Slang of the Old West

Partial List of Old Slang

From "Frontier Slang, Lingo & Phrases" by Kathy Weiser-Alexander.

Abisselfa	By itself.
Abandons	Foundlings. Also applied to a street prostitute.
Above-Board	In open sight, without artifice, or trick.
Above One’s Bend	Out of one’s power, beyond reach.
Above Snakes	If you were “above snakes,” you were above ground - meaning still alive.
Absquatulate	To leave or disappear.
Ace in the Hole	A hideout or a hidden gun.
Ace-High	Depending upon the context, this might mean “first-class and respected”, or it could mean a winning poker hand.
According to Hoyle	Correct, by the book. “Hoyle” is a dictionary of rules for card playing games.
Acknowledge the Corn	To admit the truth, to confess a lie, or acknowledge an obvious personal shortcoming.
Acock	Knocked over, defeated, astounded, suddenly surprised.
Acorn Calf	A weak or runty calf.
Acquisitive	Booty, plunder.
Acreocracy	Signifies a landlord interest.
Across Lots	The fastest way possible, in the most expeditious manner.
Actual	Money.
Adam’s Ale	Water.
Addle-headed	Empty-headed, not smart.
Addle-pot	A spoilsport
Advantage	Pocket advantage - Carrying a derringer in a coat pocket that is charged and at half cock. Sometimes a shot is fired through the pocket itself.
Afeared	Scared, frightened.
Afterclaps	Unexpected happenings after an event is supposed to be over.
Afly	To become an expert at.
Agee, Ajee	Askew, crooked.
A Hog-Killin’ Time	A real good time. “We went to the Rodeo Dance and had us a hog-killin’ time.”
Airin’ the Lungs	A cowboy term for cussing.
Airin’ the Paunch	Vomit, throw-up, regurgitate. He’s “airing the paunch” after a heavy bout of drinking.
Airish	A little cool.
Air Line Road	A railroad track when it passes over the level unbroken prairie.
Airtights	Canned goods, such as canned beans, milk, or fruit.
Alfalfa Desperado	What cowboys often called a farmer.
A Lick and a Promise	To do a haphazard job. “She just gave it a lick and a promise.”
All Abroad	At a loss, not comprehending.
All Beer and Skittles	Unpleasant, not so happy.
All Down But Nine	Missed the point, not understood. This referenced missing all nine pins in bowling. (Yes, there was bowling during Old West times.)
All-fired	Very, great, immensely; used for emphasis. He is just too all-fired lazy to get any work done around here. Also “hell-fired” and “jo-fired.”
Allers	Always
All My Eye	Nonsense, untrue.
All Over	Bearing a resemblance to some particular object
All-overish	Uncomfortable. “I was just all-overish around that steely-eyed man.”
All the Caboose	Everywhere
All the Shoot	The whole assembly, all the party.
All to Pieces	Completely, absolutely.
Allot Upon	To intend, to form a purpose. “I allot upon going to Boston.”
All-Standing	Without preparation, suddenly.
Ambush	The scales used by grocers, coal-dealers, etc. Call such because the were always “lying in weight.”
Among the Willows	Dodging the Law.
Amputate Your Timber, or mahogany	Go way, run off.
Anasazi	Navajo for “ancient ones,” this word describes an ancient tribe of the Southwest. Some Navajo say this meaning is a mistranslation for a word that means “ancient enemies.” Another interpretation is “ancient ancestors.”
Angelicas	Young unmarried women.
Anglomaniacs	Another name for those “back east,” ultra-English.
Angoras	Hair-covered, goat-hide chaps. Especially good in cold weather.
Annex	To steal. This became popular at the time Texas was annexed, which was regarded by many as a theft.
Anti-fogmatic	Raw rum or whiskey. “I see that bartender is mixing a couple of anti-fogmatics.”
Anti-goglin	Lopsided.
Apple	Saddle horn.
Apple Jack	A liquor distilled from cider, also called cider brandy.
Apple Peeler	Pocket Knife
Apple Pie Order	In top shape, perfect order.
Making Coffee/Arbuckle’s	Slang for coffee, taken from a popular brand of the time. “I need a cup of Arbuckle’s.”
Argufy	Argue, to have weight as an argument.
Argy	Argue
Arikara (also Arikaree)	This term is believed to mean “horns,” after this tribe’s ancient custom of wearing hair ornaments that stuck upright and were made of bone.
Arkansas Toothpick	A long, sharp knife. Also known as a California or Missouri toothpick.
Armas	Spanish forerunner of chaps. Cowboys fastened two large pieces of cowhide to the side of the saddle that protected their legs from thorns and brush.
Ary	Either.
Ash-Hopper	A lie cask, or box for ashes, resembling a hopper in a mill.
Ask No Adds	Ask no favor.
At Sea	At a loss, not comprehending. “When it comes to understanding women, I’m at sea.”
Attitudinize	To assume an affected attitude.
Atween	Between.
Atwixt	Between. “There were hard feelings atwixt them.”
Auger	The big boss.
Axle Grease	Butter
Bach	To bachelor it. For men to keep house without a woman’s help. Pronounced, and sometimes spelled, “batch”.
Backdoor Trots	Diarrhea
Bacon	Meaning to save one’s self from injury. To save one’s bacon.
Back Seats	An obscure and modest position, usually referring to politics.
Back Staircase	A derisive term for a bustle. Also called a “bird cage” or “canary cage.”
Bad Box	To be in a bad box, is to be in a bad predicament.
Bad Egg	A bad person.
Bad Hoss	A bucking Bronco
Bad Hoss	A bad or wild horse.
Badlands	From a French term meaning “bad country for travel.” The term applied to barren areas of South Dakota, as well as other inhospitable western locations.
Bad Medicine	Bad news.
Bag of Nails	Everything in confusion, topsy-turvy.
Bait	Food
Baker’s Dozen	Thirteen.
Bake	To overheat a horse by riding too fast, long, or hard.
Bakes	One’s original stake in a game.
Balderdash	Nonsense, foolishness; empty babble.
Baldface Dishes	China dishes.
Ballast	Money
Balled Up	Confused.
Ballyhoo	Sales talk, advertising, exaggeration.
Balmy	Sleepy, weak-minded, dull.
Balls	To make a mistake, to get in trouble. Or, rubbish such as “all balls” - all rubbish.
Bamboozle	To deceive, impose upon, confound. “After Nick had bamboozled about the money, he was arrested.”
Banagher	To bang
Banco or Bunko Steerer or Roper	A sharper, confidence-trick man.
Banded	Hungry
Band Wagon	Peddler’s wagon.
Bandero	Widow’s weeds.
Bangtail	A wild horse - mustang.
Banjo	A miner’s term for a short-handled shovel.
Banquette	The name for a side-walk in some of Southern cities.
Bar Dog	Bartender.
Bared	Shaved
Barber’s Cat	Half-starved, sickly-looking person.
Barber’s Clerk	A conceited, over-dressed fellow who tries to act like a “gentleman.”
Barefoot	An unshod horse.
Bark	To scalp.
Barkin’ at a Knot	Doing something useless; wasting your time, trying something impossible.
Barking Irons	Pistols.
Barnum	“To talk Barnum” is to not indulge in extravagant, hugh falutin’ talk, but talks in a quiet manner.
Barrens	Elevated lands, or plains upon which grow small trees, but never timber.
Barrow-tram	A rawboned, awkward looking person.
Barrel Boarder	A bum, a low sot.
Barrel Fever	A hangover.
Base Burner	A drink of whiskey.
Bat	A frolic, a spree.
Batting His Eyes	A gambler’s term for men who look on but don’t play.
Battlin’ Stick	A stick to stir clothes in the wash pot.
Bat Wings	Chaps.
Bay	A horse of light-red color.
Bay-window	Pregnancy.
Bazoo	Mouth. “Shut your big bazoo.”
Beads	The bubbles which rise on a glass of wine or spirits.
Bean Eater	A Mexican
Bean Master	The cook
Bear Sign	A cowboy term for donuts made while they were on the range. A cook who could and would make them was highly regarded.
Beating the Road	Traveling on a railroad train without paying, usually referring to a bum.
Beat the Dutch	To beat all or beat the devil. “It was rainin’ to beat the Dutch.”
Beat the Devil around the Stump	To evade responsibility or a difficult task. “Quit beatin’ the devil around the stump and ask that girl to marry you.”
Becase	Because.
Bed Ground	Where cattle are held at night.
Bed Him Down	To kill a man.
Bed-house	Brothel.
Bed-post	A moment, an instant, jiffy. “He got over here in the twinkling of a bed-post.”
Bed-rock	Not able to go lower. “Is that the bed-rock price?”
Bee	A gathering of friends, family and neighbors to get a specific job done Usually used with women’s quilting get togethers - a quilting bee.
Bee in Your Bonnet	An idea.
Beef	To kill. (This came from killing a cow for food.) “Doc Holiday beefed a man today.”
Beef-headed	Stupid, dull as an ox.
Beef Tea	Shallow water where cows have stood.
Been in the Sun	Drunk
Been Through the Mill	Been through a lot, seen it all.
Bee-sweetening	Honey
Beetle-crushers	Feet
Beeves	Cattle
B’hoy	A rowdy young man, reveler or ruffian.
Beliked	Liked; beloved.
Bellyache	Complain.
Belly Cheater	A cook.
Belly Robber	The cook.
Belly Through the Brush	Dodge the law.
Belly Wash	Weak coffee.
Belvidere	A handsome man.
Bend an Elbow	Have a drink. “He’s been known to bend an elbow with the boys.”
Bender	Initially referred to a spree or a frolic. Later, and now, also used to describe someone on a drinking binge.
Benzinery	A low-grade drinking place. Cheap whiskey was sometimes called benzene.
Best Bib and Tucker	Wearing your best clothes. “There’s a dance Saturday, so put on your best bib and tucker.”
Betterments	The improvements made on new lands, by cultivation and the erection of buildings.
Bettermost	The best.
Betty	A pear-shaped bottle wound around with straw which contains Italian olive oil.
Between Hay and Grass	Neither man nor boy, half-grown.
B’hoys	Noisy young men of the lower ranks of society.
Bible	A small packet of papers used to roll cigarettes. Also called a “dream book” or a “prayer book.”
Bible Bump	A bump (or cyst) on the wrist or hand that old timers say would disappear if whacked by a large book - such as the bible.
Biddable	Docile, obedient, tractable.
Biddy	Hen. Also used to refer to a nagging or complaining woman.
Biff	To strike in ones face.
Big Augur	Ranch Owner.
Big Bug	Important person, official, boss. “He’s one of the railroad big bugs.”
Big Figure	To do things on on a large scale.
Big Fifty	A .50 caliber Sharps rifle used by professionals for buffalo hunting. It was 16 pounds unloaded, with three-quarter inch, 120-grain black powder cartridges loaded for differing ranges.
Biggest Toad in the Puddle	The most important person in a group.
Biggity	Large, extravagant, grand, hauty.
Big Guns	Men of importance, great people.
Big Jump	Death.
Big Nuts to Crack	A difficult or large undertaking.
Big Pasture	The penitentiary
Big Sugar	Ranch owner.
Bill Show	A Wild West show. Probably derived from the names of the two leading show promoters - William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody and Gordan William “Pawnee Bill” Lillie.
Bilk	Cheat.
Bime-By	By-and-by, soon, in a short time.
Biscuit	Saddle horn.
Biscuit Roller	The cook.
Biscuit Shooter	The cook.
Bishop	An appendage to a lady’s wardrobe, more commonly called a bustle.
Bite the Ground	To be killed.
Bit House	A cheap saloon.
Black-eyed Susan	A six-gun.
Black	To look black at one is to look at one with anger or deep resentment.
Black-Leg	A gambler.
Blacksmithing	Pimping for a prostitute.
Black Snake	A long whip.
Black Spot	Shade.
Blackstrap	Gin and molasses
Black Water	Weak coffee.
Blame	Euphemism for damn.
Blarney	Stories, flattery, tall tales, idle discourse.
Blather	Impudence. “I’ll have none of your blather.”
Blatherskite	A blustering, noisy, talkative fellow.
Blazes	Euphemism for hell or the devil.
Blow	To taunt; to ridicule. Also means to turn informer on an accomplice.
Blow Out	A feast; also called a tuck out.
Blue	Drunk.
To Look Blue At Someone	To look at one with displeasure or dissatisfaction.
Blue Belly	A Yankee.
Blue Devils	Dispirited. “I have the blue devils today.”
Blue John	Skimmed Milk
Blue Lightnin’	A six-gun.
Blue-Skins	A nickname applied to the Presbyterians, from their alleged grave deportment.
Blue Stocking	An epithet applied to literary ladies.
Blusteration	The noise of a braggart.
Boatable	Navigable for boats, or small river-craft
Bobbery	A squabble, argument.
Bobtail Guard	The first cowboy guarding the cattle at night.
Bockey	A bowl or vessel made from a gourd.
Bocking	Cotton or woollen cloth used to cover floors or to protect carpets.
Bodega	Spanish term for a cheap saloon.
Boggy Top	A pie baked without a top crust.
Bog-Trotter	One that lives in a boggy country.
Bogus	A liquor made of rum and molasses.
Boil Over	A horse that starts bucking.
Bolt	To swallow food without chewing
Bonanza	The discovery of an exceptionally rich vein of gold or silver.
Bone Orchard	Cemetery.
Boodle	A crowd of people.
Boogered Up	Crippled or badly injured.
Boot-licker	The equivalent of an ass-kisser.
Boom Along	A seaman’s term meaning to move rapidly.
Boose	Drink liquor.
Boosy	Fuddled or a little intoxicated.
Boosily	Lazily, in a state of intoxication.
Boot Yard	This was a cemetery, especially for those who died with their boots on; also called boothill, bone yard, bone orchard, grave patch.
Bonny	Clapper or Bonny-Clabber - An Irish term for sour buttermilk.
Bo-Peep	To play at bo-peep. To peep out suddenly from a hiding place, and cry bo! a children’s game.
Born Days	All one’s lifetime; since one was born. “In all my born days I never saw a man so big.”
Bosh	Nonsense. “It was absolute bosh what he said.”
Boss	The best, top. “The Alhambra Saloon sells the boss whiskey in town.”
Bossy	A familiar name applied to a calf.
Boston Dollar	A penny.
Bothahrayshun	A bother
Bottom	Low land with rich soil.
Bottom-Lands	In the Western States, this name was given to the rich flat land on the banks of rivers.
Bottled Courage	Whiskey.
Bouncing	Large, heavy. “Sally gave birth to a bouncing baby girl.
Bouge	To swell out, to bulge.
Bowie-Knife	A knife from ten to fifteen inches long and about two inches broad, so named after its inventor, James Bowie.
Box Herder	The person in charge of the “girls” at a brothel or saloon. Their job was to keep the “ladies” in line.
Brack	A breach, a broken part.
Brain Tablet	Cigarette.
Brand Artist	A rustler who alters brands with a running iron.
Brash	Brittle.
Breachy	A term applied to unruly oxen.
Bread Jerker	Adam’s apple.
Brick in One’s Hat	To be drunk. That old man’s got one hellofa brick in his hat.
Brigham Young Cocktail	Strong whiskey.
Brisk Up	To come up with life and speed, take an erect or bold attitude.
Broke in Two	A horse bucking.
Bronc Buster	A cowboy who could tame wild horses. Contrary to popular thinking, not all cowboys could ride just any horse, though most could ride any broken mount. But the bronc buster, also called a “bonc peeler” and a “bronc breaker,” was a breed apart. These men, with a special type of “horse sense” earned not only the esteem of the other cowboys, but usually better wages.
Broken Wind	A lung infection in horses.
Broomtail	A long, bushy-tailed range mare, usually unbroken. Also called a “broomie.”
Brother-Chip	A fellow-carpenter; in a more general sense, a person of the same trade.
Brown Study	Deep thought; absence of mind. “He is in a brown study.”
Brown Gargle	Coffee.
Brush	A skirmish, or fight.
Bub	Brother
Buckaroo	A cowboy, usually from the desert country of Oregon, Nevada, California, or Idaho.
Bucket of Blood	A violence-prone frontier saloon.
Bucket Shop	A gin mill or distillery.
Bucking the Tiger	Playing Faro or poker. Also referred to as “twisting the tiger’s tail.”
Buckle Bunnies	Female groupies who follow and befriend rodeo riders.
Buck Up	Cheer up; chin up.
Buckle To	Set about any task with energy and a determination.
Buffaloed	Confused.
Bug Juice	Booze, firewater, whiskey.
Build a Loop	Shaking out a coil of rope in preparation for roping.
Bull	An officer of the law.
Bullboat	A craft with a willow frame covered by buffalo hide.
Bulldoze	To bully, threaten, or coerce.
Bulldozer	A big person.
Bull Nurse	A cowboy.
Bully	Exceptionally good, outstanding. (Used as an exclamation.) “Bully for you!”
Bully For You!	Well done, good job, good for you.
Bullwhacker	A person who drives a team of oxen, usually walking beside them.
Bumblebee Whiskey	Liquor strong enough to “sting.”
To Bundle	A man and woman lying on the same bed with their clothes on, usually separated by a “bundling board.” The practice was used when there was a scarcity of beds
Bungo	A kind of boat used at the South.
Bunko Artist	A con man.
Burg	A town, rather than the common camps and small settlements.
Burn the Breeze	Ride at full speed.
Burnt His Fingers	When a person has suffered loss by a speculation, he is said to have burnt his fingers.
Burrow Milk	Nonsense.
Bushwhack	A cowardly attack or ambush.
Bushwhacker	A raw countryman, a green-horn. Also applies to ambushers.
Buss	Kiss.
Button	A young boy.
Buzzard Bait	A worn out horse.
Buzzard Food	Dead.
By Hook or Crook	To do any way possible.
Buster	Anything large in size or a man of great strength.
Buster or Bust	A frolic, a spree. “They were on a buster, and were taken in by the police.”
Bustle	A pad stuffed with cotton or feathers, worn by ladies for the double purpose of giving a greater prominence to the hips, and setting off the smallness of the waist. Bustles had a number of names including bird cage and canary cage.
By The Bye	By the way, in passing.
By Good Rights	By right, by strict justice, entitled. “By good rights Mr. Clay ought to be President of the United States.”
By Gum!	An inoffensive oath
By The Skin Of One’s Teeth	When a man has made a narrow escape from any dilemma, barely.
Caboodle	The whole thing. Also called “kit and caboodle.”
Caboose	A ship’s cooking-range or kitchen.
Cady	Hat
Cahoots	Partnership, company or band. “Those to are in cahoots together.”
Calaboose	Jail.
Calamity Jane	Obviously the hard-cussing, heavy-drinking frontier woman, but is also a gambling term for the Queen of Spades.
Calash	A covering for the head, usually worn by ladies to protect their head-dresses when going to evening parties, the theatre, etc.
Calf Slobbers	Meringue on the top of pie.
Calibogus	Rum and spruce-beer.
Calico	A paint horse.
Calico Queen	Prostitute.
California Collar	A hangman’s noose.
California Prayer Book	Gambling term for a deck of cards.
California Widow	A woman separated from her husband, but not divorced. (From when pioneer men went West, leaving their wives to follow later.)
Callin’	Courting.
Calk	Sharp points of iron on horse or ox shoes to prevent their slipping on ice.
Came Apart	A horse bucking.
Candle-light	Dusk. The dance will start at early candle-light.
Canister	Gun
Canned Cow	Canned milk.
Cannon	A revolver
Can Openers	Spurs
Can’t Come It	Cannot do it. “You can’t come it over me so.”
Caporal	The ranch foreman or roundup boss.
Cap the Climax	To beat all, surpass everything.
Cardinal	The name of a woman’s cloak, from the red or scarlet habit worn by cardinals.
Carryall	A four-wheeled pleasure carriage, capable of holding several persons.
Cash In	To die.
Catalogue Woman	A mail order bride.
Catawampous	Fiercely, eagerly, awry, cockeyed, crooked, skewed. Also “catawamptiously.”
Catawamptiously Chawed Up	Completely demolished, utterly defeated.
Catch A Tartar	To attack one of superior strength or abilities.
Catch a Weasel Asleep	Referring to something impossible or unlikely, usually used in regard to someone who is always alert and seldom or never caught off guard. “You can’t sneak up on that dude any sooner than you can catch a weasel asleep.”
Catgut	Rawhide rope.
Cattle Baron	A cattle owner with numerous herds of stock, welding power and influence in an area.
Cattle Kate	A female cattle rustler.
Cats-Paw	To be made a cats-paw of. To be made a tool or instrument to accomplish the purpose of another.
Catstick	A bat used by boys in a game at ball
Catty-Cornered	Diagonally across. “The Courthouse is catty-cornered from the drugstore.”
Cavort	To frolic or prance about, to be lively, having fun.
Cat Wagon	A wagon that carried prostitutes along cattle trails
Cayuse	A cowboy’s steed.
Causey	A causeway, or way raised above the natural level
Cavallard	Caravans crossing the prairies.
Caveson	A muzzle for a horse.
Celestial	A term used in the West to refer to people of Chinese descent; the word derives from an old name for China, the “Celestial Empire.”
Chalk	Not by a long chalk. When a person attempts to effect a particular object, in which he fails, we say, “He can’t do it by a long chalk.”
Chap	A boy, lad, a fellow.
Charivari	(Commonly pronounced shevaree.) - A custom of serenading the newly married with noise, including tin horns, bells, pans, kettles, etc. This “serenade” is continued night after night until the party is invited in and handsomely entertained.
Chaw	Chew.
Chaw Up	To use up, demolish.
Chickabiddy	A young chicken. Used also as a term of endearment for children.
Chew	Eat
Chew Gravel	Thrown from a horse.
Chip	The money drawer in a bank.
Chink	Money.
Chinking And Daubing	The process of filling with clay the interstices between the logs of cabins.
Chirk	To make a peculiar noise by placing the tongue against the roof of the mouth, to urge horses on. Also refers to people as cheerful, good spirits, comfortable.
Chisel or Chiseler	To cheat or swindle, a cheater.
Chitlins	Fragments, small pieces. Also, refers to Chitterlings.
Chitterlings	The intestines of a pig that have been prepared as food.
Chock	To put a wedge under a thing to prevent its moving.
Chock Up	Close, tight, fitting closely together.
Chock-Full or Chuck-Full	Entirely full.
Choke Strap	A necktie.
Choke the Horn	To grab the saddle horn, something no cowboy wants to be seen doing.
Chop	A Chinese word signifying quality, first introduced to mariners in the China trade. Soon became a common word of seamen applied to fine silks, teas, tobacco, etc.
Chopper	The cowboy who cuts out the cattle during a roundup.
Chow	Food, dinner.
Chuck	To throw, by a quick and dexterous motion, a short distance.
Chuck	Food.
Chucklehead	A fool.
Chuck-Line Rider	An unemployed cowboy who rode from ranch to ranch, exchanging a bit of news and gossip for a meal. Also called a “grub-line rider.”
Chuckwagon	Place to get food. Cowboys would gathered around the chuckwagon ready for “chow” on the ranch.
Chuck Wagon Chicken	Cowboys humorously used the term for fried bacon.
Chuffy	Blunt, surly, clownish.
Churched	Expelled from church.
Churn Twister	A derogatory term for a farmer.
Claw Leather	To grab the saddle horn, something no cowboy wants to be seen doing.
Civism	Love of country, patriotism.
Civilizee	A civilized man, one advanced in civilization.
Clap Or Clap Down	To set down or charge to one’s account.
Clap-Trap	An artifice for attracting applause, used chiefly in theatrical or political events. Later, applied to someone’s mouth that constantly makes noise.
Clean his/your plow	To get or give a thorough whippin’.
Clean Thing	Denotes propriety or what is honorable. “He did the “clean thing” and turned himself in.”
Clip	A blow or a stroke with the hand. Also refers to running away - to “cut and run.”
Clitchy	Clammy, sticky, glutinous.
Clinch Mountain	Rye whiskey.
Clodhopper	A rustic, a clown.
Close-Fisted	Stingy, mean.
Clothes-Horse	A frame-work for hanging clothes on to dry after they have been washed and ironed, in the form of an opening screen.
Clothesline	Rope.
Clout	A blow or strike, usually with the fist.
Clum	Past tense of climb.
Coal-Hod	A kettle for carrying coals to the fire. Also called a coal scuttle.
Cocinero	The camp cook - also called “coosie” and “cusie.”
Cocked Hat	To knock someone senseless or to shock him completely. Old Joe knocked him into a cocked hat.
Coffee Boiler	Shirker, lazy person. (Would rather sit around the coffee pot than help.)
Coffin Varnish	Whiskey.
Coil	Rope.
Cold as a Wagon Tire	Dead.
Cold Meat Wagon	A hearse.
Colors	The particles of gold gleaming in a prospector’s gold pan.
Cooling yer heels	Staying for a while. “He’ll be cooling his heels in the pokey.”
Come a Cropper	Come to ruin, fail, or fall heavily. “He had big plans to get rich, but it all became a cropper, when the railroad didn’t come through.”
Compressed Hay	Cowchips.
Conniption Fit	A fit of hysteria.
Consumption	Tuberculosis.
Continental	The money issued by Congress during the Revolutionary War. It eventually became synonymous with anything worthless.
Converter	A preacher.
Cookie	Ranch or cattle drive cook.
Coon’s Age	A long time.
Coosie	The camp cook.
Coot	An idiot, simpleton, a ninny.
Copper	A copper coin such as the American penny or British.
Copper a Bet	Betting to lose, or being prepared against loss. “I’m just coppering my bets.”
Copperhead	Northern person with Southern, anti-Union sympathies.
Corduroy Road	A road or causeway constructed with logs laid together over swamps or marshy places.
Corks	The steel points fixed under the shoes of horses, in the winter, to prevent them from falling on the ice.
Corn-Cracker	The nickname for a native of Kentucky.
Corn-Dodger	A kind of cake made of corn, and baked very hard.
Corned	Drunk.
Corn-Juice	Whisky.
Corral Dust	Lies and tall tales.
Cottonwood Blossom	A man lynched from the limb of a tree.
Cotton To	To take a liking to.
Countrified	Rustic, rude.
Couldn’t hold a candle to	Not even close. “She couldn’t hold a candle to that beauty across the room.”
Coverlid	A bed-quilt, counterpane.
Cowboy Cocktail	Straight whiskey.
Cowboy Up	Tuff-up, get back on yer horse, don’t back down, don’t give up, and do the best you can with the hand you’re dealt, give it all you’ve got.
Cow Chip	Dried cow manure.
Cow Grease	Butter, also called “cow salve.”
Cowhand	A cowboy, also called cowpoke, cowprod, and cowpuncher.
Cowhide	A particular kind of whip made of raw hide; it is also called a raw-hide. Term also refers to flogging with a cowhide - “to cowhide.”
Cow Juice	Milk
Cow-Lease	A right of pasturage for a cow, in a common pasture.
Cowpunching	Driving the cattle to market.
Cow Sense	Intelligence.
Cow Wood	Cowchips.
Crack	Most famous, best.
Cracked	Crazy.
Cracker	A small hard biscuit.
Crackerbox	A rodeo rider’s term for a bronc saddle.
Cracklings	Cinders, the remains of a wood fire
Crack Up	To brag or boast.
Cradle-Scythe	Called also simply cradle. A common scythe with a light frame-work, used for cutting grain instead of the sickle.
Crambo	A diversion in which one gives a word, to which another finds a rhyme. If the same word is repeated, a forfeit is demanded. It also refers to drinking.
Crash	A coarse kind of linen cloth used for towels.
Crawl His Hump	To start a fight.
Crazy as a Loon	Very crazy.
Creepmouse	A term of endearment to babies.
Crimany	Exclamation of surprise.
Critter	Creature, varmint. Sometimes used to describe a contemptible person.
Croaker	Pessimist, doomsayer. “Don’t be such an old croaker.”
Crock	The black of a pot; smut, the dust of soot or coal.
Crocky	Smutty.
Crooked As A Virginia Fence	A phrase applied to anything very crooked; and figuratively to persons of a stubborn temperament.
Cross-Grained	Perverse, troublesome.
Cross-Patch	An ill-tempered person.
Crotchety	Whimsical; fanciful.
Crotchical	Cross, perverse, peevish.
Crowbait	Derogatory term for a poor-quality horse.
Crowbar Hotel	Jail.
Cruller	A cake made of a strip of sweetened dough, boiled in lard, the two ends of which are twisted or curled together.
Crumb Castle	A chuckwagon.
Crumb Incubator	A cowboy’s bed.
Crummy	The caboose of a railroad train.
Crusty	Sturdy, morose, snappish.
Cubby-Hole or Cubby-House	A snug place for a child. Later, also used to denote any small space.
Curly Wolf	Real tough guy, dangerous man. “Ol’ Bill is a regular curly wolf, especially when he’s drinkin’ whiskey.”
Curmudgeon	An avaricious, churlish fellow, a miser.
Curry Favor	To seek or gain favor by flattery, caresses, kindness.
Curry the Kinks Out	To break a horse.
Cush	Sweet fried cornmeal cake. Also called “cushie.”
Cuss Words	The swear words back then are pretty much the same as they are now, though they were not used as prevalently back then. Profanity was frowned upon by polite society and old west cowboys rarely would swear in front of a lady.
Cut A Caper	The act of dancing in a frolicksome manner
Cut a Dash or Cut a Swathe	Make a great show; to make a figure.
Cut A Figure	To make an appearance, either good or bad.
Cut And Come Again	Implying that having cut as much as you pleased, you may come again; in other words, plenty; no lack; always a supply
Cut And Dried	Readymade.
Cut And Run	To be off, to be gone.
Cut Didoes	To get into mischief, frolicksome.
Cut Dirt	To run; to go fast.
Cut a Path	Leave, go. Are you ready to cut a path out of here?
Cut a Rusty	To go courtin’.
Cut a Swell	Present a fine figure. “He sure is cutting a swell with the ladies.”
Cut His Suspenders	A departed cowboy.
Cut Of His Jib	The form of his profile. “I knew him by the cut of his jib.”
Cutting Horse	A horse with the ability to cut cows out of a herd.
Cut Up	To criticize with severity; as, “he was severely cut up in the newspapers.”
Cut Up Shines	To cut capers, play tricks.
Cut Stick	To be off, to leave immediately and quickly.
Cutter	A one horse sleigh.
Dab Or Dabster	One who is expert in anything, a proficient.
Daisy	Good; excellent.
Dander	Passion, emotion, anger. “Her eyes blazed giving evidence to how he quickly he could get her dander up.”
Dang	Euphemism for damn.
Dangler	An express train.
Dash	Euphemism for damn.
Dead-Alive	Dull, inactive, moping.
Dead As A Door Nail	Utterly, completely dead.
Deadening	When new areas were settled in the west, “clearings” were made by cutting down the trees. Others were “girdled,” or when the majority of trees are deadened, the clearing was called a deadening.
Dead Man’s Hand	A poker hand consisting of a pair of aces and a pair of eights. Traditionally, Wild Bill Hickok was holding this hand when he was shot dead by Jack McCall. Some sources dispute the hand, saying that it really contained two jacks, not aces and two eights.
Dead Meat	A corpse.
Deadshot	Strong liquor.
Death On	Very fond of or very talented at. He made a “death on” speech at last night’s meeting.
Deef	Deaf.
Demijohn	A glass vessel or bottle, with a large body and small neck, protected and strengthened by a covering of wicker-work.
Desert Canary	A burro.
Deuce	A euphemism for devil.
Devil	An expletive, expressing wonder or vexation, sometimes used as a term for mischief.
Devilish	Atrocious, enormous, excessively, exceedingly
Devil’s Addition	Red Light District.
Deviltry	Mischief, devilry.
Dice House	Bunkhouse.
Dickens	Euphemism for devil, overmuch, a lot - a word most often used in explanations of confusion or pain; “the dickens you say,” or “it hurt like the dickens.”
Dicker	Barter, trade.
Didn’t Have a Tail Feather Left	Broke
Die-up	The deaths of several cattle from exposure, disease, starvation, or other widespread catastrophe.
Difficulted	Perplexed.
Diggers	Spurs.
Diggings	One’s home, lodgings, or community. Also commonly referred to prospector’s mining claims.
Dilly-Dally	To delay.
Ding	Beat, bang, used tedious repetition, as, “Why do you keep dinging that in my ears?”
Ding or Dinged	Excessively, very. “It is so ding hot out here.”
Dipping	Chewing snuff.
Dip Snuff	A manner of using tobacco, generally by wetting a small stick and dipping it into snuff (tobacco) and placing in the mouth. Sometimes tied in a small bag to chew it.
Directly	Soon. “She’ll be down, directly.”
Dirk	A dagger, dirking would refer to stabbing with a dagger.
Dinero	From the Spanish, a word for money.
Dish	To ruin, to frustrate. “He dished us too.”
Disremember	Forget or choose to forget.
Ditched	Arrested.
Ditty	A which-i-ma-call-it.
Dive	Bunkhouse.
Docity	Quick comprehension, usually used in a negative way. “He has no docity.”
Doctor	The cook on board a ship, so-called by seamen.
Dog Cheap	Anything exceedingly cheap.
Doggery	A cheap saloon.
Dogie	An orphaned calf or small calf; by extension, any cattle.
Dog House	Bunkhouse.
Dogs	To go to the dogs. destruction, ruined, destroyed. “She has let that house go to the dogs.”
Doings	Cooked food, also called fixins.
Done Brown	Thoroughly, effectually cheated or bamboozled.
Done Up	Ruined by gambling or extravagance
Don’t Care a Continental	Don’t give a damn.
Don’t Get Your Dander Up	Anxious; excited.
Dough Belly	The cook.
Doughgods	Biscuits.
Dough Boxer	The camp cook.
Dough Puncher	The camp cook.
Dough Wrangler	The Camp cook, also called “Dough Puncher.”
Douse-the-Lights	Lights out. Time to hit the hay.
Dowd	A woman’s night-cap.
Down In The Mouth	Dispirited, dejected, disheartened
Down to the Blanket	Almost broke.
Doxology Works	A church.
Drabble	To make dirty by dragging in dirt and water, to wet and befoul, as, to drabble a gown or cloak.
Dragged Out	Fatigued, exhausted, worn out.
Dram Shop	A small drinking establishment, used in the early 19th century.
Drat or Dratted	A good-humored oath meaning very, exceedingly.
Draw	Drawing your gun “border style” consisted of pulling your pistol, worn backward in the holster, by putting your arm across the front of your body. This fancy stuff was popular down around the Mexican border.
Draw Cuts	A common way of deciding by lots, by drawing paper or straws.
Dreadful	Very, a lot, exceedingly. “He’s just got a dreadful amount of money.”
Dreambook	A small packet of papers used to roll cigarettes. Also called a “prayer book” or a “bible.”
Driving the Nail	A sport consisting of attempts to drive a nail into a post with rifle or pistol fire.
Droger	Lumber droger, cotton droger, etc. A vessel built solely for burden, for transporting cotton, lumber, and other heavy articles.
Drumming	Soliciting of customers in a retail establishment, such as “can I help you find something?”
Dry Gulch	To ambush someone, especially when the ambusher hides in a gully or gulch near a road and jumps the passersby.
Ducky	Used in early century as term of endearment.
Dude	Commonly, the term applied to an Easterner, or anyone in up-scale town clothes, rather than plain range-riding or work clothes. However, the term began as an insult, as cowboys first used the word to mean a pimple or boil on someone’s backside, caused by riding in the saddle all day when one wasn’t used to it. Hence, the cowboys called those “wanna-be” wrangers “dudes.”
Dug-Out	A canoe or boat, hewn or dug out of a large log.
Dull Music	A term applied to anything tedious.
Dump	Jail or boarding house.
Dumpish	Sad, melancholy
Dun	To dun is to urge for payment, to demand a debt in a pressing manner
Dunderhead	Blockhead, dolt.
Dusted	Thrown from a horse.
Dynamite	Whiskey.
Dyed In The Wool	Ingrained, thorough.
Eagle	A gold ten dollar coin.
Ears	To be by the ears, denotes being in a quarrel or fight.
Eatin Irons	Silverware.
E’en A’most	Almost.
Elephant	Short for ‘to see the elephant’; to go to town, or to see the world, usually for the first time.
Equalizer	A pistol.
Eucher, euchered	To out-smart someone, to be outwitted or suckered into something.
Eventuate	To issue, come to an end, close, terminate.
Excuse-me-ma’am	A bump in the road.
Exfluncticate	To utterly destroy.
Express	The mails or mail stage.
Fag	In cowboy talk, to get out fast.
Fagged Out	Fatigued, worn out.
Fair to Middlin’	Feeling pretty good.
Fair Shake	A fair trade, a satisfactory bargain or exchange.
Falutin	See High-Falutin
Family Disturbance	Whiskey
Fandango	From the Spanish, a big party with lots of dancing and excitement.
Faro	A card game that took its name from faroon, a derivative of pharaon (pharoah.) The Pharoah was the king of hearts in a regular deck of cards. Players bet on the order in which cards would be drawn from a box.
Fat In The Fire	To have one’s plans frustrated. “If I don’t get this job completed, the fat’s going to be in the fire.”
Feeze	To be in a feeze is to be in a state of excitement.
Feller	Fellow. “That big feller over there is the sheriff.”
Fetch	Bring, give. “Fetch me that hammer.” “He fetched him a punch in the nose.”
Fetch Up	Stop suddenly.
Fice	A worthless dog, mongrel. Also referred to as fiste and tyst.
Fid Of Tobacco	A chew, or quid of tobacco.
Fiddle	A horse’s head.
Fiddle Faddle	Trifling discourse, nonsense
Fight like Kilkenny Cats	Fight like hell.
Fill a Blanket	Roll a cigarette.
Find One’s Self	To provide for one’s self through labor and wages.
Fine as cream gravy	Very good, top-notch.
Finefied	Made fine, dandified.
Finical	Nice, foppish, pretending to superfluous elegance.
Fire-New	Brand new.
Firewater	Liquor
First-Swathe	First quality.
Fish	A cowboy’s rain slicker, from a rain gear manufacturer whose trademark was a fish logo. “We told him it looked like rain, but left his fish in the wagon anyhow.”
Fish or Cut Bait	Do it or quit talking about it.
Fit	Often used instead of “fought.”
Fit	A short return after intermission, a turn, a period or interval. “I almost lost my crops after that fit of cold weather.”
Fits And Starts	At short and sudden intervals interruptedly.
Five Beans in the Wheel	Five cartridges in the six chambers of a rvolver. Westerners often left the chamber under the hammer empty for safety reason.
Fix	A condition, predicament, dilemma.
Fix One’s Flint	To settle, to do for, to dish.
Fixin’	Intending. “I’m fixin’ to get supper started.”
Fixings or Fixins’	Cooked food, also called “Doings.” Arrangements, embellishments, trimmings, garnishings. The term was also used for the tobacco and paper needed to roll cigarettes.
Fix One’s Flint	To settle a matter.
Flack	Sales talk, advertising, exaggeration.
Flannel Mouth	An overly smooth or fancy talker, especially politicians or salesmen. “I swear that man is a flannel-mouthed liar.”
Flap-Jack	A fried cake, pancake, fritter.
Flat	A foolish fellow, a simpleton. Also refers to a flat-bottomed boat.
Flats	Low lands, valley
Flat Out	To collapse, to prove a failure.
Flea-Trap	Cowboy’s bedroll.
Flinders	Shreds, splinters, broken pieces
Fling	A sneer or contemptuous remark
Flitter	A corruption of the word fritter, a pancake.
Flummux	Perplex, embarrass, put to a stand.
Flunk Out	To retire through fear, to back out.
Flusteration	Heat, hurry, confusion
Fob Off	To delude by a trick.
Fogy	A stupid fellow, as, “He is an old fogy.”
Folded Up	A horse bucking.
Fore-Handed	To be in good circumstances, to be comfortably off.
Fork a Hoss	To ride a horse.
Fornent	Opposite to.
Forted In	Entrenched in a fort.
Forty Rod	Liquor.
Four-flusher	A cheat, swindler, liar.
Fox Boots	To fox boots is to repair them by adding new soles or leather.
French Leave	To depart without taking leave, to run away.
French Pox	Syphilis.
Freshet	A flood or overflowing of a river due to heavy rains or melted snow.
Frolic	A celebration, party or a wild time. Also sometimes used to instead of “fight.”
Frump	To mock, to insult.
Fuddled	Tipsy, drunk.
Fudge	An expression of contempt, usually bestowed on absurd or talking idlers.
Fuffy	Light, puffy, soft.
Full as a Tick	Very drunk.
Full Chisel or Full Drive	At full speed, executed with everything you’ve got.
Full-Rigged	A saddle that is completely leather-covered.
Full Split	With the greatest violence and impetuosity
Funkify	To frighten, to alarm.
Fuss	Disturbance. “They had a little fuss at the saloon.”
Fussed Dark	Twilight
Gad	Spur.
Gadabout	One who walks about without business
Gaff	To spur a horse.
Gal-Boy	A romping girl or tomboy.
Gallnipper	A large mosquito.
Gallowses	Suspenders, braces.
Galvanized Yankees	Former Confederate soldiers who served in the U.S. Army in the West following the Civil War.
Game Leg	A lame leg.
Gammon	Humbug, deceit, lies.
Gat	A gate or passage.
Gay Cat	One who cases banks and towns for future jobs
Gee Up	A term used by teamsters to their horses and oxen, when they wish them to go faster. “To Gee” means to agree.
General Treat	A general treat is a treat of a glass of liquor bought by one person in a tavern to the whole company present. Buying a round of drinks.
Gerrymandering	To arrange the political divisions, so that in an election, one party may obtain an advantage over its opponent, even though the latter may possess a majority of the votes in the State.
Get a Wiggle On	Hurry.
Get Gaited	Get going in a hurry. Gait refers to the rate a horse moves, which is far faster, so “get going.”
Get it in the Neck	Get cheated, misled, bamboozled.
Get my/your back up	To get angry. “Don’t get your back up, he was only joking.”
Get Shed of	Get rid of.
Get the Mitten	To be rejected by a lover. “Looks like Blossom gave poor Buck the mitten.”
Get The Wrong Pig By The Tail	To make a mistake in selecting a person for any purpose. “I got the wrong pig by the tail in debating with that particular man.”
G’hal	A rowdy girl, reveler or ruffian girl.
Gig	Spur a horse.
Ginnin’ About	Moving around fast.
Girls of the Line	Prostitutes.
Gitty-up	Go, Move. A term used to get the horse to start moving.
Give Him Jessy	To give a flogging.
Give the Mitten	When a lady turns down a man’s proposal or discards him.
Glut	A wooden wedge.
The Go	The mode, the fashion. “This is all the go.”’
Go It Strong	To perform an act with vigor or without scruple.
Goat Meat	Venison killed out of season.
Go Boil Your Shirt	Take a hike, get lost, bug off.
Go Heeled	To carry a six-shooter, also “packing iron.”
Goings On	Behavior, actions, conduct.
Gone Coon	A goner, past recover, a lost man. Also called a gone sucker and a Gone Goose.
Gone Goslin	Done for, doomed.
Gone Up the Flume	Yield, lost, dead.
Goney	A stupid fellow.
Gospel Mill	A church.
Gospel Sharp	A preacher.
Gotham	New York City.
Go the Big Figure or Whole Figure	To go to the fullest extent in the attainment of any object, do things on a large scale.
Got the Bulge	Have the advantage. “We’ll get the bulge on him, and take his gun away.”
Go the Whole Hog	Out and out in favor of anything. A softened form of the phrase is to go the entire animal.
Go Through The Mill	A metaphor alluding to grain which has been through the mill.
Goyathlay	Means “one who yawns.”
Grab a Root	Eat a meal, especially a potato.
Grab the Apple	Taking hold of the saddle horn to avoid falling off. Also called “grab the nubbin.” In either case, this was not something a self-respecting cowboywanted to be caught doing.
Grail	Small particles of any kind.
Granger	A derogatory term for a farmer.
Grassed	To be thrown from a horse.
Grass Widow	A divorcee.
Greatle	A great while.
Greased Lightning	Anything very fast.
Greasy Belly	The camp cook.
Greenhorn	An easterner innocent of cowboy ways. Also referred to as greeners, green peas, and tenderfoots.
Greens	Leaves and green vegetables used for food.
Gringo	A derogatory word for Anglos. One source claims it comes from a shortening of the title of a popular song during the Mexican War: “Green Grow the Lilacs.”
Grist	A quantity or bunch. “There’s been a mighty grist of rain lately.”
Gritty	Courageous, spirited.
Grocery	A bar or saloon.
Grog	To seamen, gin and water, or any spirit and water.
Groggery	A bar or saloon.
Growlers	Buckets, cans, or pitchers carried by apprentices or children to the saloon to be filled with beer and returned to the workplace during the day. They were called “growlers” because of the grating noise when slid across the bar. Fetching the beer from the saloon in a growler was called rushing the growler, working the growler, or chasing the can.
Grub Pile	Referring to a meal or to the chuckwagon.
Grub Slinger	The cook; also referred to as grub spoiler or grubworm.
Grubstake	To provide the materials a prospector needs, including food and money, in return for a percentage of any claim that the prospector might find.
Grum	Surly; gloomy; glum.
Grunter	A hog.
G.T.T.	Gone To Texas. A common expression in use following the Civil War. People would find the letters G.T.T. carved into their doors, left by a kin. Many outlaws went to Texas.
Gull	A cheat, fraud or trick. Also, refers to a stupid animal or person, one easily cheated.
Gully Washer	A hard rain.
Gummy!	An exclamation.
Gump	A foolish person, a dolt.
Guttersnipe	A homeless child who roamed and slept in the streets.
Gut Hooks	Spurs, also called gut lancers.
Gut Line	Rawhide rope.
Gut Warmer	Whiskey.
Hack	A hackney coach.
Haint	Have not.
Hair Case	Hat.
Hair in the Butter	A delicate situation.
Hair Pants	Chaps made from a hair-covered hide.
Half Seas Over	A sailor’s expression for intoxicated, drunk.
Halloo or Hallow	Shout, hoot, to cry out loudly.
Hammer And Tongs	In a noisy, furious manner. “They went at it hammer and tongs.”
Hand And Glove	Intimate, familiar, closely united as a hand and its glove.
Hand Runnin’	Consecutively.
Hanger-On	A dependant, one who eats and drinks without payment.
Hang Fire	Delay.
Hang Up One’s Fiddle	To give up. The opposite would be to “hang on to one’s fiddle.”
Hanker or Hankering	To have an incessant wish, strong desire, longing.
Happifying	Making happy.
Hard Case	Worthless, bad, unpleasant, - often referring to a person.
Hardfisted	Covetous, close-handed, miserly.
Hard Money	A common term for silver and gold, rather than paper money.
Hard Pushed or Hard Run	Hard pressed, to be in a difficulty, short of cash.
Hard Row To Hoe	A metaphor derived from hoeing corn, meaning a difficult matter or job to accomplish.
Harum-Scarum	A negative term applied to flighty persons or persons always in a hurry.
Hash	To settle one’s business.
Have a Mind To	To have a notion, to be willing.
Hay Baler	A horse, also called hay burner.
Hay Seed	Derogatory term for a farmer, also called hay shaker.
Haze	To haze round, is to go rioting about.
Head-Cheese	The ears and feet of swine cut up fine, boiled, and pressed into the form of a cheese.
Heap	A lot, many, a great deal. “He went through a heap of trouble to get her that piano.” Also refers to a crowd, a throng, a rabble.
Hearn	Heard.
Hear Tell	To hear a report of, to hear of.
Hearty As A Buck	Very well, healthy, hearty. A hunter’s phrase.
Heave In Sight	To come in sight, to appear. A nautical phrase that originated with approaching vessels that appeared to raise or heave itself above the horizon.
Heeled	To be armed with a gun. “He wanted to fight me, but I told him I was not heeled.”
Heft	Weight, ponderousness.
Hellabaloo	Riotous noise, confusion.
Hell-fired	Very, great, immensely; used for emphasis. He is just too hell-fired lazy to get any work done around here. Also “all-fired” and “jo-fired.”
Hell Rousers	Spurs.
Helter-Skelter	In a hurry, without order, tumultuously.
Hemp	Cowboy talk for rope; in verb form to hang someone. Hemp fever was a morbidly jocular term for a hanging. Hemp party (also string party) meant the same. A hemp committee was a group of vigilantes or a lynch mob (depending on your point of view) and a hemp necktie was the rope they did the deed with. Coined because cowboys used ropes made of Manila hem.
Hen Skins	A cowboy’s bedroll
Here’s how!	A toast, such as Here’s to your health.
Hern	Hers.
Hide	To beat, spank. “When I was a boy, I got plenty of hidings.
Hifer	Loiter.
Higgle	To chaffer, bargain, haggle.
Higgledy-Piggledy	In confusion.
High Binder	A dangerous and vicious man or horse.
High-Falutin	Highbrow, fancy, self-important, pompous. The origin is the Dutch word verlooten, meaning stilted.
High-Grader	In the mining camps of the Old West, a high-grader was a man who stole any big nuggets which he saw in the sluice boxes.
High Tail	To leave or ride off quickly.
Hill of Beans	Slang for something of trifling value, as in “it ain’t worth a hill of beans.”
Hindsite First	Backwards.
Hisn	His or his own.
Hitch	A difficulty, an impediment.
To Hitch	To agree, to get along amicably.
Hitched	Got married.
Hitch in the Giddy-up	Not feeling well, as in: “I’ve had a hitch in my giddy-up the last couple days.”
Hither And Yon	Here and there.
Hit pay dirt	Mining term. To find something of value.
Hits the Flat	Go out on the prairie.
Hobble your lip	Shut up.
Hog at the Trough	Superior, outstanding, a leader
Ho	A word used by teamsters to stop their teams.
Hobble	A scrape, a state of perplexity
Ho Down	A party or celebration
Hog-Killin Time	This a “what I mean” very good time!
Hog-Wallow	On some of the Western prairies, the ground has every appearance of having been rooted or torn up by hogs, when it is very rough, hence the name
Hog Ranch	A brothel and saloon that was often located near a military fort.
Hoity-Toity	An exclamation denoting surprise or disapprobation, with some degree of contempt.
Hold a Candle to	Measure up, compare to.
Hold Your Horses	Stay calm. “Hold your horses, we’re on our way.”
Hold Up	In referring to weather, it means to clear up, stop raining, etc.
Hollow	All hollow. Completely, wholly. “He beat him all hollow.
Holt	Hold. “Death has got holt of him.”
Honey-Fogle	To swindle, cheat, lay plans to deceive.
Hook	To steal.
By Hook Or By Crook	One way or other, by any expedient. “It can’t be done by hook or crook.”
Hooks	Spurs.
Hookshop	A brothel.
Honey-fuggled	To cheat, to pull the wool over one’s eyes.
Hoosegow	Jail, from the Spanish juzgado, meaning courthouse.
Hooter	A bit or a tiny amount.
Hop	A dance.
Hopped for Mama	A horse bucking.
Horn	A glass of liquor, ale or beer.
Hornswoggle	To cheat or trick, to pull the wool over one’s eyes.
Horse Thief Special	A raisn and boiled rice dish.
Horse Feathers	Ridiculous.
Horse Wrangler	Horse herder.
Hoss	A horse.
Hot as a Whorehouse on Nickel Night	Damned hot.
Hot Rock	Biscuit.
Hot Roll	Bedroll.
Huckleberry	As in “I’m your huckleberry” means “I’m just the man you’re looking for” or “I’m just the man for the job.”
Huckleberry Above a Persimmon	A cut above.
Hum	Home.
Humbug	A deception, hoax, imposter.
Hounds	Rowdies of the gold-rush days of San Francisco.
Hull	Saddle.
Hurricane Deck	The saddle of a bucking horse.
Husking Bee	A social event in which the community came together to husk corn and to drink. Also called a “husking frolic.”
I Dad!	An exclamation used in the Western States.
Illy	Ill, sick.
In For It	Engaged in a thing from which there is no retreating.
In Liquor	Intoxicated, drunk.
Iron	Short for branding iron or six-gun.
Iron Horse	A Railroad train.
Is that a bluff, or do you mean it for real play?	Are you serious?
Jackeroo	A cowboy, also called buckaroo.
Jack of Diamonds	Rye whiskey.
Jag	A small load.
Jasper	Slang of this word starting in 1896 meant a guy, or a rustic, simpleton, or naive hick (later changed to “bubba”).
To Jaw	To scold, to clamor, to abuse grossly.
Jawing	Talking. “We sat around the campfire just jawing.”
Jerked Meat	Beef and other kinds of fresh meat dried in the open air without salt.
Jig is Up	Scheme/game is over, exposed.
Jingled	Drunk
Jingler	A person who talks in rhyme or in a catchy repetitious manner, or someone who drinks alot.
Jiminy	By Jiminy! An exclamation.
Jimmying a bull	Shooting a law officer.
Jo-fired	Very, great, immensely; used for emphasis. He is just too jo-fired lazy to get any work done around here. Also “all-fired” and “hell-fired.”
John B.	A cowboy hat, after hat maker John B. Stetson.
John Barleycorn	Beer
Johnny	A Chinaman, also sometime just “John.”
Jollification	A scene of festivity or merriment. Used only in familiar language.
Jonathan	The American people. Also known as Brother Jonathan or Uncle Sam. Sometimes used to refer to a Yankee.
Joy Juice	Whiskey.
Judus Steer	Part of the cowboy’s job during the drive was to identify the Judas steer. Once at the end of the trail, the Judas could simply lead the other cattle to slaughter with no hassle. If a particularly good Judas was found, he was spared the meat hook and used again.
Jump the Broom	Get married.
Juniper	Derogatory term for an easterner or novice cowhand.
Justins	Cowboy boots.
Kansas Sheep Dip	Whiskey
Kedge	Brisk, in good health and spirits. “I am feeling pretty kedge today.”
Keep	Storage for food, subsistence, keeping. “The milk is in the keep.”
Keep Company	To court.
Keeping-Room	A common sitting-room or parlor.
Keep That Dry	Keep it secret.
Keep The Pot A Boiling	Keep it going.
Kettled	A horse bucking.
Kick	To protest or to object to something; to complain.
Kick Up a Row	Create a disturbance.
Kidney Pad	Eastern Saddle.
Kitchen Safe	Cupboard
Knee-high to a…	Humorous description of short stature or youth. “He ain’t knee-high to a lamb.”
Knob	Round hills or knolls.
Knobs	Spurs
Knock Galley West	Beat senseless.
Knocked Into A Cocked Hat	Knocked out of shape, spoiled, ruined, fouled up.
Knock Round	To go about.
Lacing	A beating. He took a lacing at the hands of the bully.
Ladies of the Line	Prostitutes.
Lag	Prisoner, convict.
Lagger	Sailor
To Lam	To beat soundly.
Lambasting	A beating, a thrashing.
Lammy	A blanket.
Landed	When a person has amassed a fortune large enough to keep him for the rest of his life.
Land-Loper or Land-Lubber	A vagrant, one who strolls about the country
Lands Sakes!	A more socially acceptable alternative for “Lord’s sake.”
Lapper	A hard drinker.
Lasso	A long rope or cord, with a noose, for the purpose of catching wild horses or buffaloes on the Western prairies.
Latchpan	Lower lip
To Lather	To beat.
Lathy	Thin, slender like a lath.
Latish	Rather late.
Latty or Letty	A bed.
Laudanum	Not exactly slang, but what is it? Often utilized by the “painted ladies” in the west, laudanum was opium mixed with liquor.
Lay	Price, terms, salary. “He bought a large herd of cattle at a good lay. Also used to describe a cowboy’s bed.
Lead Plumb	A bullet.
Lead Poisoning	Shot. “He died of lead poisoning.”
Lead Plumb	A bullet.
Lead Pusher	A gun.
Leafless Tree	Gallows.
Leap the Book	An illegal or false marriage.
Leather-necks	Soldiers
Leg Bail	To give leg bail, is to run away.
Left-handed Wife	Mistress.
Leggins	South Texas term for chaps.
Let Drive	To let fly, to let slip. To discharge, let loose a blow with the fist, a stone, a bullet from a gun, etc.
Let Her Rip	Let it go.
Let On	To mention, disclose, betray a knowledge.
Let Out	To begin a story or narrative.
Let Up	To let up is to release, a relief. “Thank Goodness, the rain finally let up.”
Lick	Molasses.
Lick	A blow.
Lick or Salt Lick	A place where wild animals lick for salt — usually a salt spring.
Lickety Split	Headlong, at full speed.
To Lick	To beat.
Lickfinger	To kiss ass. Also called “lick-spittle.”
Licking	A flogging, a beating.
Lickspittle	A mean parasite, one who will stoop to any dirty work
Lief or Lieve	Willingly, gladly.
Like Bricks	Quickly, with energy.
Life Preserver	A gun.
Light (or lighting) a shuck	To get the hell out of here in a hurry. “I’m lightin’ a shuck for California.”
Light On	To fall on, to come to by chance, to happen to find.
Lights or Top Lights	Eyes.
Like a Thoroughbred	Like a gentleman.
Like lickin’ butter off a knife	Something that is easy; not hard.
Lincoln Skins	Greenbacks.
Line Camp	Crude shacks or camps on the outermost boundaries of a ranch.
Line Rider	Cowboys the guarded the ranch boundaries. Also called outriders.
Lining the Flue	Eating.
Lily Liver	Someone who is a coward.
Limsy	Weak, flexible.
Lincoln Skins	Greenbacks.
Linsey Woolsey	A corruption of linen and wool. Material made of linen and wool mixed, light or coarse stuff. “He gave them coats of linsey woolsey, which were good and warm for winter, and good and light for summer.
Little End of the Horn	To come away from a situation at a disadvantage. The same as “short end of the stick.
Lizzy	Saddle horn.
Llano Estacado	The dry, treeless plains of Texas and New Mexico, also called the “Staked Plains.”
Loaded for Bears	Lightly intoxicated.
Loaded to the Gunwhales	Full out drunk.
Loblolly	Mud hole.
Lock, Stock, And Barrel	The whole thing, the whole “kit and caboodle.”
Loco	Crazy.
Logy	Slow-moving, dull, awkward.
Loller	Live, sportive damsel.
Lone Star	An independent cowboy.
Long And Short	The end, the result, the upshot. “That’s the long and short of the subject.”
Longrider	An outlaw, someone who usually had to stay in the saddle for an extended period of time while on the run from a crime.
Loo’d, looed	Beaten or defeated.
Lookin’ at a Mule’s Tail	Plowing.
Lookin’ to Die	Seriously ill.
Look-See	To investigate. “I think I’ll go have a look-see across that hill.”
Looseness	Freedom. “He spoke with a perfect looseness.”
Lope	A leap, a long step.
Lotion	A drink.
Louse Cage	Bunkhouse.
Love Apples	Canned tomatoes.
Love Lick	Rough caress.
Lucky	Escape, run away. “We might have got into trouble if we hadn’t made our lucky.”
Lunger	Slang for someone with tuberculosis.
Lunkhead	A horse of inferior breed or appearance.
Lunk-headed	Idiotic, senseless.
Lynching Bee	A hanging
Lubber	A sturdy man, idle, fat, bulky fellow
Luddy Mussy!	Lord have mercy! An exclamation of surprise.
Lush-crib	A saloon or tavern.
Lushington	A drunk.
Lynching Bee	A hanging.
Mab	A harlot.
Mad as a March Hare	Very angry.
Mad as a Hornet	Very mad.
Madder than an Old Wet Hen	Very angry. “Mama woke up madder than an old wet hen.”
Made His Jack	Got what he aimed at.
Maggot	Derogatory term for sheep.
Mail-Order Cowboy	This was a derogatory term used to chide tenderfoot, urban “cowboys” who arrived from the East all decked out in fancy but hardly practical Western garb.
May Hay	To put in disorder, to make confusing.
Make Hay While the Sun Shines	To make the most of the day, or an opportunity.
Make a Mash	Make a hit, impress someone. (Usually a female.) “Buck’s tryin’ to make a mash on that new girl.”
Make A Raise	To raise, procure, obtain.
Making Meat	On the Western prairies, cutting into thin slices the boneless parts of the buffalo, or other meat, and drying them in the wind or sun. Meat thus prepared may be preserved for years without salt.
Make Tracks	To leave, to walk away. A figurative expression of Western origin.
Makins	Tobacco and papers used to roll cigarettes.
Man-a-hanging	A man having difficulties.
Man At The Pot	According to camp etiquette, when a cowboy gets up to refill his cup from the coffee pot hanging over the campfire, if someone shouts, “Man at the pot!” the man at the coffee pot is required to fill everyone’s cup.
Manner Born, To the	A natural. “He’s a horseman to the manner born.”
Man for Breakfast	A murdered body in the streets at dawn. Commonplace in the early days of Los Angeles and Denver. Also used to describe certain saloonswhen men were killed the night before. “Lambert’s only had two men for breakfast.”
Man-trap	Cow dung in the fields, or, a widow.
To Marble	To move off, be off, go, as, “If you do that again, you must marble.”
Marinos	Spurs.
Marm	A corruption of the word madam or ma’am.
Marooning	To go marooning. To have a party or picnic.
Mary	An effeminate homosexual.
Mashed	In love.
Mauks	Derogatory term for women of the lower class or prostitutes.
Mauled	Very drunk.
Maverick	An unbranded calf.
May Can	May be able to.
Marble Orchard	Graveyard
Mealer	A partial abstainer who drinks liquor only during meals.
Mean	Bad quality.
Mexican Strawberries	Dried beans.
Milestonemonger	Some who likes to roam, a tramp.
Milling	Fighting.
Millrace	A channeled stream of water that runs through a mill to push the mill wheel.
Mind, Have a	To have a notion, to be willing.
To Mind	To recollect, remember or to take care of..
Missionate	To act as a missionary.
Mitten	When a gentleman is jilted by a lady, or is discarded by one to whom he has been paying his addresses he is said to have got the mitten.
Miss one’s figure	to miss a change, to make a mistake.
Mitten, Get or Give	Turned down by a lady after proposing.
Miss Nancy	A name given to an effeminate man.
Mizzle	To run away, to abscond.
Mochilla	A rectangular leather saddlebag popularized by the Pony Express.
Mockered	Dirtied, defiled.
Molled	In the company of a woman.
Molly	An effeminate young man.
Molocher	A cheap hat.
Monkey Shines	Eccentricities, strange actions.
To Monkey	To play tricks, fool or tamper with, mischievious.
Monkey Ward Cowboy	A tenderfoot.
Monte	A gambling game played with dice or cards.
Moonshine	A trifle, nothing.
Moonshiny	Deceptive.
Mop	A habitual drunk.
Moppy	Drunk or tipsy.
Mormon Tea	Liquor.
Mosey	To saunter or shuffle along, to be off, to leave, to sneak away.
Moss-backs	Old fogies, men behind the times, slow to learn.
Moss Head	A very old steer.
Mought	For might.
Mouldy Grubs	Traveling showmen.
Mountain Oysters	Fried or roasted calves’ testicles. Also called Prairie Oysters.
To Mouse	To go mousing about is to go poking about into holes and corners.
Mouth-bet	A gambling man who only gives verbal promises to pay.
Mouthpiece	A lawyer.
Muck Forks	A low term for hands or fingers. “Keep your muck forks off me!”
Muck-out	To a gambler, to “clean-out” an opponent.
Mucks, Mux	To make a muddle or failure of anything. “He made a regular mux of the whole business.”
Muck-snipe	To gamblers, the one who has been “cleaned out.”
Mud Pipes	Any kind of boots or shoes, but mostly applied to riding-boots.
Muddy end of the Stick	Short end of the stick.
Mud Fence, Ugly as a	Used to describe someone who was very ugly.
Mudpipes	Boots or shoes.
Mudsill	Uneducated, working class. Low-life, thoroughly disreputable person.
Mugwump	An Indian word meaning captain, leader or notable person.
Mule-ears	Boots.
Mule’s Breakfast	A straw bed.
Muleskinner	A person who drives and usually rides in a wagon pulled by mules.
Muley	A one-horned or hornless cow.
Mumper	A begger.
Music Root	Sweet potato.
Mush-Head	A stupid, witness fellow.
Mustard	To unsettle or disturb cattle.
Mutton-Puncher	Derogatory name used by cowboys to describe a sheepherder.
Muzzle	Loiter.
Mysteries	Sausages, called that because many didn’t know what they were made of.
Nailed to the Counter	Proven a lie.
Nairn	None
Namby-pamby	Sickly, sentimental, saccharin.
Nancy or Nancy-boy	An effeminate man.
Nanny	A prostitute.
Nanny Shop	Brothel
Nary	None, not, zero
Nary-One	Neither.
Navy Model	Colt firearms.
Necessary	Outhouse, water closet; bathroom.
Neck Oil	Whiskey.
Necktie Social or Necktie Party	A hanging or lynching, most often referred to in vigilante hangings.
Nester	A squatter who settled on government land, usually to farm.
Nibbler	A petty thief.
Nibble	To take or steal.
Nigh Unto	Nearly, almost.
Night Hawk	While the rest of the cowboys slept under the stars on a cattle drive, one unlucky soul who drew the short straw, the “night hawk”, had to stay up all night standing guard.
Nippent	Impudent, impertinent.
Nipper	A baby or small child.
Nobby, Nobbish	Fine, stylish.
No Count or No Account	Of no account, worthless. “That no count boy does nothing but get into trouble.”
Nohow	Not at all, no way.
No Odds	No difference, no consequence, no matter.
Nose Paint	Whiskey.
Nosey Parker	Someone who is nosey.
Not By a Jugful	No consideration, on no account, not at all.
Notch	An opening or narrow passage through a mountain or hill.
Nothing To Nobody	Nobody’s business.
Notions	A wide range of miscellaneous articles for sale.
Nubbin	Saddle horn.
Nurly	A corrupt pronunciation of gnarly, i. e. gnarled.
Nymphs du Prairie	Prostitutes.
Oats	To feel one’s oats, is to feel one’s importance.
Odd Fish or Odd Stick	A person who is eccentric or odd in his manners. “Ol’ Farmer Jones sure is an odd stick.”
Off his nut, off his rocker, off his chump	Weak in the head, crazy, illogical; someone who behaves strangely.
Offish	Distant, reserved, aloof.
Off one’s feed	Unable to eat, having no appetite.
Of the First Water	First class. “He’s a gentleman of the first water.”
Oh-be-joyful	Liquor, beer, intoxicating spirits. “Give me another snort of that oh-be-joyful.”
Old	Crafty, cunning. If someone tries to take advantage of someone else, who is too cunning to be deceived, he might say “I’m a little too old for you.”
Old Betsy or Old Blue	A gun.
Old Country	A term applied to Great Britain, originally by natives from that country, who had immigrated to the United States.
Old Countryman	A native of England, Scotland, Ireland, or Wales. The term was never applied to persons from the Continent of Europe.
Old Dan	Often used to refer to a trustworthy mule.
Old Epharim	A term that mountain men called both male or female grizzly bears.
Old Man	The ridge found between two sleepers in a feather bed.
Old Orchard	Whiskey.
Old Pie	An expression of admiration or approval.
Old Pod	Old man.
Old Rackatee	A gun.
Old Rats	Equivalent to “one of the boys,” a hearty old fellow.
Old Scratch	The devil.
Old Stager	One well initiated in anything.
Old States	Back East.
Old Tom	Gin.
Old Towse	Whiskey
Oldermost	Oldest. “He’s the oldermost fellow at the reunion.”
On One’s Own Hook	On one’s own account, for himself. “He is doing business on his own hook.
Onplush	Nonplus.
Old Woman	The cowboy’s cook. Though the cook was often the most popular man on the cattle drive, cooking was still considered to be “women work.”
Oil	Nitroglycerine. Was often used to open bank vault. Also called “soup.”
One-horse	Small, limited, inferior. “Well, if that ain’t a one-horse town.”
On or In A Pinch	On an emergency.
On the Dead	Gratis, free.
On the Dodge	Hiding out somewhere; laying low for a while.
On the half-shell	Applied to anything prepared and ready for use.
On the Prod	Full of piss and vinegar, looking for trouble, spoiling for a fight. Said of both people and critters.
On the Shoot	Looking for trouble. “Looks like he’s on the shoot, tonight.”
On the Win	Winning or making money.
Oof	Money
Opine	To be of the opinion.
Ourn	Ours.
Outlaw	A horse that cannot be tamed to ride.
Over Head And Ears	Completely overwhelmed. “He was over head and ears in debt.”
Out And Out	Wholly, completely, without reservation.
Out-and-outer	First-class.
On The Fence	Neutral or undecided.
Out Of Fix or Out of Sorts	Disarranged, in a state of disorder.
Over-Careful	Very careful.
Overland Trout	Bacon.
Owdacious	Audacious.
Owl Hoot	An outlaw
Owl Hoot Trail	The outlaw way of life.
Oxbows	Large, old-time wooden stirrups. Also known as oxyokes.
Pack Iron	To carry a revolver or “shooting iron.”
Paddle	To go or run away.
Paint	A horse with irregular patches of white. Also refers to drinking, alluding to the red nose caused by over-indulgence.
Painted Cat	A prostitute.
Painted Lady	A prostitute.
Painter	In the country a popular name for cougar or panther.
Paintin’ His Nose	Getting drunk.
Painting One’s Tonsils	Drinking alcohol, also referred to as ‘Painting one’s nose.”
Pair Of Stairs	A flight of stairs.
Painting the Town Red	Going out on the town for a fun, sometimes wild, time.
Pair of Overalls	Two drinks of whiskey.
Pal on	to associate.
Pancake	A derogatory term for a small English saddle.
Pan Out	To pay well, prove profitable.
Parade Chaps	A pair of chaps strictly for show. Might be worn for the grand entry parade at a rodeo.
Pass in one’s chips	To die.
Pay Dirt	When prospectors find valuable minerals they had hit “pay dirt.”
Peacemaker	A Colt revolver.
Peaked	Thin or sickly in appearance.
Pecker Pole	What a logger called a small tree or sapling.
Peck Of Trouble	Great trouble.
Pecker	Appetite.
Peckish	Hungry.
Peck	Eat voraciously
Pedlar’s Pony	A walking stick.
Pecos	To kill by drowning. (Literally, to throw into the Pecos River.)
Pecos Strawberries	Beans.
Pemican	Easily carried food substance on the frontier. Formed by pounding the choice parts of the meat very small, dried over a slow fire or in the frost, and put into bags made of the skin of the slain animal, into which a portion of melted fat is then poured.
Penny Dreadful	A slang term for cheap, lurid fictional magazines that incorporated the same kind of literature as the dime novels. Later generations would call them pulp fiction.
Pennyweighter	In the mining camps of the Old West, a pennyweighter was a person who stole very small quantities of gold from the mining operation for whom he worked.
Perk	Lively, brisk, holding up the head
Persnickity	Peculiar, picky.
Persuader	A gun.
Pertend Up	Better, more cheerful.
Peskily	Very, extremely, confoundedly. “I’m peskily sorry to hear of your loss.”
Petticoat Pensioner	A man who lives on a prostitute’s earnings. Also called Sunday-man.
Picayune	Used to signify something small or frivolous.
Pickaninny	A negro or mulatto infant. Used in the Southern States.
Pick-Back	On the back. Often used when carrying children on the back - piggyback.
Picture	One’s face or one’s person.
Piddle	Waste time.
Piebald	A Paint horse.
Piece of Calico	A girl or a woman.
Piece of Pudding	A piece of luck, a welcome change.
Piece of Thick	Pressed cake tobacco.
Pied	A paint horse.
Pie Eater	Country boy, a rustic.
Pig Sticker	Knife or bayonet.
Pig Trail	Small side road.
Pike	A name applied in California to migratory poor.
Pilgrim	Cowboy term for an easterner or novice cowhand.
Pill	A doctor.
Pilled	Black-balled.
Pimping	Little, petty.
Pimple	The cowboy’s name for the very small saddles used by Easterners.
Pining Away For	Longing for.
Pink	Denotes the finest part, the essence. She is the pink of perfection.
Pinto	A paint horse.
Pirooting	Having sexual intercourse.
Pistareen	One-fifth of a dollar, a silver coin, formerly in the United States, of the value of twenty cents.
Pitch a Fit	To throw a temper tantrum, get upset.
Placer	Comes from the Spanish word for gravel beds. Prospectors would scoop some dirt and water into a pan, swish it to wash the gravel away, and look for good in the bottom.
Plain-headed	A term that expresses that a lady is not good looking.
Plaguily	Vexatiously, horribly. “I am puzzled most plaguily to get words to tell you what I think.”
Plank, Plank Down, Plank Up	To pay in cash.
Plaster	Flatter
Play a Lone Hand	To do something alone.
Play Second Fiddle	To “play second fiddle” is to take an inferior part in any project or undertaking.
Play to the Gallery	To show off. “That’s just how he is, always has to play to the gallery.”
Played out	Exhausted.
Plow Chaser	A derogatory term for farmer.
Plow Handle	A single action pistol was sometime referred to as a plow handle. These were also referred to as “thumbusters,” “cutters,” “smoke poles,” and “hawg legs.”
To Plum	To deceive.
Plumb, Plum	Entirely, completely. “He’s plumb crazy.”
Plummy	Satisfactory or profitable.
Plunder	Personal belongings or baggage. “Pack your plunder, Joe, we’re headin’ for San Francisco.”
Poke	A small sack, usually made of leather or rawhide. Also refers to a lazy person, a dawdler. “What a slow poke you are.”
Poke-Bonnet	A long, straight bonnet, much worn by Quakers and Methodists.
Poker	Any frightful object, especially in the dark.
Pokerish	Frightful, causing fear, especially to children.
Pokey	Jail
Pony Up	Pay over money. “Pony up that account.” Also, post the pony, i.e. lay down the money.
Poppet	Term of endearment. “Come along, poppet.”
Poppy-Cock	Bosh, nonsense, idle talk.
Pop Skull	Whiskey.
Pop Your Corn	Say what you have to say, speak out.
Porch Percher	A town loafer.
Portage	To carry boats or supplies overland between rivers or lakes.
Portmantle	A valise.
Post the Pony	Pay up.
Pot Rustler	Cook.
Pot Shot	An Easy shot.
Power	A large quantity, a great number.
Pow-Wow	Native American feasts, dances and public doings.
Prairie Coal	Cowchips.
Prairie Dew	Whiskey.
Prairie Oysters	Fried or roasted calves’ testicles. Also called Mountain Oysters.
Prairie Pancakes	Cowchips.
Prairie Tenor	Coyote.
Prairillon	A small prairie.
Prat	Buttock, behind.
Prayer Book	A packet of papers used to roll cigarettes. Also called a “dream book” or a “bible.”
Pray Tell	Tell me.
Predicate	A proposition or argument.
Prehaps	Perhaps.
Priminary	Predicament, difficulty.
Prod, On the	Spoiling for a fight, also referred to as “proddy.”
Prog	Food, provisions of any kind.
Pshal, P’shaw	An exclamation for nonsense.
Pucker	In a state of irritation or anger.
Puddin’ Foot	An awkward horse.
Pull in your Horns	Back off, quit looking for trouble.
Pull Foot	To leave in a hurry, walk fast, run.
Pull the Leg	To impose upon.
Pull the Long Bow	To tell falsehoods, lie.
Pullin my donkey’s tail	A much older way of saying “are you pullin my leg”
Pulling a Kite	Making a face.
Pulling in the Pieces	To make money.
Punching Dogies	Cowpunching, driving the cattle to market.
Pung	A rude sort of sleigh, or oblong box made of boards and placed on runners, used for drawing loads on snow by horses.
Purge	Beer.
Push Your Barrow	Go away.
Put a Spoke in the Wheel	To foul up or sabotage something.
Put on the Nose Bag	To eat.
Put the Licks In	Run very fast.
Queer Fish	An odd or eccentric person. Also called odd stick and odd fish.
Quincy	An indoor toilet.
Quirley	Roll-your-own cigarette.
Quirt	Whip
Quid	A corruption of cud, as, in vulgar language, a quid of tobacco.
Raft	A large quantity.
Rag Proper	Dress well.
Rail It	To travel by rail-road.
Railheads	Towns with facilities for loading cattle onto trains.
Railroad Bible	A deck of cards. This stemmed from the large number of card sharks working aboard the railroads.
Raise	To make a raise. Meaning to make a haul, to raise the wind.
Raise One’s Bristles	To excite one’s anger.
Raise Sand	Start trouble.
Raisin’ Cain	Loud, noisy boisterous.
Rake And Scrape	To collect.
Randy	Wanton or lecherous.
Ranny	A top cowhand, skilled cowboy.
Rantankerous	Contentious, a variation of cantankerous.
Rappee	An inferior quality of snuff.
Rattler	Freight train
Rattled	To become nervous, worried, uneasy.
Rattling	Jolly, excellent, smart
Rattle Your Hocks	Hurry up, get a move on.
Rat Trap	A woman’s bustle.
Raving Distracted	Stark mad.
Rebel Soldier	Rye whiskey.
Reckon	To guess or think. “I reckon that’ll do right fine.”
Reckoning up	Talking about something or someone in a slanderous manner. “I overheard them reckoning up the mayor.”
Red Eye	Whiskey, also called “red disturbance” and “red ink.”
Red Lane	A vulgar name for the throat, chiefly used by those drinking alcohol.
Reloading Outfit	Cowboy term for eating utensils, cups, and a plate.
Rench	A vulgar pronunciation of the word rinse.
Retch	Past tense of reach.
Retiracy	Sufficiency, competency.
Reverent	Strong, as, reverent whisky, not diluted.
Rib	Wife.
Rib Wrenches	Spurs.
Ride a Shank’s Mare	To walk or be set afoot.
Ride For the Brand	To be loyal to the ranch and rancher that pays a cowboy.
Ride Out on a Rail	To be forced to leave town.
Rig	Saddle.
Right as a Trivet	Right as rain, sound as a nut, stable.
Right as Rain	Fine. “After a good night’s rest, he’ll be right as rain.”
Right Smart	Many, much, good. “He got a right smart bit of work done.”
Ring	A group of businessmen or politicians form to advance their own interests, usually in such a way that places the public at risk. “The notorious Santa Fe Ring was an unscrupulous group of politicians in the 1800s.”
Ring in	To force or insinuate oneself into company where one is not wanted or does not belong.
Ringster	A member of ring, or group whose objective is to profit at the public’s expense.
Ringy	Ornery or angry man or animal.
Rip	Reprobate. “He’s a mean ol’ rip.”
Rip Out	Impatiently give vent to one’s feeling or opinions. “When he came upon the town bully, he ripped out what he thought of him.”
Rip-roaring, Rip-staver, Rip-snortin’	An impressive person or thing.
Road Agent	A robber, bandit, desperado.
Road Ranch	A supply center or store, often located on the major trails headed westward, that supplied the wagon trains with provisions.
Rode Hard and Put Up Wet	Ugly, rough or hard looking. “She looks like she’s been rode hard and put up wet!”
Roastineer	Corn roasted over an open fire while still in the husks.
Rock	A piece of money.
Rocky Mountain Canary	A burro used by the miners in the Rocky Mountains. Colorado burros were often called Rocky Mountain Canaries.
Rod	A revolver.
Rode Fence	Patrolled the range checking see if any areas of fencing needed repairs.
Roily Or Rily	Turbid, excited to resentment, vexed.
Rook	To cheat, to dupe, such as a cardsharper or conman might do in a poker game.
Rookus Juice	Liquor.
Roostered	Drunk. “Looks like those cowboys are in there gettin’ all roostered up.”
Roost over one	To get the better of.
Roping In	Cheating.
Rot-gut	Bad liquor.
Rouncher, roncher	Used to describe something extreme, powerful, large, fine, remarkable.
Round Browns	Cow chips.
Round Up	A gathering of sheep, cattle or pigs.
Rousing	Very great, commonly applied to a fire.
Round-Rimmers	Hats with a round rim, hence, those who wear them.
Row	A fight
To Row Up	To punish with words, to rebuke.
Row Up Salt River	Used generally to signify political defeat.
Rowdy-dow	Low, vulgar.
Ruckus	Loud noise, voices, a racket. “What’s all the ruckus about?”
Ruinatious	Ruinous.
Rumbumptious, rumbustious	Haughty, pompous, boisterous, making a great fuss about.
Rum-hole, Rum-mill	A small drinking establishment, saloon.
Run	A small stream or rivulet.
To Run	To press with jokes, sarcasm, or ridicule. ‘To get the run upon one,’ is to make a butt of him.
Run against a pill	To be shot, to take a bullet.
To Run One’s Face	To make use of one’s credit.
Russer, Rusher	A dashing, sensation-causing man, a heavy player - often applied to politicians and clergymen.
Saddle Bum	A drifter.
Saddle Stiff	A cowboy, also referred to as “saddle warmer” and “saddle slicker.”
Saddle Tramp	A cowboy who spends most of his time in the chuck line.
Sadying	A simple and unaffected mode of dancing.
Sagamore	The title of a chief or ruler among some of the American tribes of Indians.
Sagebrush Men	Cowboy who worked in the arid portions of Montana, Colorado and Wyoming.
Sage Hen	A woman.
Sakes Alive	The equivalent of “Good heavens!”
Salt Horse	Corned beef.
Salting	Planting rich ore samples in an unprofitable mine to attract unwary buyers.
Salt-Lick	A saline spring, where animals resort for drink.
Salt-Water Vegetables	A term for oysters and clams.
Sam Hill	A euphemism for the devil. “What in the Sam Hill are you doing?”
Sand	Guts; courage; toughness. “You got sand, that’s fer shore.”
Santiago	Coronado’s favorite charge was “Santiago”, Spanish for St.James, Spain’s soldier saint.
Saphead	Blockhead, a stupid fellow.
Sappy	Young, not firm, weak.
Satinet	A twilled cloth made of cotton and wool.
Savage as a Meat Axe	Extremely savage.
Savagerous	Furious.
Savanna	An open plain, or meadow without wood.
Savey or Sabby	Corrupted from the Spanish saber, to know.To know, to comprehend.
To Saw	To hoax, to play a joke upon one.
Sawbones	Surgeon.
Sawdust	Counterfeit gold-dust or money.
Sawdusty	Cajoling, flattering.
Scab Herder	Derogatory term for sheep herder.
Scad	Large quantities, plenty, an abundance.
Scace	Scarce.
Scalawag or Scallywag	A mean, rotten or worthless person.
Scaly	Mean, stingy.
Scalawag	A mean, graceless fellow.
Scamp	A worthless fellow.
Scamper Juice	Whiskey.
Scape	One who has escaped, though deserving of the gallows.
Scape-Grace	A term of reproach, a graceless fellow.
Scare Up	To obtain, get. “Can you scare up five dollars?”
Scoff away, scuff away	To blow away, drive away, impel.
School Ma’am or Marm	A school-mistress, teacher.
Sconce	The head, pate.
Scoop in	Trick, entice, inveigle. “He got scooped into a poker game and lost his shirt.”
Scoot	Move fast, run, get going.
Score Off	To get the best of one, especially in a verbal debate.
Scow	A large flat-bottomed boat, generally used as a ferry boat, or as a lighter for loading and unloading vessels when they cannot approach the wharf.
Scranch	To crunch, crack, or break any hard thing between the teeth.
Scrap	To fight or box.
Scrape	A shave.
Scraper	A razor.
Scraps	The dry, husky, and skinny residuum of melted fat.
Scratch	Not worth much. “No great scratch.”
Scratch	To come to the encounter, begin a fight, i.e. To come to the scratch. Also means to spur a horse.
Scratching Rake	A comb.
Screamer	An extraordinary person.
Screaming	First-rate, splendid.
Screw	One who squeezes all he can out of those with whom he has any dealings, an extortioner, miser. Also means salary, wages. Also means a jailer, turnkey, or prison warden.
Screw Loose	Something wrong. “He’s got a screw loose.”
Scrouge	To crowd, to squeeze.
Scrouger	A bouncing fellow or girl.
Scrub	A horse of little value.
Schruncher	One who eats greedily.
Scuds	Money.
Scuss	Scarce.
See About	To attend to, to consider.
See How The Cat Jumps	A metaphorical expression meaning, to discover the secrets or designs of others.
See the Elephant	Originally meant to see combat for the first time, later came to mean going to town, where all the action was or to go somewhere to experience a “worldly event.” Many times denotes disappointment of high-raised expectations.
Sell Out	Leave quick.
Serve Up	To expose to ridicule, to expose.
Set About	To chastise, beat, thrash. “When I got home he set about me with a strap.”
Set By or Set Much By	To regard, to esteem. “He behaved himself more wisely than all, so that his name was much set by.”
Set Her Cap For Him	To direct her attentions to him, to endeavor to win his affections.
Set Store By	To set value upon, to appreciate.
Settled	Sentenced to prison.
Set-To	Argument, debate, contest in words.
Setting-Pole	A pole pointed with iron, used for propelling vessels or boats up rivers.
Settle One’s Hash	To properly punish one.
Seven by Nine	Something or someone of inferior or common quality. Originated from common window panes of that size.
Sewn Up	Exhausted, finished, done. Also means intoxicated.
Shack	Bunkhouse.
Shack	A vagabond, a low fellow. “He’s a poor shack of a fellow.”
Shackly	Loose, rickety.
Shake	A prostitute.
Shakes	Not much, not so good. “His horse riding abilities are no great shakes.” Also means a moment, an instant. “Hold on, I’ll get to it a couple of shakes.” Also means a good opportunity, offer, bargain, or chance. “He gave me a good shake on that land.”
Shake A Stick At	When a man is puzzled to give one an idea of a very great number, he calls it ‘more than you can shake a stick at.’
Shake Down	A cowboy’s bedroll.
Shakester, Shickster	A female.
Shake Up	To obtain, get, procure. “Can you help me shake up a fiddle player for the barn dance?
Shank of the Evening	Latter part of the afternoon.
Shakes	The fever and ague.
Shakes	No great shakes. Of no great value, little worth.
Shaky	A term applied by lumbermen, dealers in timber, and carpenters, to boards which are inclined to split from defects in the log from which they have been sawed.
Shaney, Shanny	A fool.
Shank’s Mare, Shank’s Pony	On foot.
Shank	The balance, what remains. “Why don’t you come by and spend the shank of the evening with me?
Shanty	A hut, or mean dwelling.
Sharps	Any firearm manufactured Christian Sharps for his Sharps Rifle Company. This term also applied to professional gamblers who cheated at the Poker tables.
Sharp Set	Hungry.
Sharp Stick	‘He’s after him with a sharp stick,’ i. e. he’s determined to have satisfaction, or revenge.
Shave	A narrow escape, a false alarm, a hoax.
Shaver	A child or young person of either sex; “What a cute little shaver.”
Shaver	One that is close in bargains, or a sharp dealer
Shave Tail	A green, inexperienced person.
Shebang	A shanty or small house of boards.
Shecoonery	A whimsical corruption of the word chicanery. “This town’s got a monstrous bad name for meanery and shecoonery of all sorts
Sheepherder’s Delight	Cheap whiskey.
Shet	Shut.
Shin	Borrow money.
Shindig	A dance, party, celebration.
Shindy	Uproar, confusion, a row, a spree.
Shine	To take the shine off, is to surpass in beauty or excellence. To take a shine to a person, is to take a fancy to him or her. To cut or make a shine, is to make a great display.
Shin Out	Run away.
Shirk	To procure by mean tricks, to steal.
Shivaree	A boisterous party for newlyweds.
Shoal	To lounge about lazily.
Shootin’ Iron	Six-gun or a rifle.
Shoot, Luke, or Give up the Gun	Do it or quit talking about it.
Shoot the Cat	Vomit.
Shoot the Crow	Obtain a drink in a saloon and leave without paying.
Shop-mades	Boots.
Shote	A young hog, a pig partially grown.
Shote	An idle, worthless man.
Shot in the Neck	Drunk.
Shot its Back	A horse bucking.
Shove the queer	To pass counterfeit money.
Shuck Off	Take clothes off.
Shucks	Worthless people or things.
Shunt	To move, turn aside.
Shut	Quit, rid. “I want to be shut of you!”
Shut Pan	Shut up, shut your mouth.
Shut yer cock holster	Shut yer mouth.
To Shy	To throw a light substance, as a flat stone, or a shell, with a careless jerk. Also means to turn aside, or start, as a horse, to sheer. And means, to hang about.
Sick As A Horse	‘I’m as sick as a horse,’ exceedingly sick.
Sidle	Move unobtrusively or sideways; “The young man began to sidle near the pretty girl sitting on the log”
Signalize	To communicate information by means of signals or telegraph.
Silk	Barbed wire.
Simon Pure	The real thing, a genuine fact. “This is the Simon pure.”
Sin-Buster	A preacher.
Singin’ to ‘Em	Standing night guard.
Sinker	Biscuit.
Sipper	Gravy
Sittin’ Her	Courting a girl.
Sixes And Sevens	To be in a state of disorder and confusion.
Six-shooter Coffee	Strong coffee.
Six-shooter Horse	A fast horse.
Skedaddle	Scurry away or run like hell, get, leave, go. “I best skedaddle.”
Skeersome	Frightful.
Skeezick, skeesick	A mean contemptible fellow.
Sketchily	In a “sketchy” manner - lacking substance, superficial, incomplete.
Skid	A piece of light timber from ten to twenty feet in length, upon which heavier timber or other supplies are rolled or slid from place to place.
Skilly	Water-gruel in workhouses or prisons.
Skilts	Brown trowsers formerly worn in New England, that reach just below the knees.
Skin a Razor	To drive a hard bargain.
Skin-Flint	A tight or close-fisted person with their money.
Skin Game	A swindle.
Skinned	To keep an eye on, lookout.
Skink	To serve a drink.
Skip a Cog	To make a mistake or error.
Skittles!	Nonesense!
Skulduggery	Rascality, treachery.
Skull	The head man anywhere, such as a miner owner or the president.
Skungle	To disappear, make gone.
Skunk Cabbage	A strong-scented, repulsive plant.
Sky A Copper	Toss up a penny.
Skunk Eggs	Onions.
Slab-sided	Straight, stiff. Usually applied to people who were prim, formal, or stuffy.
Slangander	To slander, gossip, backbiting.
Slang-Whanger	A writer or noisy talker.
Slantindicular	Slanting, oblique.
Slap	Paint, rouge, cosmetics. Sometimes also used to indicate cheap wall paint.
Slap-bang	a Low eating house.
Slap-Jacks	Pancakes.
Slat	Throw down with violence. “That cowboy slatted his brains out then threw him in the horse tank.”
Slate	Abuse, quarrel.
Slathers	Abundance, no end of.
Slatted its Sails	A horse bucking.
Slazy	A corruption of the word sleazy.
Slew or Slue	In seaman’s language, to turn something around.
Slewed	Moderately drunk.
Slewer	A vulgar word for servant girl.
Slick or Slike	A pronunciation of sleek. “Her face was smooth and slike.”
Slick	To swallow.
Slick as a Whistle or Slick as Grease	To do something very smoothly.
Slicker	A group of vigilantes who operated in Missouri in the first half of the 19th Century. To “enforce” their “rules,” they were known to whip offenders with hickory switches, which was known in the Ozarks at the time, as “slicking.” Also refers to a cowboy coat.
Slicking	Whipping with hickory switches.
Slick Up	To dress up or make make fine.
Slimsey	Flimsey, frail.
Sling	A drink composed of equal parts of rum and sweetened water.
Slink	A sneaking fellow.
Slinky	Thin, lank.
Slipe	A distance. “I’ve got a long slipe to go.”
To Let Sliver	To let slip, let fly.
Sling Your Bunk	Go away.
Slog	A blow, a fight with the fists.
Slogging	A beating, a thrashing, a fight.
Slommack	Prostitute, floozie, slut, or dirty untidy woman..
Slope	To run away, decamp, slip away.
Slops	Large and loose trousers.
Slower than molasses in January	Really slow.
Slug	An ingot of gold or silver, a twenty-dollar piece.
Slumguzzling	Deceiving, humbugging.
Slummy	A servant girl.
Slump	To recite badly, fail, bungle, awkward.
Slumpy	Marshy; easily broken through..
Slush	Grease or fat from salt meat
Slue	Many, large number
Small Fry	Young children or persons of little importance.
Small Potatoes	Mean, contemptible, worthless. “He is small potatoes.”
Smart Sprinkle	A good deal; a good many. Used in the interior of the Western States.
Smock-face	A white face, a face without any hair.
Smoke Pole	Six-gun, also referred to as a “smoke wagon.”
Smooth	A meadow, or grass field.
Smoutch	To gouge, to take unfair advantage.
To Smutch	To blacken with smoke, soot, or coal. “I have smutched my fingers.”
Snake Out	Drag or haul out, as a snake from its hole.
Snake Pizen	Whiskey.
Snapped	Drunk.
Snatch	A hasty meal, a snack.
Snapper	An impudent tattler, impertinent talk, constant chatter.
Snapperhead	An impertinent fellow, one who snaps or answers to quickly or impudently.
Snippeny, snippy, sniptious, snippish	Vain, conceited.
Snipper-Snapper	An effeminate young man; a trifler.
Snipsnap	Tart dialogue, quick replies.
Snotted	Being reprimanded, hauled over the coals.
Snoozer	A thief who robs hotel guests.
Snorter	Impolite reference to a dashing or riotous fellow. A vulgar Western term.
Snuffy	A wild or spirited horse.
Soak	To bake thoroughly.
Soaked	Drunk.
Soap-Lock	A lock of hair made to lie smooth by soaping it.
Sockdologer	A powerful punch or blow.
Sodbuster	Farmer.
Soft down on	In love with.
Soft-horn	A Tenderfoot, someone new to the West.
Soft Horse	A horse with little stamina.
Soft Soap or Soft Sawder	Flattery; blarney.
Soft Tack	Bread.
Softy	Silly person, half-witted.
Sog	Dullness, lethargy.
Soiled Dove	Prostitute.
Sold His Saddle	Disgraced.
Sold Up	Poor or distressed.
Sole-slogger	A shoe-maker.
Someone to Ride the River With	A person to be counted on; reliable; got it where it counts.
Sonk, Sonkey	A stupid fellow.
Sonofabitch Stew	A cowboy concoction that contained cow heart, testicles, tongue, liver, and marrow gut. Probably first served on a trail drive using the ingredients at hand.
Sossle Or Sozzle	A lazy or sluttish woman.
Sound on the Goose	True, staunch, reliable.
Soup	Nitroglycerine. Was often used to open bank vault. Also called “oil.”
Sourdough	In cowboy lingo — a cook or a bachelor. In mining and Old West slang, a sourdough was an experienced prospector, or a veteran in his field..
Sour On	To get sick of someone or something, to give up something out of disgust.
Sowbelly	Bacon
Span	A span of horses consists of a pair that are very much alike and harnessed side by side.
Spark	A lover, a beau.
Sparking	Courting.
Spell	Time; for a while.
Spider	A cast iron frying-pan with three legs.
Spike Team	A wagon drawn by three horses, or by two oxen and a horse.
Spill	A strip of paper rolled up to light a lamp or or a cigar.
Splendiferous	Splendid, fine.
Spooney	A stupid or silly fellow, also a disgusting drunk.
Sportsman	A term often applied to a gambler.
Sposh	A mixture of mud and water.
Squally	A sailor’s word for windy, gusty.
Squatter	One who settles on land without legal title, a widespread practice in the West.
Squeeze the Biscuit	Grabbing the saddle horn, not something a cowboy wants to get caught doing.
Squirtish	Dandified.
Sparkle Up	To hasten, be quick.
Sparrow Catching	Looking for a girl to go out with.
Speeler	A gambler.
Spindigo	Said of one who has come out badly, such as failing an examination or losing on the Stock Exchange.
Splashing	Talking without making sense or talking too much.
Split Fair	Tell the truth, divulge, inform.
Spoon	To court, make love, woo.
Spoons	Equivalent of money, means or fortune.
Spoops, Spoosy	A soft-brained fellow, or one whose manners are objectionable.
Spread oneself	To boast.
Spudgel	To move or run away quickly.
Squabash	To kill.
Squaddle	To depart rapidly, begone, cut and run, skedaddle.
Squibob	A term applied in contempt or indifference.
Squiffed, Squiffy	Slightly intoxicated.
Squinny	To cause a laugh, to laugh, wink, smile.
Staddle	A young tree; a tree left to grow when others are cut.
Stall Your Mug	Go away, make yourself scarce.
Stancheous	Strong; durable.
Stand In	To cost. “This horse stands me in two hundred dollars.”
Stand the gaff	Take punishment in good spirit. “He can really stand the gaff.”
Stars	A Southern pronunciation of the word stairs, like bar for bear.
To Stave	To break a hole in, to break, to burst, as, ‘to stave a cask.’ Also means to hurry or press forward.
Stave Off	To push away as with a staff, to delay, as, ‘to stave off the execution of the project
Steamer	Tobacco pipe.
Steel	Spurs.
Stemps	Legs.
Stem-winder	Applied to anything quite perfect, finished, with the latest improvements.
Stepping Ken	A dance house.
Stevedore	A man employed in loading and unloading vessels
Stew	To be in a stew, is to be in a heat, a confusion of mind.
Stew in one’s own juice	To suffer from one’s own action.
Stick	An inefficient person.
To Stick	To take in, to impose upon, to cheat in trade. “I’m stuck with a counterfeit note”
Sticker	A butcher or slaughterer.
Sticks	Furniture.
Stickling	Hesitating, delaying.
Stingo	Strong ale.
Stiver	To run, to move off.
Stob	Small stake.
Stogies	Cheap, secondhand boots.
Stomp	Dance.
Stove-pipe	A silk hat.
Strapper	A woman of a bulky form. A large, tall person.
Strapping	Huge, lusty, bouncing, as, ‘a strapping lass.
Streaked or Streaky	Frightened, annoyed, confused, alarmed.
Stretcher	A notorious lie.
Stretchin’ the Blanket	Telling a tall tale.
String	A line of horses.
String	A common name among teamsters for a whip.
String-Beans	French beans, so called from the string-like substance stripped from the side of the pod in preparing it for the table.
Stringing a Whizzer	Telling a tall tale.
Strong enough to float a colt	Very strong coffee.
Stoved up	Crippled, badly injured, or too old. Also, “stove in.”
Stuff	A weak, worthless person, one without energy.
Stuffy	Stout, mettlesome, resolute
Stumper	A puzzler.
Stump Orator	A man who preaches from the stump of a tree, or other elevation.
Stumpage	The sum paid to owners of land for the privilege of cutting the timber growing thereon.
Strumpet	A prostitute.
Suck Egg	A silly person.
Sucker	A hard drinker, a drunkard.
Sucking Hind Tit	Being last and getting the least.
Suitcase Rancher	An absentee rancher.
Sugar	Kiss or loving. “Honey, come over here and give your grandma some sugar.”
Sulky	A carriage for a single person, generally in the form of a chaise.
Sunday-face	The behind, buttocks.
Sure As A Gun	Absolutely certain.
Surface Coal	Cowchips.
Swack-up	A falsehood.
Swad	A crowd, numerous, a mass, bunch.
Swacking	Huge, robust.
Swad	A lump, mass, or hunch, also, a crowd.
Swag	A term used in speaking of booty lately obtained.
I Swamp It!	An interjection of the same meaning as I swan!
Swamp Seed	Rice.
Swan	So surprised, ready to faint or pass out. “Well, I swan.”
Sweep	The pole or piece of timber moved on a fulcrum or post, used to lower and raise a bucket in a well for drawing water.
Sweet On	In love with.
To Swinge	To whip, to bastinade, to punish.
Swate	A violent slap or blow in the face with the open hand.
Switch In	To bring in quickly, to incite promptness. “Now’s your time, boys; switch in and let them have it.”
I Swow!	An exclamation.
Sycher	A contemptible person.
Table Muscle	A pot belly.
Taffy	Flattery.
Tail-Race	The water course leading from a mill after it has passed the water-wheel.
‘Taint	A corrupt abbreviation for it is not.
Take French Leave	To desert, sneak off without permission.
Take the Rag Off	Surpass, beat all. “Well, if that don’t take the rag off the bush.” The cowboys who worked for the Aztec Land & Cattle Company, known as the Hashknife Outfit, in Arizona “took the rag off” many other “saddle stiffs.”
Take the Starch Out	Extinguish one’s conceit, widely applied to weakening, refuting or deterioration.
Talk a donkey’s hind leg off	To talk with no purpose.
Talking-Iron	A gun or rifle, called also a shooting-iron.
Tall Hog at the Trough	Superior, outstanding, exudes leadership.
Tallow	Fat, whether on humans or animals.
Tally	To live tally is to live as man and wife though not married.
Tan Your Hide	Spanking. “I started raisin’ Cain, an my mama said she was going to tan my hide!”
Tangle-footed, tangle- legged	Drunk from bad whiskey.
Taos Lightening	A name given to any potent liquor.
Taps	To be on one’s taps is to be on one’s feet, on the move, ready to move.
Taradiddles	Falsehoods, traveler’s yarns or tales.
Tare, Tear	A frolic, spree, riot, bender, rampage.
Tarantula Juice	Cheap whiskey.
Tarnal	Yankee swear word.
Tarnation	A mild oath or explanation.
Tatch, Thatch	Hat.
Teapot	A depot or railroad station.
Tearin’ up Jake	Making a lot of noise. “He must be tearin’ up Jake out there!”
Tear Squeezer	A sad story.
Techy or Techy as a Teased Snake	Grumpy, irritable.
Tee-Total	Entirely, total.
Tee-Totaller	A thorough temperance man, who avoids every kind of ardent spirits, wine, and beer.
Tejas	When the Spanish first arrived in America, the present state of Texas was called Tejas, a Spanish version of a Caddo Indian word meaning “allies.”
Ten-cent Man	A small, narrow-minded, trifling man.
Ten Commandments	Fingers or nails.
Tenderfoot	A person new to the job, or a young person.
Tenderloin	The red-light commercial district of a town, featuring brothels.
Tendsome	Requiring much attendance, as, ‘a tendsome child.’
Ter	To
Texas Butter	Gravy made with flour, hot water, and fried steak grease.
Texas Cakewalk	A hanging.
That Dog Won’t Hunt	That idea or argument isn’t going to work. Or, the person saying it doesn’t believe what you’re saying. After I broke curfew for the second time and blamed it on my car catching fire, my daddy said to me, “Traci, that dog won’t hunt.”
There You Ain’t	Expresses a failure. The opposite of “There you are.”
Three Ways from Sunday	Moving quickly; high-tailing it out of there.
Three-by-nine smile	A laug or smile to the full extent on the jaws.
Three-legged Mare	Gallows.
Throw Off on	Make fun of.
Throw up the sponge	Quit, give up, surrender.
Thundering	Very, exceedingly.
Thumb Buster	Single action six-gun that required cocking.
Thumper	A gross falsehood.
Thumping	Very large.
Tied Up	Given over, finished.
Tiger Town	Refers to an alley, street or district that had many gambling halls where Faro was played. Also referred to as “Tiger Alley.”
Tight	Drunk
Tightener	A hearty meal.
Tile Loose, Tile Off	Slightly deranged. Also “slate loose.”
Tilt On	to come across, meet.
Timbers	Legs. Also “stems” or “pegs.”
Tin	Money.
Tin-horn Lot	A term used to express contempt towards a small-minded or mean fellow.
Tinker’s News	News that has already been heard or told before.
Tippery	Payment
Tie To	Rely on. “He’s a man you can tie to.”
Tight Scrouging	Hard squeezing. Said of anything difficult to accomplish.
Tipple	Drink liquor.
Tin	A slang word for money. ‘Kelter,’ ‘dimes,’ ‘dough,’ rocks,’ and many other words are used in the same manner. "We never put tin on a horse to win"
Tiswin	A kind of weak beer brewed from corn, popular among the Apache.
Titivate	To dress up.
Tit For Tat	I shall treat you as you treat me.
Titter	An eruption on the skin.
Toad Strangler	Heavy rain.
Toddle, Tortle, Turtle	To be off.
Toddy	A kind of punch made of rum, water, sugar, and nutmeg.
Toff	A dandy, a swell, one who dresses well. “Toffer” is the female version.
Toggery, Togs	Clothing.
To Rights	In the proper way.
Tote	A hard drinker.
To Toll	To entice, to lead on. Western.
Tombstones	Large teeth.
Tongs	A name for pantaloons and roundabouts formerly in use in New England.
Tongue Oil	Strong liquor.
Tonsil Paint	Liquor, also referred to as “tonsil varnish.”
Too Big For His Breeches	Said of a man who is above his business, arrogant, haughty.
Too Much Mustard	A braggart.
Topping	Elegant, swell, great.
Top-sawyer	Denoting excellence, superiority
Tornado Juice	Whiskey.
Tottie	A fast girl.
Tottle, Tottlish	To walk unsteadily.
Towelling	Thrashing, beating.
Trace	A trail or path.
Trailing	Moving cattle from one location to another.
Train Up	Hurry.
Trampous, Trampoose	To walk, to lounge or wander about, to tramp.
Tranklements, trollybobs, trollybags	Entrails, intestines.
Traps	Goods, household stuff, baggage.
Trat	A pretty girl.
To Tree	To take refuge in a tree, usually said of a wild animal. To tree oneself, is to conceal oneself behind a tree.
Trickly	Tricklish, practicing tricks.
Tricks	Ones personal belongings.
Trig A Wheel	To stop a wheel so as to prevent its going backwards or forwards
Trimmings	Bread and butter and other necessary eatables for the tea-table.
Trotter Boxes, Trotter Cases	Shoes or boots.
Trounce	To beat
Truckage	The charges for carrying on a truck, the cartage.
Truk, Trug	A prostitute of the lowest class. Usually dirty, slatternly.
Tub-thumping	Street preaching.
Tuckered Out	Tired out, fatigued.
‘Twa’n’t	It was not.
Twig	Observe, understand.
Twist	A good appetite. Also to outlaws, it means to hang.
Twistical	Tortuous, unfair, not quite moral.
Twisting the Tiger’s Tail	Playing Faro or poker. Also referred to as “bucking the tiger.”
Twofer	A loose woman.
Two Whoops and a Holler	Not far away.
Ugly as a Mud Fence	Used to describe someone who was very ugly.
Uncorkin’ a Bronc	Breaking a horse.
Unmentionables	Underwear.
Unsalted	Fresh, green, young, inexperienced.
Unshucked	Cowboy talk for naked. An unshucked gun is one that’s out of the holster.
Unwound	A horse bucking.
Up a Tree, Treed	In difficulty, cornered, unable to do anything.
Uppish	Proud, insolent.
Upper Story	The brain, the head. “He’s not right in his upper story.”
Up the Spout	Gone to waste or ruin.
Up Stakes	To depart in a hurry. Same as “cut stick.”
Up To The Hub	To the extreme point.
Up To Snuff	To be flash, to be shrewd.
Up the Spout	Imprisoned.
Up To Trap	Knowing, shrewd.
Valley Tan	A kind of liquor sold in Mormon Country.
Vamoose	To disappear or leave quickly.
Vaulting House	Brothel.
Velvet Couch	A cowboy’s bedroll.
Vamos	A Spanish word signifying let us go.
Varmint	A corrupt pronunciation of the word vermin.
Vum	A form of swearing. “I vum!” similary to “I vow!”
Wabble	Make free use of one’s tongue, to be a ready speaker.
Waddy	One of the words for cowboy, especially a cowboy who drifted from ranch to ranch and helped out in busy times.
Wag-tail	A prostitute.
Wait On	To court.
Wake Snakes	To raise a ruckus.
Wake up/Woke up the Wrong Passenger	To trouble or anger the wrong person.
Walk The Chalk	Walk straight.
Wall	Roll your eyes.
Wamble-Cropped	Sick at the stomach, and figuratively, wretched, humiliated.
Wap	To throw quickly, to flap
War Bag	Cowboys traveled light, and stored their meager worldly possessions in his “war bag”. Inside was generally everything he owned, typically an extra set of clothes, extra ammunition, spare parts for equipment, playing cards, bill of sale for his horse, and maybe a harmonica or a few precious letters. Also called a “war sack” and a “yannigan bag.”
War Bonnet	Hat.
Washy	Weak, not firm or hardy.
Wasp Nest	Light bread.
Wattles	Ears.
Wax	In a rage.
Way-Bill	A list of the passengers in a stage-coach, railroad car, steamboat, or other public conveyance.
Wearing the Bustle Wrong	Referring to a pregnant woman.
Weather-Breeder	A cloudless sky, after a succession of rainy weather, denotes rain, and is said to be a weather breeder.
Weed	A common term for tobacco.
Well To Live	To be in easy circumstances, to live comfortably.
Whack	To share.
Whacker	Anything very large, same as a “whopper.”
Whale Away	To preach, talk or lecture continuously or vehemently.
Whang	Sinews of the buffalo or another animal, or small strips of thin deer-skin, used by the dwellers and hunters of the prairies for sewing.
Whaling	A lashing, a beating.
Whaler	A big, strapping fellow.
Whap	A quick and smart stroke.
Whapper or Whopper	Anything uncommonly large, as, ‘That’s a whopper,’ meaning a monstrous lie.
Whapping	Very large.
What in the Tarnation	A polite way of saying “What the hell?”
To Wheal	To swell.
Wheel-Horse	An intimate friend, one’s right hand man.
Whelk	An old name for a pustule, a pimple. The word is not much used in America.
Whelky	Protuberant, rounded.
Whim-Wham	A toy, a freak, a strange fancy.
Whip-belly	Bad beer.
Whistle Berries	Beans.
White Eye	Maize whiskey.
White-Eyed	Exhausted.
White Liner	An alcoholic.
White Tape, White Wine	Gin
Whitewash	To gloss over or hide one’s faults or shortcomings.
Whittled	Drunk
Who-Hit-John	Liquor, beer, intoxicating spirits. “He had a little too much who-hit-John.”
Whole Hog	All the way, all of it. “Go the whole hog!”
Whole Kit and Caboodle	The entire thing.
Whomper-jawed	Uneven.
Whoremonger	A man who frequents prostitutes.
Whuppin‘	Spanking.
Wicket	A place of shelter, or camp made of the boughs of trees.
Widow	The gallows.
Widow Maker	A very bad or “outlaw” horse.
Wigging	A rebuke.
Wild Mare’s Milk	Whiskey.
Wild West Weekly	Pulp or “dime” novels.
Windies	Tall Tales.
Winsome	Lively, cheerful, gay.
Wipe Your Chin	Be quiet.
Wolfer	A man with a large appetite or a hard drinker.
Wolfish	Savage, savagely hungry.
Wood	Saddle.
Wooding-Place	A station on the banks of a river where the steamboats stop to take in supplies of wood.
Woolies	Sheep
Woolsey	A cheap hat, usually made of wool.
Worm-Fence	A rail fence laid up in a zig-zag manner.
Worse Than a Cat in a Roomful of Rockers	Someone who is really nervous.
Wrathy	Very angry.
Wrapper	A loose dress or gown.
Wrinkle	Whim, fancy, a cunning trick or artful dodge.
Wrinkled His Spine	A horse bucking.
Yack	A stupid person.
Yam	To eat.
Yammerin’	Talking. “Drink yer coffee an’ quit yer yammerin’.”
Yannigan Bag	A bag in which the cowboy carried personal items, also known as a “war bag.”
Yarn	A story.
Yeath	For earth.
Yegg (or John Yegg)	Bandit chief
Yellow Belly	A coward.
Yellow Hammer	Gold coin.
Yellows	Often pronounced yallers. A disease of horses and cattle, which is indicated by a yellow appearance of the eyes, inside of the lips, etc.
Yer	You
Yere	Here
Yourn	A form of ‘yours’, as in “This un’s mine, that un’s yourn.”
Zitted	Zipped, flew. “The bullets zitted about in every direction.”
Zooning	Humming, buzzing, barking.