"Colu" (Columbo), is she actually reading it "Coolie" (poor laborer) or is there some other word that she's mistaking it for?
(Coolie would probably have worked better here.)
(And another thing: When I looked through the wiki page to see if they described him as a hobo or a bum, I found out that "Columbo's wardrobe was personally provided by Peter Falk; they were his own clothes, including the high-topped shoes and the shabby raincoat, which made its first appearance in Prescription: Murder.")