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Hobson-Jobson

(Anglo-Indian, slang, obsolete) Any Indian religious observance, especially the Muharram.

ˌhɒb.sənˈdʒɒb.sən45 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026+ Add a definition
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#1·Apr 27, 2026

(Anglo-Indian, slang, obsolete) Any Indian religious observance, especially the Muharram.

Origin: Derived from adapting the call Hassan! Hussein! (حَسَن حُسَيْن, a lament for the grandsons of the Prophet Muhammad) to Hobson and Jobson, a pair of comic figures popular in the nineteenth century. Note that the conventional derivation from "Ya Hassan! Ya Hussein!" is incorrect. Coined in the linguistic sense by Yule and Burnell in their dictionary Hobson-Jobson. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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#2·Apr 27, 2026

(linguistics, uncountable) The assimilation of borrowed lexis, either partial or whole, to word forms of the borrowing language.

Falaun, s. gradually, by a process of Hobson-Jobson, this was turned into Forlorn.
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#3·Apr 27, 2026

(linguistics, countable) A word or phrase borrowed by one language from another and modified in pronunciation to fit the set of sounds the borrowing language typically uses.

If the French for pun, calembour, derives (as Spitzer maintained) from "conundrum"; this points up well the at first puzzling effect of such devices. ''Caran d'Ache'' is in fact an intentional hobson-jobson.
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