Hobson-Jobson

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'a Muslims cry "Ya Hasan! Ya Hosain!" heard during the Remembrance 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 English spoken worldwide. 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

• words of Hindi origin

External links

• Online, searchable version of Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial Words and Phrases by Henry Yule, hosted by the Digital South Asian Library of the University of Chicago