Colorful Cowboy Slang from the Old Days
You may have heard a few of these from your favorite TV cowboys before…
K
Keep company (phrase):
to court
Keep it dry (phrase):
to keep a secret
Kick up a row (phrase):
to create a disturbance
Kitchen safe (noun):
the cupboard
Knee-high to a grasshopper (noun):
not very tall
L
Leaky mouth (noun):
– someone who can’t keep a secret
Lead poisoning (phrase):
to have been shot
Left-handed wife (noun):
a man’s mistress
Lickety split (noun):
at full speed
Lincoln skins (noun):
greenbacks which were issued during Lincoln’s presidency
M
Mad as a March hare (phrase):
very angry or worked up
Mail-order cowboys (phrase):
derogatory term for Easterners who had all the gear but none of the know how to be cowboys
Make hay while the sun shines (phrase):
don’t miss your opportunity
Make tracks (phrase):
to walk or run away
Mizzle (verb):
to hurry away or depart suddenly
N
Necessary (noun):
the outhouse
Nester (noun):
someone who was squatting on government land
Nibbler (noun):
a petty thief
Nighthawk (noun):
the unlucky cowboy who had to stay awake all night t keep watch on the herd and the cowboys themselves
Nurly (adjective):
gnarly
O
Odd fish (noun):
an unusual or eccentric person
Old dan (noun):
a trustworthy old mule
Old woman (noun):
a nickname for the camp cook who, despite being a man, was still doing women’s work
Outlaw (noun):
a horse that cannot be tamed
On the fence (phrase):
undecided
P
Paddle (verb):
to run away
Pan out (phrase):
to have ended well
Peacemaker (noun):
a Colt revolver
Pennyweighter (noun):
someone who worked for a mining operation and stole tiny amounts of gold over a long period of time
Pilgrim (noun):
a novice cowboy or an Easterner
Q
Quincy (noun):
an indoor toilet
Quid (noun):
a mouthful of tobacco
R
Rag proper (noun):
to dress nicely
Rattle your hocks (phrase):
to get a move on
to slanderize someone
Rip roaring (adjective):
an impressive affair or thing
Road hard and put up wet (noun):
something that’s been well used to the point of ugliness
S
Saddle bum (noun):
a drifter
Salting (verb):
planting ore in a barren mine to attract prospectors
Saw bones (noun):
a surgeon
Scare up (verb):
to obtain something
Shank’s pony or shank’s mare (noun):
to walk on foot
T
Table musle (noun):
a potbelly
Tarnation (noun):
an exclamation used as a polite euphemism for “damnation”
Tenderfoot (noun):
a novice or newbie
There you ain’t (noun):
an expression of failure
Thumper (noun):
a big lie
Tie one on (phrase):
to get drunk, as in: your horse will be tied up outside the saloon until you’re done drinking
U
Unsalted (adjective):
fresh, young, inexperienced
Up the spout (noun):
gone to waste
V
Vamoose (verb):
to leave quickly (from the Spanish word vámonos– to move on)
vermin
Velvet couch (noun):
a cowboy’s bedroll
W
Wake snakes (phrase):
to cause a ruckus
War bag (noun):
the bag that contained a cowboys only worldly possessions as they had to be mobile at all times
Whistle berries (noun):
beans
Whopper (noun):
something very large
Woolies (noun):
sheep
Y
Yarn (noun):
a story
Yellow belly (phrase):
cowardly
Yourn (noun):
yours
Z
Zoon (verb):
making noise
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