a term which comes from "O Hasan, O Husain!" (ritual cry of mourning for Hasan and Husain, grandsons of the Moslem prophet Mohammed who were killed in battle). British troops in India heard these words and called it Hobson-Jobson. The word has come to mean a corruption of a foreign expression translated into English, or to corrupt a word or expression in any way. —Grad V Approved 1992 Glossary Upgrade