poor-boy
also po' boy sandwich
Origin of po' boy
phonetic spelling, spelled imitating New Orleans pronunciationOrigin of po' boy
phonetic spelling, spelled imitating New Orleans pronunciation
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or po' boy or po-boy
noun
Origin of po'boy
Probably from poor boy (perhaps in reference to the free sandwiches given to striking streetcar workers (considered “poor boys”) by the Martin Brothers Coffee Stand during a transit strike in New Orleans in 1929), or perhaps from folk-etymological alteration of French pourboire pourboire (said to have been used in New Orleans also in the sense “alms given to beggars,” and then applied in English to the sandwiches distributed by nuns as alms) ; see pourboire in Indo-European roots.
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(plural po' boys)
A shortened form of poor boy. The etymology is disputed.
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