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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,131
BellaOnline Editor Parakeet
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BellaOnline Editor Parakeet
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,131 |
I used the English Oxford Dictionary to look up the word Vagrant. Seen as we are speaking English and it's the most reliable for our language, and our current day use of it in this decade.
Vagrant noun
a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging.
archaic a wanderer.
Ornithologya bird that has strayed or been blown from its usual range or migratory route. Also called accidental
adjective [attributive] relating to or living the life of a vagrant:vagrant beggars
moving from place to place; wandering:vagrant whales
literary moving or behaving unpredictably; inconstant:the vagrant heart of my mother
I also looked up "bum"
DEFINITION OF "BUM" 1 a vagrant.
a lazy or worthless person:you ungrateful bum
2 [in combination] a person who devotes a great deal of time to a specified activity:a ski buma poker bum
verb (bums, bumming, bummed)
1 [no object] travel, with no particular purpose or destination:he bummed around Florida for a few months
pass one's time idly:we spent most of the summer just bumming around
2 [with object] get by asking or begging:they tried to bum money off us
3 [with object] make (someone) feel upset or disappointed:it really bummed me out when he forgot my birthday
adjective [attributive] of poor quality; bad or wrong:not one bum note was played
THIS IS FROM OUR CURRENT ENGLISH DICTIONARY I think it makes things much clearer in which is a nice term for a homeless person and one which isn't. Certainly no history lesson there - and seen as we're living in 2011, I think it should matter what the words mean currently.
I don't think I'll even go into the talk about making your own luck etc. I find it very, very misguided personally. Though I really wish it were true.
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,327
BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
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BellaOnline Editor Chipmunk
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,327 |
Thanks for your breakdown of the words Steven, must admit to me �Bum� when put together with someone who is �down on his luck�, does not sit very well. Although something like �beach bum, ski bum� and similar descriptions are OK because those folk are in charge of their situation, in some ways it even seems to be like a fun badge they wear with pride.
In Germany Obdachlos is used meaning Homeless, and also Landstreicher � which literally translated is someone who strides across the land.
Am sure there must be a Pejorative term in German, but don�t think I have ever heard it and no one I have asked knows either. Or if they do they are not telling me.
Francine A. McKenna - German Culture Editor German Culture Site - German Culture Facebook Avatar: HOHENZOLLERNBRÃœCKE Cologne with CATHEDRAL and LUDWIG MUSEUM. The Bridge a symbol of how Germany was rebuilt after WWII, it was left in ruins, the Cathedral with roots in the 13th century represents the country's history, Museum of Modern Art the present day.
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,131
BellaOnline Editor Parakeet
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BellaOnline Editor Parakeet
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,131 |
Francine, I agree - a beach bum, by definition alone obviously has a lot of money - otherwise they couldn't hang out at the beach all day LOL. Same goes even more so for Ski bum. They must be loaded I think there are probably a thousand different words to describe different things with so many languages. I just felt it was important, because of what's been discussed, that we get the correct definition from the current English Dictionary. I love your avatar of the Disney castle BTW
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 5,391
BellaOnline Editor Wolf
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BellaOnline Editor Wolf
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 5,391 |
Steven, You are amazing...thank you.
Francine, I LOVE your avatar. I'm so excited I am going back to Disney next week on vacation. 2nd time this year, I love Disney World!!!
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,131
BellaOnline Editor Parakeet
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BellaOnline Editor Parakeet
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,131 |
LOL, Thanks Dianne Hope you have a great time in Disney!
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 595
Gecko
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Gecko
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 595 |
Does my first boyfriend count, although I didn't know he was a BUM at the time. :-)
But seriously, I don't give money to panhandlers (that's what we call vagrants who live on the streets and approach passersby for money around here.
The authorities frown on it because if word gets around that people are generous their numbers begin to multiply and tourists start to avoid our town and in this economy nobody wants that.
I make donations to the local soup kitchen and food bank instead which is more likely to actually help rather than give the means to do even more harm to themselves with alcohol and/or drugs.
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 4,906
Elephant
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OP
Elephant
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 4,906 |
That is the funniest thing I've read so far!!! Both my exes were bums too and I didn't know it at the time. Neither one could hold down a job and it was by choice not because they were not able to do it.
That's awesome that you donate to soup kitchens and food banks instead. That's what we do.
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,131
BellaOnline Editor Parakeet
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BellaOnline Editor Parakeet
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,131 |
My friend works with the homeless, aparently the idea that people "choose" to be homeless is one of the biggest myths which they find hinders their work. A homeless person may even think it's their choice, most will say it out of pride - I find that really sad. They find their world easier to deal with if they think their fate somehow lies in their hands.
It's great that so many people here give to the homeless though - it shows that we all really believe in their cause and need for support and help.
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