A hoodlum is a
thug
Thug or THUG may refer to:
People
* Thug, a criminal, who treats others violently and roughly often for hire
* Thug, a member of the former Indian cult Thuggee
** Thug Behram ( 1765–1840), leader of the Thuggee cult
* Bambie Thug, stage name o ...
, usually in a group of misfits who are associated with crime or theft.
Early use
The earliest reference to the word "hoodlum" was in the December 14, 1866, ''San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin'' after the Hoodlum Band was arrested on December 13, 1866. Members of the gang were sentenced to the Industrial School for stealing clothes. The gang used many keys to enter hotel rooms and boarding houses. On December 14, 1866, Lazarus Moses was arrested for selling clothes stolen by the Hoodlum Band. Moses was fined $300. Moses's nickname was
Fagin
Fagin () is the secondary antagonist in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist''. In the preface to the novel, he is described as a " receiver of stolen goods". He is the leader of a group of children (the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates ...
. The public read about the acts of the Hoodlum Band, and the word hoodlum became a synonym for a young thug.
The term was associated with
anti-Chinese violence. An article in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' of July 26, 1877, stated: "People who sack Chinese houses and stone Chinamen are not workingmen. San Francisco calls them 'hoodlums,' a term which includes everything that is base and mean. The hoodlum is a non-producer, loafer and bully. The hoodlum class think this is a good time to signify their hatred of law and order."
Etymology
While the term is endemic to San Francisco, the origins of "hoodlum" are unclear. Possible explanations include:
Dennis Kearney's rally call to "huddle 'em up", organizing unemployed Irishmen prior to attacking and looting Chinese people and businesses; a derivation from the
Swabian word ''hudelum'' ("disorderly") or the
Bavarian ''Haderlump'' ("ragamuffin"); or derived from a gang named Hood's Boys, named after Hood's Saloon, the gang's base of operations in San Francisco. As early as 1876, the origins of "hoodlum" were described as lost.
See also
*
Hooligan
Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, often in connection with crowds at sporting events. A hooligan is a person that engages in illicit reckless behaviors and is a public nuisance.
Etymology ...
*
Gangster
A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''Organized crime, mob'' and the suffix ''wikt:-ster, -st ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
American English words
English words