Colorful Cowboy Slang from the Old Days
You may have heard a few of these from your favorite TV cowboys before…
You may have heard Yosemite Sam banging out an almost indecipherable string of exclamations as a child and wondered what in the world he was on about. Well, the truth is that cowboy slang is pretty interesting and has some quite humorous phrases attached to this old way of talking. On ranches, cowboys often had little contact with the outside world for months on end, spending time herding cattle and pretty much only socializing with other cowhands. Much like men in the military create their own way of talking, so did the cowboys of yore.
A
Above snakes (phrase):
not dead yet, above ground
Ace in the hole (phrase):
a hideout or a secreted firearm
Adam’s Ale (noun):
beer
Addlepot (noun):
a spoilsport
Afeared (verb):
scared
Anti-fogmatic (noun):
alcohol, usually rum or whisky
B
Bach (verb):
to “bach” it up meant living the bachelor lifestyle
Back staircase (noun):
a woman’s bustle
Bag of nails (phrase):
everything in disarray
Ballyhoo (noun):
hyperbole, sales talk to get someone to buy something, exaggeration
Bamboozle (verb):
to swindle someone
Bellywash (noun):
weak coffee
C
Caboobdle (noun):
the whole thing, as in “kit and caboodle”
Cahoots (noun):
to be in partnership with
Calico queen (noun):
a prostitute
California collar (noun):
the hangman’s noose
Catawampus (noun):
askew, a disruption, or something which is crooked
Chiseler (noun):
a cheater or swindler
D
Dabster (noun):
someone who’s good at something
Dangler (noun):
an express train
Deadshot (noun):
strong liquor
Dinero (noun):
the Spanish word for money
Ditty (noun):
a whatmacallit
E
Eagle (noun):
a gold ten dollar coin
Eatin’ irons (noun):
silverware
Equalizer (noun):
pistol
F
Fair shake (phrase):
a good exchange or a good chance
Fandango (noun):
a big party; derives from the Spanish couples dance
Fiddle faddle (noun, verb):
something which doesn’t make sense or the act of talking nonsense
Fish (noun):
raincoat (from a brand which had a fish logo)
Flannel mouth (noun):
a smooth talker or liar
G
Gadabout (noun):
a man about walking
Gee Up (verb):
to agree, used in reference to a teamster getting his oxen to go faster and work together
Get a wiggle on (phrase):
to hurry
Give the mitten (phrase):
when a woman turns down a fella’s marriage proposal
Grub pile (noun):
a meal, the chuckwagon
H
Haint (noun):
a have not
Hammer and tongs (phrase):
to go about something in a loud or chaotic manner (as in the hammer and tongs of blacksmith which were quite loud)
Hardfisted (adjective):
miserly
High-falutin (adjective):
snobbish or pompous (from the Swedish word verlooten, which means to be on stilts)
Hither and yon (phrase):
here and there
I
Illy (adjective):
ailing
In for it (phrase):
no turning back now
Iron horse (noun):
railcar or train
J
Jawing (verb):
talking
Jig is up (noun):
you’ve been caught out
Judas steer (noun):
the steer in a herd which would lead the other cows on drives, once identified he was used to lead them to later the slaughter
Joy juice (noun):
whiskey
Jump the broom (phrase):
to get married
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