Old West Slang Ace-high: first class, respected. A hog-killin' time: a real good time. "We went to the New Year's Eve dance and had us a hog-killin' time." Arbuckle's: slang for coffee, taken from a popular brand of the time. "I need a cup of Arbuckle's." At sea: at a loss, not comprehending. "When it comes to understanding women, boys, I am at sea." Balled up: confused. Bazoo: mouth. "Shut your big bazoo." Bear sign: cowboy term for donuts. A cook who could and would make them was highly regarded. 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." Beef: to kill. "Curly Bill beefed two men in San Antonio." Between hay and grass: neither man nor boy, half-grown. Best bib and tucker: your best clothes. "There's a dance Saturday, so put on your best bib and tucker." Bone orchard: cemetery. Burg: town. Calaboose: jail. California widow: woman separated from her husband, but not divorced. (From when pioneer men went West, leaving their wives to follow later.) Clean his/your plow: to get or give a thorough whippin'. Coffee boiler: shirker, lazy person. (Would rather sit around the coffee pot than help.) Crowbait: derogatory term for a poor-quality horse. Curly wolf: real tough guy, dangerous man. "Ol' Bill is a regular curly wolf, especially when he's drinkin' whiskey." Doxology works: a church. Dude: an Easterner, or anyone in up-scale town clothes, rather than plain range-riding or work clothes. Fight like Kilkenny cats: fight like crazy. 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." Four-flusher: a cheat, swindler, liar. Get a wiggle on: hurry. Granger: a farmer. Heeled: to be armed with a gun. "He wanted to fight me, but I told him I was not heeled." Hobble your lip: shut up. Hoosegow: jail. Knock galley west: beat senseless. Make a mash: make a hit, impress someone. (Usually a female.) "Buck's tryin' to make a mash on that new girl." Mudsill: low-life, thoroughly disreputable person. Play to the gallery: to show off. "That's just how he is, always has to play to the gallery." Played out: exhausted. Plunder: personal belongings. "Pack your plunder, Joe, we're headin' for San Francisco." Ride shank's mare: to walk or be set afoot. See the elephant: originally meant to see combat for the first time, later came to mean going to town, where all the action was. Scuttlebutt: rumors. Simon pure: the real thing, a genuine fact. "This is the Simon pure." Soft solder: flattery. "All that soft solder won't get you anywhere." Someone to ride the river with: a person to be counted on; reliable; got it where it counts. Sound on the goose: true, staunch, reliable. Take the rag off: surpass, beat all. "Well, if that don't take the rag off the bush." The Old States: back East. Wake up/Woke up the wrong passenger: to trouble or anger the wrong person.
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