Just out of curiosity, I was wondering about the history of the term "bum" meaning a homeless person, not the UK version referring to someone's posterior.
Bonus: If you know the background on "Hobo" that would be interesting too, and does it have any relation to the town Hoboken, New Jersey?
Best Answer
Wikipedia offers some speculation on the origin of Hobo. It would seem the etymology revolves around railroads or migrant workers, and that it originated in California.
As to the origin of Bum, it seems to come from the German word for loafer (bummler), which comes from loaf (bummeln), presumably from the unemployed trying to obtain bread. Wiktionary