25th January 2024

Add meanings to words

Part of improving my education includes learning new words. Or at least, the origins of words that I know. Today’s random fact is the word hobo. As in the people who traveled around the continent a lifetime ago looking for work. Generally by rail. Without tickets. Now you remember. Anyhow I did not know the origin of the term and apparently it goes back to the end of the American Civil War when people were first starting to travel looking for work. This was an agrarian economy and if you had your own tools you had a step up on the competition people on farms make great use of the hoe. With an “e”. And the people that traveled were known on the farms as a “hoe boys” certainly shortened. There, now you know. I’ve also watched a number of documentaries on the buying and selling of antiques. Objects that are one of and unique. Including leaf from a famous Bible. Remember this is all about the words and a leaf refers to a page with printing on both sides. You may ask why would someone buy a single page from the Bible. Even a famous one. And it turns out that a certain entrepreneur had come across a very old Bible pulled all the pages out and then sold them one at a time because that worked for him. It also made him more money. And those pages still come up at auctions. Each one has a value of a small car. Pretty good profit if you can be in the right place at the right time. I am sure that those involved have no interest owning a complete book. Or, if they came across a copy they would also break it down into components and sell them off. Anything to make a buck. Next to my list is to find out the origin of the term buck. So. I might have to go and look in a book.

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