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Gunsmoke and Old West Vocabulary, Idioms and Expressions

Howdy, partners! Ever wondered what folks were jawin' about back in the Old West? This here's your guide to understandin' the colorful language of cowboys, gunslingers, and frontier folk. Get ready to learn some new words and phrases that'll add a heap of flavor to your knowledge of the Wild West, filled with comedy and wisdom.

Common terms and their meanings

Ever hear someone called a "greenhorn" or told to "hold your horses"? These ain't just figures of speech; they're glimpses into the daily life and unique perspectives of the Old West. Here's an accurate description or meaning of terms used in Dodge City.

  • Ague: Recurring fever and chills
  • Bone Orchard: Cemetery
  • Boot Hill: A graveyard, especially for those who died violently
  • Devil Thorn: A thorny shrub that can be used to make soap.  These thorns can lodge in horses' feet.
  • Dry gulch: To ambush with intent to kill
  • Hobbles: Placed on the front ankles of a horse, to keep it from wandering away
  • Jayhawkers: Pro-Union militants from Kansas, also abolitionist raiders (sort of a left-over mentality that endured after the war was over)
  • Jute: A fiber made into burlap
  • Lochinvar: From a story by Sir Walter Scott, the name of a fictional, romantic character who kidnaps a bride (thus Doc uses this one frequently - he's a big STS fan).
  • Longarm: What the Indians call a firearm
  • Stringer: A part-time newspaper correspondent
  • Surrey: A doorless carriage that seats four
  • Tanglefoot whiskey: Low quality whiskey, often home-made
  • Zither: A musical instrument with strings stretched across a small, thin body.

Devil Thorn

Hobbles

Zithers (courtesy of Wikipedia)

Idioms and Expressions

The Old West was full of colorful characters and even more colorful sayings. These idioms and expressions paint a picture of a time when life was tough, but folks still found a way to laugh and tell jokes.

  • "Buck the tiger": To play faro, a card game
  • "Copper pennies for your eyes": pennies were placed on the closed eyes of the deceased as payment to the ferryman to cross the River Styx to the land of the dead (Greek origin)
  • "Rarin' to go": Eager and ready to start
  • "Rode hard and put away wet": Worn out or exhausted
  • "Barking up the wrong tree": Pursuing the wrong course of action
  • "That dog won't hunt": That idea won't work
  • "Treeing the wrong cat": You've got the wrong guy