Tramp

Tramp

In British English and traditional American English usage, a tramp is a long term homeless person who travels from place to place as an itinerant vagrant, traditionally walking or hiking all year round. They often left chalk signs on houses or at various points along their traditional routes. They also developed a slang language of their own.

While some tramps may do odd jobs from time to time, unlike other temporarily homeless people they do not seek out regular work and support themselves by other means such as begging or scavenging. This is in contrast to:
*bum, a stationary homeless person who does not work, and who begs or steals for a living in one place.
*hobo, a homeless person who travels from place to place (often by illegally catching rides on freight trains) looking for work.
*schnorrer, a person who travels from city to city begging. "Schnorrer" is a Yiddish term.

Both terms, "tramp" and "hobo" (and the distinction between them), were in common use between the 1880s and the 1940s. Their populations and the usage of the terms increased during the Great Depression.

Like "hobo" and "bum", the word "tramp" is considered somewhat vulgar in American English usage, having been subsumed in more polite contexts by words such as "homeless person" or "vagrant". In colloquial American English, the word "tramp" can also mean a sexually promiscuous female or even prostitute.

It remains relatively more common in current British English, but has also been somewhat replaced with "homeless person". Tramps used to be known euphemistically in England and Wales as "gentlemen of the road". [taffythomas.co.uk/story.html]

ee also

*"The Tramp", a movie about a tramp, starring Charlie Chaplin.
*Vacilando, a kind of tramp for whom the travel as such is more important than the destination.
*W. H. Davies, poet, tramp, and author of "The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp" in 1910.
*TRAMP is a remote file editing package for GNU Emacs.Some People are tramps.. take steven morris for example :)

References

External links

* [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tramp A Dictionary definition from the Free Dictionary]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/walesonair/database/tramps.shtml BBC Wales feature on tramps as "gentlemen of the road" from 1964]
* [http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?vagrants/signs.shtml Tramp's signs, symbols and slang]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • tramp — tramp …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • tramp´er — tramp «tramp», verb, noun. –v.i. 1. to walk heavily: »He tramped across the floor in his heavy boots. 2. to step heavily (on); trample: »He tramped on the flowers. 3. to go on foot; walk: » …   Useful english dictionary

  • TRAMP! — is the name of a weekly night club event in Manchester, UK. It started in October 2005 and is based around an open ended approach to music. It resided from 19 October 2005 to 31 December 2006 at the Bierkeller venue, located at 77 Piccadilly. The …   Wikipedia

  • tramp — tramp·dom; tramp·er; tramp·ish; tramp; tramp·ish·ly; tramp·ish·ness; …   English syllables

  • Tramp — [trɛmp, älter tramp] der; s, s <aus gleichbed. engl. tramp zu to tramp, vgl. ↑trampen>: 1. Landstreicher, umherziehender Gelegenheitsarbeiter. 2. (veraltet) Fußwanderung. 3. [tramp] Schiff, bes. Frachtschiff, mit unregelmäßiger Route, das… …   Das große Fremdwörterbuch

  • Tramp — Tramp, n. 1. A foot journey or excursion; as, to go on a tramp; a long tramp. Blackie. [1913 Webster] 2. A foot traveler; a tramper; often used in a bad sense for a vagrant or wandering vagabond. Halliwell. [1913 Webster] 3. The sound of the foot …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Tramp — Série Scénario Jean Charles Kraehn Dessin Patrick Jusseaume Personnages principaux Yann Calec Éditeur Dargaud Première publication 1993 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • tramp — s.n. Navă de comerţ care navighează din port în port pentru a fi închiriată. [pl. pe, puri. / < engl. tramp]. Trimis de LauraGellner, 22.10.2005. Sursa: DN  TRAMP s. n. navă comercială pentru transportul de mărfuri, care navighează din port… …   Dicționar Român

  • Tramp — Tramp, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Tramped}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Tramping}.] [OE. trampen; akin to LG. trampen, G. trampeln, LG. & D. trappen, Dan. trampe, Sw. & Icel. trampa, Goth. anatrimpan to press upon; also to D. trap a step, G. treppe steps, stairs …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • tramp — [n1] person who is poor, desperate beggar, bum, derelict, down and out*, drifter, floater, hitchhiker, hobo, homeless person, loafer, outcast, panhandler, vagabond, vagrant, wanderer; concept 412 tramp [n2] heavy walk cruise, excursion,… …   New thesaurus

  • tramp — [tramp] vi. [ME trampen < or akin to LowG trampen, to trample < nasalized form of the base in TRAP1] 1. a) to walk with heavy steps b) to step heavily; stamp [to tramp on someone s foot] 2. a) …   English World dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”