I love our cultural wordsmithing. In the old days the terminology was short and sweet. And it actually meant something.

Consider the following: during the Great Depression, they had PAN HANDLERS. Then they became BUMs. BUMs. TRAMPs and HOBOs eventually turned into that magic ‘catch-all’ HOMELESS; only to wind up as the very modern and very politically correct term DISPLACED PERSONS.

But there are genuine differences between these terms. A hobo is a migratory worker who likes to travel, a tramp travels without working, and a bum does not travel or work. Politically correct ‘catch-all’ terminology actually serves to diminish these folks.

Since most of us are a scant paycheck or two away from the gutter, what the future may hold for us is uncertain at best. Since everything old eventually becomes new again, I suggest that you all familiarize yourselves with this link as it may become useful during the coming economic apocalypse! And when those politically correct literary craftsmen describe your current economic condition by calling you and your family “impecunious denizens”,… well, you heard it here first.

See you on the road!

http://cyberhobo.com/signs/hobosigns.html