Hobson – Jobson

Hobson-Jobson, originally published over a hundred years ago, remains the indispensable lexicon for the innumerable words which entered into the language of British expatriate during the Raj. These words came from the Indian languages of the provinces and from Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Portuguese, Burmese, and host of other tongues – all subject to the peculiar phonetic distortation that was the privilege of the Sahibs. The word Hobson-Jobson perhaps illustrates this phonetic journey best, derived originally as it was from Ya Hasan! Ya Hosain!. It is a Glossary of Anglo-Indian words or phrases and of kindered terms etymological, historical, geographical and discursive. Although Hobson-Jobson has been a familiar title among the scholars and lay readers, not many have been fortunate enough to possess a copy, the reason being its non-availability at a reasonable price. This edition is meant to satisfy this need.