Diane,
Since you moved things around a bit I thought this might be a good place-- and time-- to post the following. I am not sure it fits the definition of Darkcloud's glossary-- I have always called it, "vocabulary"-- but it is something I have put together over the years. These are words used commonly in the 19th century, some of which are very familiar and still used today. I placed this on the other boards, as well, and was immediately trashed by one of its less distinguished members. No problem; if it helps someone here... good.
VOCABULARYAaron’s rod—An epithet for any force that engulfs everything around it.
Aceldama—(1) another name for the original potter’s field outside Jerusalem; (2) any scene of great carnage, death and horror.
Alibi Ike—A weasely character that can always find excuses for what he did wrong.
aparejo (also seen spelled
apparero and
aparajo)—a packsaddle used to carry ammunition on a mule. Similar to a “sawbuck.”
Beecher’s Bibles—Sharps rifles. Antislavery people in MA, including clergyman Henry Ward Beecher, shipped rifles to Kansas to the free-state forces, in boxes marked “Bibles.”
boloney bulls—Bulls and old steers too tough for choice cuts.
Booze—Hard liquor.
bored for the simples—An exclamation of surprise or vexation; essentially meaning trepanning, having one’s skull drilled to cure lunacy.
boughten (store – boughten)—Obsolete pp of to buy.
Buck – private—A private in the army.
buffalo: to be buffaloed; he has me buffaloed; I’ve got him buffaloed—To confuse, bewilder, render incapable of effective action.
Bukharo—buckaroo after 1889. A cowboy. The word buckra was a southeastern regionalism and was probably not used in the West until after the Civil War. Black cavalrymen brought the word West where it interacted with vaquero – bukharo, eventually forming buckaroo.
bugs (bug house)—Crazy; insane asylum.
Bushwacker—In early XIX America. A settler. Post-Civil War. One who strikes from ambush.
Cakewalk—A fancy strutting contest developed among American Negroes, ultimately with a cake as first prize.
card shark—One who manipulates the deck dishonestly; an especially skilled but honest player. Shark in 19th century American slang, also signified a pickpocket, a sly rather than a violent snatcher.
Casabianca—The last of anything. Benteen used the word in describing the rear elements he commanded as the column moved up the Rosebud. Elisabeth Kimber, 6May08: Benteen's use of it is shorthand for being the last one left behind to face disaster alone—as in "The boy stood on the burning deck, Whence all but he had fled.…" His own experience of the pack-train was that the rest of the regiment had gone miles ahead and left it dangerously exposed to attack, so he's visualising the next man to get the task being stuck in the same position. Not so much "the last of anything" as "left behind to face the music."… A bit like "tail-end Charlie", maybe.
Case—The last card of a given value, i. e., case ace; last one of anything.
Catawampus—Diagonally askew.
Cayuse—The Cayuse Indians; tough range horse bred by the Cayuse. A mean and crusty person; ornery cayuse.
Chinook—Warm, dry wind. Also called the “black wind,” because it came at night. The Indians called it the “snow eater.”
Codfish aristocracy—Southerners called New Englanders this, their way of putting it down in Congress.
Coffee-coolers—Lazy people; dogging it. Taking the easy way.
Cuss—A guy. Especially in tough cuss, a hard – to – handle guy.
Cutbanks—The perpendicular banks of a river or ravine, formed by the erosion of bluffs or flat land above that has fallen into the ravine or river.
dally welter—In roping, to coil the lariat around the pommel after an animal has been roped. A plains cowboy’s term of contempt for southwestern cowboys (also Caliphoney cowboys). Plains cowboys also called them, “bread-eaters,” “spur draggers,” and “two-fingered” dally welters.
Dander—Temper.
Dead—As dead as a duck drowned in a thunderstorm.
dirt farmer—A small farmer who sweats his living from the soil. Prob. the sodbusters who moved in on the cattle barons.
dog tent—A two – man tent, we call “pup” tents today.
Doggone—An exclamation of minor vexation or of intense approval.
double in brass—To function in an additional skilled capacity; circus jargon.
Doughboy—Libby Custer claimed an army version (1867): “... small round doughnut served to sailors on shipboard… Early in the Civil War... applied to the large globular brass buttons on the infantry uniform….” Termed also “applied by Spaniards… to army personnel, ” i. e., dobie-boy, probably because their blue uniforms were always dusty, as if covered with adobe.
Dragoon—An early blunderbusses < dragon.
Druthers—Preference.
Dummkopf—German, blockhead, a stupid person.
dust (bite the dust)—To die.
Elixir—A cure-all.
emery bag, emery ball, emery strawberry—A pincushion filled with emery powder, for keeping pins and needles clean.
fancy Dan—A flashy dude.
Felon’s thumb—A puncture wound of an extremity that got infected, probably staph or strep. Probably named for pickpockets whose hand got stabbed trying to steal.
field corn—Livestock food, as distinct from sweet corn.
finagle (< fainague)—To manage by trickery; sharp practice. To cheat at cards.
forty acres and a mule—Mid – 19th century, the basic farm unit.
fur: make the fur fly—To have a violent fight.
Galluses—Suspenders.
galoot (galloot)—An awkward, oafish guy; an able-bodied lout.
galvanized Yankees—Confederate soldiers who joined the Union army—ostensibly to fight Indians—to gain their release from Yankee prisons.
good grief—A minced oath; exclamation originally of regret.
gosh/gosh oh gee/gosh a – mighty—An exclamation of surprise.
go west young man—A popular 19th – century slogan.
grapevine/grapevine telegraph—The rumor circuit. [First in use in Civil War.]
great Scott!—An exclamation of surprise. [< German. gruess Gott] Survival of capitalized Scott may have been side – influenced by GEN Winfield Scott, as idiom was coming into general usage.
Greenhorn—An inexperienced person. Synonymous with tenderfoot and pilgrim.
Growler—A keg of beer equal to about 1/8 of a barrel; used somewhat before 1888.
gum blanket—A rain poncho.
Gutta – percha—A Southeast Asian gum tree whose sap was used in making things like buttons.
Hardshell—Unswervable in one’s point of view.
harness bull—A uniformed policeman. Bull for cop was in early 19th – century New York City usage.
Haversack—A canvas bag carried by a single strap over the shoulder. < Ger. Habersack < Haber, oats.
hay and grass: between hay and grass—Between youth and old age.
Hayburner—A horse. Sometimes disparaging, good for nothing but to “fuel up” on hay.
Hell – bent for leather (hell for leather)—[Leather for “saddle.”] Galloping at top speed and in total disregard of danger.
High – falutin(g)/hifalutin—Affected; hoity-toity.
hind tit: suck hind tit—The least desirable position.
Hocks—slang for horses.
Hogan (Hogan’s goat)—A generic Irishman, the archetype of the shabbiest XIX Am. shanty Irish. A goat that stinks unbearably.
Hoosier—A native of Indiana.
hoot: not care a hoot—Nothing; not care at all.
horn spoon—A cow horn used by quartz prospectors to shake out the dross and isolate the ore. Called horning. By the great horn spoon/by the sacred horn spoon A mild oath.
hornswoggle (hornswaggled)—To be deceived, cheated, made a fool out of.
horsefeathers/cowgills/frogswings/snakeshooves/beesmanes—Rot, bunk.
hotfoot it—To run fast.
Husher—A man of great physical strength [mid – 19th – century Middle Border dialect]. A man who could outwork, outdance, outrun, and outfight all comers.
Injun/honest Injun—An Indian. In 19th – century, an intensive; for asking if someone is speaking the truth.
Jack Robinson—Dating from 18th – century. In no time at all.
Jim – dandy—Fine; swell, elegant; circa 1875. Probably compounded of earlier fine and dandy.
John—The name ordinarily used by whites when addressing an Indian.
johnnycake/jonakin/jonikin—A corn meal cake, originally baked on a hot stone. Something between a taco and a tamale. < journey cake or <Shawnee cake.
Johnny – come – lately—An upstart. A green recruit.
Juking—Dancing.
kangaroo court—A vigilante committee for hanging claim jumpers after a speedy “fair” trial.
keep your shirt on—“Don’t get angry.”
kit and caboodle—All of it; everything.
lalapalooza/lollapalooza—An outstanding person or thing.
Lariated—Tying the horses to a picket pin with a lariat.
lily: gild the lily—To elaborate pointlessly.
Locofoco—Friction matches. A cigar – type in 1834. Politics: a Democrat, through 1900.
long green—Money; a lot of money. Probably around 1870, since first U. S. greenbacks were not printed until 1863.
Lunger—Someone with TB.
Madstone—An unspecified and unidentified stone believed to have the power to draw the infection from the bite of a rabid or venomous animal.
Make a spoon or spoil a horn—To succeed or fail spectacularly, as in “I shall either make a spoon or spoil a horn….” [Kimber]
mare’s nest—Hoax; hopelessly snarled situation.
Mauvaise Terre—The badlands.
Maverick—An unbranded range animal; an unorthodox person.
Mexican stand – off—A potentially violent confrontation from which both sides back off.
Mickey/Mickey Finn—An incapacitating substance put into an alcoholic drink. Former, generic for an Irishman.
“Military crest”—A term in military science that refers to the shoulder of a hill or ridge rather than its actual or topographic crest (highest point). It is the highest contour of elevation from which the base of its slope can be seen without defilade. Defensive forces usually locate themselves on the military crest. This gives them the ability to see approaching attacking forces and leaves room for withdrawal uphill under pressure. Also, troops occupying the military crest tend not to be silhouetted against the sky as they would be were they on the actual crest, making them more difficult to spot.
Mome—A blockhead or a fool.
“monkey and parrot”—A quarrelsome or argumentative time. Having a tough or difficult time of it. Went out of general use, probably around 1915. [Benteen used this phrase in some of his descriptions of the difficulties on Reno Hill.]
Mosey—To amble
Muck – a – muck/high muck – a – muck/muckety – muck/high muckety – muck—Mock title of dignity for a pompous person.
Mugwump—Early Mass. Chief, big man. After 1884, a political turncoat. Whenever used, it doesn’t seem to be complimentary.
nailed to the counter—Exposed as a fraud. [Common in 19th - century American journalism.]
novaculite—A dense, extremely hard, siliceous stone used for whetstones and hones.
O.K.—Approval, consent. [After Martin Van Buren, from Old Kinderhook, N. Y.]
Parfleche—Undepilated rawhide, especially buffalo hide used for heavy robes and moccasin soles. (Indispensable to accurate historical narration.)
Pixilated—In a bewildered state; whimsically incoherent or bemused.
Puss—A pejorative term for the face, originally for the mouth.
Pusser’s [purser’s] shirt on a handspike—British naval term—in use certainly in the first part of the 19th century—meaning ill-fitting.
Remuda—A herd; in this case, spare horses and mules.
ranahan/rannie—A ranch hand, a cowboy. Variant form: ranchan.
(The) Rebellion—The Civil War.
Reds—Indians
rock-ribbed—Firm; immovable.
Roustabouts—Manual laborers
Ruction—A riot, a to-do. [Early 19th – century, following the Irish Insurrection of 1798.]
saddle tramp—A homeless cowboy wanderer.
Salt River: up Salt River—Gone forever.
Sam Hill—A common 19th – century minced oath: Sam Hill for damned hell.
sawbuck—A packsaddle used to carry supplies on a mule or horse. Similar to an apparero.
Score—Twenty.
Scott: great Scott!—An exclamation of surprise, astonishment. Assumed to be an American (19th century) rendering of the greetings exchanged by German immigrants.
Seen the elephant—Someone has seen all there is to see or discovered/learned all there is about something.
Sez—Phonetic spelling of says.
Shanty—Shack or hovel. shanty Irish American 19th century derogatory term for Irish immigrants.
Shavetail—U. S. Army. A 2LT.
Sheol (Hebrew)—a polite word for “hell.” Used by Benteen in one of his battle narratives. [Kimber]
shindig/shindy—A boisterous social gathering; from 19th century Irish immigrants.
Shinplaster—Worthless paper money; orig. Confederate money.
Shoddy—adj. trashy, worthless. During Civil War, n. used to designate an inferior woolen yarn made from fibers taken from worn-out fabrics and reprocessed (Shelby Foote), then later the name of the resultant cloth.
Simoleon—A dollar.
Skedaddle—To light out in a hurry; to break & run from battle.
Sly – boots—A cunning person.
smart aleck/smart alec/smart Alec—A wise guy.
snake in the grass—A concealed enemy; a friend who betrays.
Snollygoster—A shyster; a devious & disreputable person.
sod buster—A farmer of the western plains. [Post – Civil War Am., under 140 – acre allowance of Homestead Act of 1/1/63.]
soft soap—Flattery.
soup and fish—White – tie dinner clothes.
soup strainer—A moustache, especially a bushy one that hangs down over the mouth.
stakes: pull up stakes—To move on.
stink pot—Chamber pot.
Sunday: knock (someone) six ways to Sunday—To beat up thoroughly.
tinker/not worth a tinker’s dam—One who mends pots.
Tony—Swank; stylish; elegant. High – toned a cultivated elegance, good breeding, and an opulence made possible only by daddy’s dirty money.
turkey shoot—A firefight resulting in heavy enemy kill with negligible losses to one’s own side.
Umpteen—An indefinite large number.
Vamoose—To leave on the run.
vidette (also, vedette)—Mounted pickets (guards)
vittles—Human food.
white eye—A white person.
whole hog, to go (the)—To go all out.
winked out—Collapsed, went bankrupt, fell apart.
Wrangler—Cowboy, horse handler.
PHRASES
“You’re about half a bubble off of plumb.”
Shank’s mare
By thunder
Not by a jugful
“Somebody sit on the Bull – dozer!” and “Give that calf more rope!”—Epithets thrown at Custer (in the dark) during his hazing of the troops the first night out fighting a prairie fire.
“He went off on his own hook”—Benteen and Reno used this phrase in describing Weir’s move without permission.
“Marry him to the gunner’s daughter”—A form of corporal punishment in the British navy during the 1700’s and 1800’s. The offender would be bent over the breech of a cannon and flogged.
Best wishes,
Fred.
