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<blockquote data-quote="Deset Gled" data-source="post: 8111467" data-attributes="member: 7808">I'm going to go a different direction here and posit with no proof that &quot;murder hobo&quot; is actually a mutation of the term &quot;homicidal hobo&quot;, which is a decades old term to describe literal hobos of the rail-riding tradition that commit murder.The phrase &quot;homicidal hobo&quot; goes back really far.&nbsp; The earliest reference I can find to it is the title of an episode of the radio show &quot;Calling All Cars&quot; from 1938: [SPOILER=&quot;https://www.mixcloud.com/boxcars711oldtimeradiopod/calling-all-cars-the-homicidal-hobo-02-15-38/&quot;][MEDIA=mixcloud]boxcars711oldtimeradiopod/calling-all-cars-the-homicidal-hobo-02-15-38[/MEDIA]&nbsp; [/SPOILER]I suspect there may be earlier cases, but that's as far as I'm going to bother looking.&nbsp; &quot;Homicidal hobo&quot; continues to appear in literature for years, including this example of a section of the story collection &quot;The Charge is Murder&quot; from 1965: <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Charge_is_Murder.html?id=X8UuAQAAIAAJ" target="_blank">The Charge is Murder</a>In more modern history, &quot;homicidal hobos&quot; start showing up outside of fiction in the late 80s through the 90s.&nbsp; The term seems to gain popularity with reference to the Freight Train Riders Association of America (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freight_Train_Riders_of_America" target="_blank">Freight Train Riders of America - Wikipedia</a>).&nbsp; The FTRA was formally started in 1984, and was basically a hobo's alliance known for a lot of violence.&nbsp; This article (from 2007) specifically notes how the LA anti-gang squad in the late 80s referred to this group as &quot;Homicidal Hobos&quot;: <a href="https://www.policemag.com/373058/the-freight-train-riders-of-america" target="_blank">The Freight Train Riders of America</a>&nbsp; Also, noted serial killer Robert Silveria was a member of the FTRA; he was arrested in 1996 for 14 homicides while living as a hobo.Another famous serial killer, Angel Resendiz was nicknamed the Railway Killer.&nbsp; He was featured on Americas Most Wanted and plenty of other news outlets both before and after he was caught in 1999.&nbsp; He was referred to as a &quot;homicidal hobo&quot; by many members of the media.&nbsp; Here are a few examples: <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/i-married-a-serial-killer-1104504.html" target="_blank">I married a serial killer</a>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="https://crimeindetroit.com/documents/062399%20Serial%20Suspect%20has%20State%20Arrest.pdf" target="_blank">https://crimeindetroit.com/documents/062399 Serial Suspect has State Arrest.pdf</a>&nbsp;&nbsp; [URL unfurl=&quot;true&quot;]https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Railway_Killer_He_was_a_normal_man_w/kTetDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;dq=homicidal+hobo&amp;pg=PT159&amp;printsec=frontcover[/URL]Clearly, &quot;homicidal hobos&quot; were talked about a lot before the 2007 date that &quot;murder hobo&quot; has been found.&nbsp; I think it's highly likely that some people who remember the term &quot;murder hobo&quot; from long ago are actually thinking about &quot;homicidal hobos&quot;.&nbsp; It's also likely that &quot;murder hobo&quot; is a more colloquial term, and that &quot;homicidal hobo&quot; is a more &quot;proper&quot; or &quot;literary&quot; version that made it through editors to print in surviving texts.&nbsp; This last part is especially true when you consider that &quot;murder&quot; has not typically been used as an adjective.&nbsp; The proper adjective would be &quot;murderous&quot;.&nbsp; The use of &quot;murder&quot; as an adjective is more recent in language, and is probably related to a trending of &quot;verbing&quot; nouns on the internet.Just my late night thoughts.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Deset Gled, post: 8111467, member: 7808"] I'm going to go a different direction here and posit with no proof that "murder hobo" is actually a mutation of the term "homicidal hobo", which is a decades old term to describe literal hobos of the rail-riding tradition that commit murder. The phrase "homicidal hobo" goes back really far. The earliest reference I can find to it is the title of an episode of the radio show "Calling All Cars" from 1938: [SPOILER="https://www.mixcloud.com/boxcars711oldtimeradiopod/calling-all-cars-the-homicidal-hobo-02-15-38/"][MEDIA=mixcloud]boxcars711oldtimeradiopod/calling-all-cars-the-homicidal-hobo-02-15-38[/MEDIA] [/SPOILER] I suspect there may be earlier cases, but that's as far as I'm going to bother looking. "Homicidal hobo" continues to appear in literature for years, including this example of a section of the story collection "The Charge is Murder" from 1965: [URL="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Charge_is_Murder.html?id=X8UuAQAAIAAJ"]The Charge is Murder[/URL] In more modern history, "homicidal hobos" start showing up outside of fiction in the late 80s through the 90s. The term seems to gain popularity with reference to the Freight Train Riders Association of America ([URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freight_Train_Riders_of_America"]Freight Train Riders of America - Wikipedia[/URL]). The FTRA was formally started in 1984, and was basically a hobo's alliance known for a lot of violence. This article (from 2007) specifically notes how the LA anti-gang squad in the late 80s referred to this group as "Homicidal Hobos": [URL="https://www.policemag.com/373058/the-freight-train-riders-of-america"]The Freight Train Riders of America[/URL] Also, noted serial killer Robert Silveria was a member of the FTRA; he was arrested in 1996 for 14 homicides while living as a hobo. Another famous serial killer, Angel Resendiz was nicknamed the Railway Killer. He was featured on Americas Most Wanted and plenty of other news outlets both before and after he was caught in 1999. He was referred to as a "homicidal hobo" by many members of the media. Here are a few examples: [URL="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/i-married-a-serial-killer-1104504.html"]I married a serial killer[/URL] [URL]https://crimeindetroit.com/documents/062399%20Serial%20Suspect%20has%20State%20Arrest.pdf[/URL] [URL unfurl="true"]https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Railway_Killer_He_was_a_normal_man_w/kTetDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=homicidal+hobo&pg=PT159&printsec=frontcover[/URL] Clearly, "homicidal hobos" were talked about a lot before the 2007 date that "murder hobo" has been found. I think it's highly likely that some people who remember the term "murder hobo" from long ago are actually thinking about "homicidal hobos". It's also likely that "murder hobo" is a more colloquial term, and that "homicidal hobo" is a more "proper" or "literary" version that made it through editors to print in surviving texts. This last part is especially true when you consider that "murder" has not typically been used as an adjective. The proper adjective would be "murderous". The use of "murder" as an adjective is more recent in language, and is probably related to a trending of "verbing" nouns on the internet. Just my late night thoughts. [/QUOTE]

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