Words from the Old West!

Words enter the English language in some wonderful and unique ways. In the early days of the western frontier trail riders were "pretty tough customers and didn't have much use for book learning. As a result they talked a salty and colorful lingo." Hoosegow, maverick, hoodlum, rustler are all words that the cowboys introduced into the English language.


Here are some others terms from the old west that you may have seen or heard:

• Ace in the Hole - a hideout or hidden gun
• A Lick and a Promise - to do a haphazard job
• Arkansas Toothpick - a long knife ( also known as a California or Missouri Toothpick)
• Buckaroo - cowboy, usually from the desert country
• Bug Juice - whiskey, booze
• Kit and Caboodle - the whole thing
• Cahoots - partnership
• Catawampous - crooked, skewed
• Clodhopper - a rustic, clown
• Dude - an Easterner, anyone dressed in upscale town clothes

Want to know how to found out such words? We have at your library a reference book as well as a book you can check out. Find it in the catalog here:

Morris, William. Morris dictionary of word and phrase origin. New York: Harper, 1988.

See also:
Legends of America. http://%20www.legendsofamerica.%20com/we-slang.thml