“Hobohemia was a complex and highly politicized social institution with its own unwritten system of laws, etiquette, mores, and division of labor. Although ‘tramp’ and ‘bum’ were sanctioned synonyms, ‘hobo’ specifically designated a wandering laborer (the word probably derives from ‘hoe boy,’ a seasoned farm worker).”

—Robbert Polito, Savage Art, A Biography of Jim Thompson, 1995.