hoodlum

== English == === Etymology === First attested in a December 1866 Daily Alta California article, which mentions "the 'Hoodlum Gang' of juvenile thieves". Several possible origins have been proposed. It may derive from a Germanic word like Swabian hudelum (“disorderly”) or Bavarian Haderlump (“ragamuffin”). Herbert Asbury's book The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld (1933, A. A. Knopf, New York) says the word originated in San Francisco from a particular street gang's call to unemployed Irishmen to "huddle 'em" (to beat up Chinese migrants), after which San Francisco newspapers took to calling street gangs "hoodlums". === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈhuːdləm/, /ˈhʊdləm/ Hyphenation: hood‧lum === Noun === hoodlum (plural hoodlums) A gangster; a hired thug. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:criminal A rough or violent youth. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:troublemaker ==== Usage notes ==== A short form, "hood," also exists. A nonstandard, jocular plural hoodla (treating the word like a Latin noun) also exists. The behavior of a hoodlum may be referred to as "hoodlumism." ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === “Frederick Bee History Project”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), 4 October 2014 (last accessed)