Hobson-Jobson is the alternative (and better-known) title of Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial Words and Phrases, a popular collection of Hindustani terms written for a British audience by Henry Yule and Arthur C. Burnell and published in 1886.
Simon Winchester explained in his book The Meaning of Everything:
- The title is classically British Indian. It is a cockney corruption of the Shi'ite cry "Ya Hasan! Ya Hosain!" heard during the Festival of Muharram, a natural title for Yule and Burnell's splendidly enjoyable compendium.
"Hobson-Jobson" is also used as a term for the modification of names and phrases in the languages spoken in the vicinity of the former British colony of India into English sound patterns, a phenomenon of which "Hobson-Jobson" is itself an example.* Generally such borrowings were used exclusively in British India, forming a unique Anglo-Indian lexicon that contributed to the cultural divide between Britain and her colony.
A number of words that were originally Hobson-Jobson have become mainstream in both British and American English. Some examples include shampoo, pajamas, pundit, pariah, veranda, thug, and calico.
* It should be noted, however, that English words with pre-colonial origins are also sometimes considered Hobson-Jobson if they were used with meanings exclusive to British India. Such examples include "collector" to mean the governor of a district and "cantonment," a word which fell into disuse outside of British India.
See also
Last updated: 08-23-2005 10:15:44
