school or house of correction

lizzie moocher - a tramp who panhandles food and gas in a car

load of culls - a plate of hash

Long Island peek - a sly glance from the corner of the eye

louse cage - a hat

Lousy Anna - Louisiana

lump - a handout (a sack or package of food)

lump oil - coal



~ M ~

Ma and Pa RR - Maryland & Pennsylvania RR

made - the assembling of a train

main line - the track in the yard on which the through trains run

main stem - main street of a city or neighborhood

make a hole in the water - suicide by drowning

making a riffle - begging money

makins - tobacco; cigarette tobacco and papers

manifest - a fast train

mark - a hobo sign relaying information to other hoboes

meg - a penny

mess moll - a woman cook

Mickeyville - Mechanicsville, NY

milestone inspector - a professional; tramp

mill - a locomotive

Milk and Honey route - railroads through Mormon territory

minister's face - pig's head server in cheap restaurants

mission squawker - an evangelist

mission stiff - a tramp who lives in a mission

mitts - a train rider who lost one or both hands

mix me a hike - Pay me off! Give it to me!

moll-buzzers - women who pickpockets or begs from other women

mongee - money

moniker - a nickname

monitor - a long cigar butt

monkey chasers - West Indians or other Negroes from the tropics

mooch - to beg, usually at back doors

moocher - a professional beggar

Mop - Missouri Pacific RR

Mop Mary - a scrubwoman

moper - a bum who is even lower than a moocher

Mop Mary - a scrub woman

mop stick - barfly in a cheap saloon

muck stick - a long-handled shovel

mud - a) coffee b) strong coffee mixed with weak milk

mule - corn alcohol

The Mullet Line - Atlantic & East Carolina RR

Mulligan stew - hobo stew

mumbly pegs - a woman's legs

munies - municipal lodging houses

mushfaker - an umbrella mender or other repairman

mush rigger - an umbrella mender

mush talk - flattery



~ N ~

nail a rattler - catch a train

Nat Wills - an old suit

navy - a long cigar butt

Never Come, Never Go - Nevada County Narrow Gauge RR (Calif.)

nickel flop - an all-night movie house

nickel note - a five dollar bill

noch - a Hebrew shelter for homeless men

nose bag - lunch handed out in a paper sack

nose diver - a tramp who lives in a mission

N.P. - Northern Pacific

nuttery - hospital for the insane



~ O ~

obie - post office

Octopus - the Southern Pacific Railroad

odd fellows - three doughnuts and coffee

oil of joy - any strong drink

O'Leary - to walk

Oliver - the moon

One-Eyed Connolly - a gate crasher

one of the burlap sisters - a prostitute

one thousand miles - a dark or black shirt

on the hog - having no money

on the hummer - being on the bum but not down and out

on the plush - well off financially

on the uppers - being on the bum and nearly down and out

O.P.C - other people's cigarettes, recycled

open road - a railroad or division easy to travel (opposite of bad road)

Original Ham and Egg Route - Oberlin, Hampton and Eastern RR

outfit - a number of hoboes traveling in company (term later adopted by military in WWI)

outside 'bo - a hobo who winters outside

outside ride - riding a freight car exposed to the elements



~ P ~

P.A. - Pennsylvania

pack of butts - a package of cigarettes

padding the hoof - going by foot

pale Vienna - coffee made with cream instead of water

palooka - a riving fighter who lives in the past

papa - a Lincoln automobile

park ape - a tramp who suns himself in city parks

Paul Bunyan - a chronic but interesting liar

pay station - a social welfare agency that gives out money

pay streak - a job that pays well

pearl diver - a dishwasher

peanut farm - workhouse where the inmates crack stones

pea soup - a French Canadian, often a lumberjack

peatman (or peterman) - a safe-blower

peddler - a local or slow freight

peg - a train rider who lost a foot

the Peg - Winnipeg, Canada

pennies - money, cash

pennsy - a coal car

Pennsy - Pennsylvania RR

Pennsylvania feathers - soft coal or coke

Pennsylvania salve - apple butter

Peoria - thin soup, generally potato water with salt

pershin - see prushun

pete man - a safe cracker or burglar

phony crip - self-mutilated or simulating a deformity

phony stiff (or phony man) - one who sells fraudulent or cheap jewelry

pickets - teeth

pie card - one who hangs around someone with money

pig - a box car or other train car

piggyback - a flat car on which a truck-trailer is bolted

pig's vest with buttons - sow belly, or any fat bacon

pile driver - good strong coffee

pill roller (or pill peddler) - a doctor

Pitsy - Pittsburgh, PA

Peoria (or Peory water) - a thin soup, usually potato water with salt

pickets - teeth

pig - a locomotive

pig iron dump - a hardware store

pig's vest with buttons - sow belly, fat bacon

pile driver - good strong coffee

pill peddler - a physician

pimp's turban - a bowler hat

pin grease - butter

pipe - to mooch or beg

piping the stem - begging on the streets

P.K. - the principal keeper of the little school

plainer - a hobo walking or riding through the Great Plains

plaster - butter

pling - to beg

plinger - a tramp that solicits alms at stores, offices, and residences

plinging - walking fast

plough jockey - a farmer

pogey (or pogie) - an almshouse or workhouse or poorhouse

poke - a wallet

pokeout - handout

pokey stiff - one who subsists on handouts solely

polish the mug - wash one's face and hands

poodle - town Marshal

possesh - a road kid

possish - one's position in the tramp's social scale

possum belly - riding atop or the deck under a passenger coach

postman - a hobo who goes fast and far

pot gang - a cluster of hoboes around a pot in a hobo jungle

pot walloper - a dish and pot washer

pound the ear - to sleep

power - engines

preshun - punk

privates - private dwellings

profesh - an experienced hobo, sometimes a criminal

prone the body - to lie down and rest

proper stiff - a tramp who considered manual toil the acme of disgrace

prushun or prushin - a) a young boy on the road b) a boy held in bondage by a jocker

pull a pin (or pull the pin) - to quit

punk - a) a boy discarded by a jocker b) a young hobo c) bread

punk and gut - bread and sausage

punk and plaster - bread and butter

punk and plaster route - traveling among the Pennsylvania Dutch

push - a road gang

pusher - the person in charge of the job



~ Q ~

Q or The Que - Chicago, Burlington & Quincy RR



~ R ~

Rabbi - a frequent moniker of a Jewish hobo

raghead - an oriental, from the turban some wear

rag(s) - a) a book or paper b) clothing c) paper money

railroad bull - a railroad policeman

railroad dick - a railroad policeman

rambler - a high class hobo who rides only fast passenger trains for long distances

rank cats - the lowest form of bum

rattler - a fast train

razor back - a circus roustabout

read your shirt - examine your clothes for lice

ready-mades - store-bought cigarettes

redball - a) a through freight train b) a fast fruit train

red eye - whiskey

red lead - catsup

reefer - refrigerator car

relievers - good shoes

remittance man - a hobo paid by his family to stay away from home

reuben - a small town inhabitant

ride the cushions - a) to live in luxury b) to pay for and ride in the passenger coach

ride the velvet - see ride the cushions

riding bulls - railroad police who ride the trains to arrest or chase off hoboes aboard

righty - a train rider who lost right arm and leg

rip-rapping - reinforcing the sides of a railroad cutting with stones

road hog - a hobo or tramp who is always on the move

road kid - a) a young hobo b) a boy held in bondage by a jocker

road sister - a female hobo

robbing the mail - snatching food and milk delivered at doorsteps early in the morning

Rodney - a tramp or hobo (from rod of a RR car?)

rods - bars beneath a freight car

roll - to rob a sleeping drunk

roundhead - a Swede

rubberglue - a plainclothes cop

rubber tramp - a tramp who lives and travels in an old automobile

rubbydub - denatured alcohol

ruff - a quarter (coin)

rummy stiff - a tramp with deranged intellect from habitual use of raw rum



~ S ~

saddle blankets - hot cakes

sack of weeds - bag of tobacco

Sacred Tract Road - Boston & Albany RR

sagebrush philosopher - a gabby fellow from the west

sales lady - a prostitute

Sally, Sally Ann - Salvation Army

salve - a bribe given to a trainman for a ride

salve eater - a snuff chewing Swede

sand - sugar

sand hog - where sand is kept dry, for use on icy track

Santa Fe Town - San Bernardino, CA

sap - a policeman's club

sawbuck - ten dollars

scatter - a speakeasy

scenery bum - a young tramp on the move for the pleasure of it

scissorbill - a) one who doesn't want to join a labor union b) an ignorant person c) a farmer

scoffing - eating

scrape a mug - shave one's face

scrape the pavement - shave one's face

scrapers school - a barber school where hoboes could get a free haircut and shave

scratch - money or other assets

scratches - trousers

screw your nut - get wise to yourself

seam squirrels - body lice

sea food - a sailor

sea stiff - a sailor tramp

seed - a dollar

set down (or sit down) - having a full meal inside someone's house

set off - leave part of the train behind

sewer hog - a ditch digger

shack - a brakeman

shackle-up - to cook one's stew, especially in a jungle

shack fever - a) tired, sleepy, dopey feeling b) desire to hit the road and travel

shanny - shanty

shanty queen - any woman around a camp

shark - employment agent who sells jobs to hoboes

shatting on the uppers - to be broke

shavetails - a) young mules b) a young army officer of low rank

sheets - newspapers for a bed

shicer or sheister - swindler, shyster

shill through - to get in for free or bluff one's way

shine - a colored vagabond

shiner - a dime

shirt rabbits - lice

shiv (or shive) - a razor

shoo fly - a) a detour track built around a temporary obstacle b) avoid passing though a hobo-hostile town

shoot snipes - to collect discarded cigar and cigarette butts

short staker - a hobo who stays on the job long enough to amass traveling money

shroud - a suit of clothes

shuffler - a jobless worker

Shy - Chicago

side-door pullman - a boxcar

single O -- working alone by preference

sinker - a) a dollar b) a donut

sit down - see set down

sizzler - a) a cook b) a stove

skating on the uppers - dead broke

skee - whiskey

skin - a shirt or blouse

skin hustling - selling fake furs

skinner - a mule driver

skipper - the conductor

skoff - to eat

skuds - lots, plenty

sky blue - vegetable soup with little ingredients

sky piece - a hat

sky pilot - a mission-house or highbrow preacher

slamming a gate - to go to a private house and beg

slave market - employment agency

sleep - a short prison term

slides - shoes

slob sister - a moocher who weeps to his clients

sloughed - to be arrested (pronounced "slowed")

Slow Town - Detroit, MI

slum-gullion - stew, usually uninviting

slum hustling - selling fake jewelry

sly hay bag - a woman hobo who crafted items for sale

smacker - a dollar

smoke - strong liquor

smoke wagon - a pistol

snail - cinnamon roll

snake - switchman

Snakey Route - Oregon & California RR

snapper rig - second-hand suit of clothes

sneaky Pete - cheap wine

snipe - section hand

snipes - gathered-up cigarette or cigar butts

sniping - stealing

Sonora Town - a section of Los Angeles where hoboes wintered

snowball - morphine

snowbird - a person who uses drugs

snow-flier - a tramp that gets himself into jail for winter lodging and shelter

soft shoe - a railroad detective

son of Adam - a tramp willing to work for a snack or a meal

soogan (or sugan) - a blanket or comforter carried by a hobo

sop - gravy

Sow Belly Hack Line - a railroad division in central Tennessee

S.P. - Southern Pacific

spear - a success in mooching or begging

spear biscuits - to retrieve food from garbage cans

speck bum - a stew bum

speed balls - wine

spider - a) a small frying pan with a long handle b) a Ford car

spike pitcher - a harvest field worker

splinter belly - a) a carpenter b) a man who works on bridges and trestles

Spud Route - Bangor & Aroostook RR in Maine

square - a good meal

stable dog - a man who looks after the camp stables

stampers - tramps and hoboes in general

stack of bones - a cheap hash house dish, mostly boiled spare ribs

stake - money in pocket after leaving a job

star routes - country roads where food could be obtained

steam hog - a coal-burning engine

stem - street

stemming - panhandling in cities

sterno - wax soaked with alcohol

stew builder - a hobo camp cook

stew bum - a) a dreg of vagrantdom b) an old hobo wasted by alcohol

Stew Junction - Puyallup, WA

stickers - a) disguised begging by selling court plaster b) postage stamps

sticks - a train rider who lost a leg

stiff - any kind of hobo worker

stiffy - a tramp that simulates being paralyzed

straight crip - one actually crippled or otherwise afflicted

streamlined - traveling with little gear

Studebaker Town - South Bend, IN

student - a youngster on the road

stye bum - a tramp or bum who winters in jail

submarines - doughnuts

substantials - meat and potatoes, and bread and butter

sugan - see soogan

summer birds - tramps and hoboes who go south for the winter

swamper - fellow who cleans out the bar room

sweat board - concrete mixing by hand

sweet back - someone only sampling hobo life



~ T ~

tail end - the end of a train

tailor's helper - a vicious dog

tailor's measure - a $50 bill

tails - tram stops

Take Patience and Walk - Toledo Peoria & Western RR

take the westbound - to die

Take Your Parcels and Walk - Texas Pacific & Western RR

taking the whiskers off - harvesting

talk west - to speak the hobo lingo

tallowpot - the fireman on a train

tally! - I understand, keep me in on it

tank town - a small town where trains stop to take on water

tap city - broke

tar pit - a derby hat

teapot - a locomotive

tear baby - one who bums women or men with women

thick - rich

thick one - a nickel

thin ones - small coins (pennies, nickels, dimes)

thin piece - a dime

third rail - whiskey

thousand-mile paper - thick brown paper used in freight cars for packing

thousand miler - a hobo's dark shirt that doesn't show dirt

through freight - a freight that goes from division to division without breaking up

throw - spend freely

throw my feet - to walk

throw the feet - to beg

throw the guts - to talk freely or too much; to squeal

ticket - a piece of wood placed over the rods for hoboes to sit on

tie pass - a fictitious permit from a RR president to walk along the track

timbers - disguised begging by selling pencils

timber beast - woodsman, logger

timber stiff - itinerant lumberjack

time freight - same as a through freight

tin roof - a free drink (it's "on the house")

tip the office - to warn a fellow hobo with some signal

toby - an English hobo

To Hell and Back - Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo RR

tomato can - can carried by hoboes for heating food, boiling water, etc., often tied to the waist

tooting ringers - ringing house doorbells

toppings - a) dessert at a meal; b) pastry

tossouts - beggars who distort and throw their joints out of order

tourist - general term for all hoboes, tramps, bums and vagrants

town clowns - town police

tramping - traveling on foot

trapeze artist - a rider of the rods

trombenick - a Jewish hobo

trombo - a hobo boxer, or one who hopes to be

turkey - a) a canvas bag for carrying possessions b) a half dollar

Tweetsy - East Tennessee & Western North Carolina RR

twist - a woman or girl

twist a dream - roll a cigarette



~ U ~

units - engines

U.P. - Union Pacific

up on top ride - riding on top of a boxcar

upper deck - the top of a train



~ V ~

vag - a) a vagabond b) to arrest for vagrancy

varnish - passenger train



~ W ~

wagon tramps - families who travel in covered wagons

walking dandruff - head lice

wallie - a town bum who never loses sight of the town's walls

wally - a small town sport or gambler

wandering Willy's - hoboes and tramps

wangy - disguised begging by selling shoestrings

warthogs - a trainmaster

way freight - local freight train

Weary Willies - hoboes in general

weave hustling - selling spurious cloth

weeds - hobo jungle

weigh in - to meet

West Bound - what a hobo catches when he passes away

whale belly - a steel coal car

wheel - a leg

Whiskey Railroad - Frankfort & Cincinnati RR

whistle stop - a stop in a division to change crews

white line stiff - a tramp that consumed alcohol

white mule - uncolored moonshine whiskey

white one - a silver watch

Willy or the Willies - Goodwill Industries

windcheater - a burlap bag, feed sack, etc., worn for protection against the elements

wind pudding - air (having nothing to eat is living on wind pudding)

wingy - a train rider who lost one or both arms

wires - a tramp that peddles articles made of stolen telegraph wire

wobs - Wobblies, members of the I.W.W.

wolf - an older hobo who preys on young hoboes

wood butcher - a carpenter

woodhead - a lumberjack

woolies - sheep

working for Jesus - being a mission stiff

working stiff - a tramp or hobo who regularly works

wye - a railroad junction for trains



~ X ~



~ Y ~

yank - to arrest

yap - a) a hick, farmer b) a tenderfoot hobo

yard - $100

yard bull - railroad police who stay in the yards

yard donkey - yard engine used to push segments of trains from one track to another

yard goat - same at yard donkey

yard master - railroad employee who supervises the yard activity

yegg - a roving criminal

yellow one - a gold watch

York - New York City



~ Z ~

zoo - a brothel

zook - a worn out old prostitute



A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Webpages designed for screen resolutions of... 800x600 or 1024x768 .

Use { Largest_Larger_ Medium _Smaller_Smallest } font size for best results.

In Microsoft's Internet Explorer the [F11] key toggles a NICE! full screen view. Webpage last updated: Wednesday, March 31, 2004