hobson-jobson

Noun capitalized: Hobson-Jobson

Hobson-Jobson (countable and uncountable, plural Hobson-Jobsons)

1. (obsolete, slang) Any Indian religious observance, especially the Muharram.
   • ‘You must be moped to death in this dull place; and next week is Hobson Jobson. Can’t you throw some dust any how, in the eyes of the cat, and meet me and Philip somewhere, and so get away to the Tamacha.’1851, Jamie Gordon, page 85
   • The dusky sons of Mohammed have been having a high old time down at the British India Company’s wharves during the past few days. [. . .] It was the great week of ‘Hobson-Jobson,’ as it is known out East, or the time of the Mohurram.1903 April 8, Queensland Figaro, Brisbane, page 23, column 2
2. (uncountable) The assimilation of borrowed lexes, 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.1886, Henry Yule, A.C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson, page 265
   • Learned persons, especially those who know all about ‘Volksetymologie,’ whether under that imposing name, or more familiarly as ‘Hobson-Jobson,’ are advised to pass on to the next question.1909 February 20, The Argus, Melbourne, page 6, column 4
3. (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.
   • CARAFT, here is a delicious Hobson-Jobson from that veritable well of curious Anglo-Indianisms, the Madras Manual of Administration[.]1899 June, Indian Antiquary, page 161, column 2
   • 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.1977, Robert H. Stacy, Defamiliarization in Language and Literature, page 51