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 folklore wisdom.

Common terms and their meanings

"Mr. Dillon, how do you spell 'lolliper'?"  This isn't just a figure of speech; it's a glimpse into the daily life and unique perspective of the Old West. Here's a description or meaning of terms used in Dodge City, KS and the Old West at the time of Gunsmoke.  Some are still used today!

  • amnesty: a pardon that erases the legal consequences of an offense
  • apoplexy: most commonly, a stroke or other neurological impairment
  • applejack: distilled hard cider; high proof moonshine; also 'devil's brew'
  • ague: recurring fever and chills
  • the argues: Festus says he has this when one part of his body is arguin' with another part; pain somewhere
  • assay office: where precious metals are tested for purity and value
  • battens, or batts:  pre-cut strips of wood that are nailed over vertical seams on the exterior of a building to stop drafts from penetrating
  • blood money: money paid out for a bounty on a wanted man's head
  • bone orchard: cemetery
  • Boot Hill: a graveyard, especially for those who died violently
  • bucket o' suds: beer
  • bushwhacker: in the Civil War, a Confederate guerilla; an ambush from a hidden position
  • a 'caution': to say a person is a caution means they are amusing, unusual, or someone to take note of.  A thing is a caution if it is remarkable in a less common way.
  • 'coffee cooler': slang, a petty crook or opportunist
  • Comanchero: Spanish for a mixed-race trader who exchanged goods to Indian tribes, especially Comanches.  Hollywood vilified them.
  • devil thorn: a thorny shrub that can be used to make soap; the thorns can lodge in livestock's feet
  • devil's brew: distilled hard cider; high proof moonshine; also 'applejack'
  • doxy: a promiscuous woman
  • a draw: a shallow depression in the terrain
  • drummer: a traveling salesman
  • dry camp: an overnight camp with no water source
  • dry gulch: to ambush with intent to kill
  • dude: a city dweller in fancy dress visiting a rural location
  • fandanglin': behaving in a nonsensical or foolish way
  • faunch: to rant and rave
  • flannel cakes: a lighter version of a pancake where egg whites are beaten until stiff peaks form and are then folded into the batter
  • galluses: suspenders (Chester wore both galluses AND a belt!)
  • gandy dancers: railroad workers
  • glom onto: to grab or snatch; to become attached to something
  • goozler: throat
  • grip: a suitcase
  • ground tie: a 20+ pound cast iron or pot metal weight attached to a narrow leather strap which clips onto a buggy horse so you can leave it unattended, and the horse won't wander away; also 'buggy anchor'. I have never seen an original in real life - they were probably all melted down in the World Wars.
  • high toney: in an aristocratic manner
  • hobbles: placed on the front ankles of a horse, to keep it from wandering away
  • honyock: an immigrant homesteader stubbornly farming 'hardpan' land better suited to livestock ranching
  • hooch: alcohol, especially inferior whiskey, usually homemade; a personal stash of such alcohol
  • jayhawkers: pro-Union militants from Kansas, also abolitionist raiders (sort of a left-over mentality that endured long after the war was over)
  • jokeular: Chester confuses this for "jocular"; in a joking way
  • jostle: to push, elbow, or bump against someone in a crowd.  Even accidentally, it was deemed an offense and grounds for a gunfight with the wrong man.
  • jurisprudence: the theory or philosophy of law
  • jute: a fiber made into burlap
  • lame: in regard to a horse, an abnormal gait due to injury, pain, or infection such as abscesses or neurological issues
  • larrupin: used to describe food as delicious; also, to beat or thrash someone
  • 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 SWS fan).  Kidnapping any woman was a HUGE offense at the time because it marred if not destroyed her reputation.
  • lockjaw: tetanus
  • lolliper: according to Chester, it means purdy or nice
  • lollygag: to waste time or fool around with unimportant things
  • longarm: what the Indians call a firearm, particularly a rifle
  • looksome: Festus uses this for attractive, handsome, or pleasing
  • lothario: a man who behaves selfishly or irresponsibly in his relationships with women.  Kitty sometimes insults a man with her "tinhorn lothario", meaning a pretentious one at that!
  • ma'am: an address for a married woman
  • maverick: an unbranded calf
  • medicine bag: to the Indians, a container for items believed to give spiritual powers to the owner - herbs, stones, claws, bones, grass, etc.; usually made from animal hide
  • miss: an address for an unmarried woman
  • mule skinner: a person who drives and controls mules; to 'skin' means to outsmart!
  • the Nations: Indian lands appropriated by the government on half of what is now Oklahoma state
  • nesters: homesteaders, often without legal claim, who clashed with cattlemen over encroaching herds
  • palletsome: Festus says this for tasty, or palatable
  • pharmicopeia: a list of medicinal drugs and their uses
  • the pip: dyspepsia, or indigestion
  • pitcock: AI still does not know.  It isn't a motorcycle part.  If you find out, please tell me!
  • pole cat: southern slang for a skunk, derived from the European equivalent of a wild ferret
  • poly-foxin': evasion; to avoid an issue
  • 'prove up': to clean up or tidy; also 'red up'
  • rawhider: a rough-natured man who travels collecting cow and buffalo hides to sell
  • 'red up': to clean up or tidy; also 'prove up'
  • reticule: today we would say a purse
  • riata: a braided type of lasso
  • 'salting' a mine: a fraudulent practice of planting valuable minerals, like gold, in a mine to make it appear more valuable to deceive investors
  • sand: a person who has sand is gritty or has guts
  • sashay: to walk in an ostentatious manner
  • scamper juice: whiskey; also, 'wobble water'
  • (old) scudder: Festus calls Doc this, suggesting a crochety old man
  • shivaree: a type of hazing to disrupt a married couple on their wedding night by noisemaking and parading them around
  • sidewinder: a dangerously clever, deceptive person
  • singletree: small wooden bar behind a harnessed horse
  • skulk: to keep out of sight with a sinister motive
  • sleeping sickness: encephalitis lethargica - no known cause - it was a major epidemic worldwide from 1916-1930
  • slobbering droops: a livestock disease, most likely a bacterial infection, Actinobacillosis, or could be FMD (foot-and-mouth disease) or BVD (bovine viral diarrhea)
  • sodbuster: 19th century farmers of the plains
  • sorrell: in Western vernacular, a horse with a reddish-brown coat.  The same thing in an east coast, or English-style vernacular, is a chestnut!
  • sparkin': dating or wooing someone; can also be the act of kissing or necking
  • stringer: a part-time newspaper correspondent
  • sull: when a horse is beginning to sull, it is about to stop moving because of pain or overexertion
  • surrey: a doorless carriage that seats four
  • swamping: a nasty job of cleaning spittoons
  • tanglefoot whiskey: low quality whiskey
  • tater trap: mouth
  • thoughty: Festus says this for thoughtful or kind
  • tinhorn: petty, pretentious
  • tintype: a direct-positive photograph made by creating a negative image on a thin sheet of metal coated with a dark enamel
  • tonsorial: barbershop
  • traces: harness straps which take the pull from the breast collar to the load
  • travoy: an A-frame structure to transport loads over land (behind a horse or mule); frequently to transport an injured person who cannot walk or ride, and no wagon is present
  • troglodyte: a person who lives in a cave
  • turpentined cat: moving at a high rate of speed; a Southernism
  • Twelfth Night: the last night of the 12 days of Christmas
  • vittles: a variant of victuals; food and drink
  • whelp: a brat; a derogatory term for a young man or boy
  • wobble water: whiskey; also, 'scamper juice'
  • zither: a musical instrument with strings stretched across a small, thin body

Devil Thorn

ground tie attached to a horse's bit

Hobbles

Riata

Singletree

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.

  • "barkin' up the wrong tree": pursuing the wrong course of action
  • "buck the tiger": to play faro, a card game
  • "cabbage onto 'em": to grab or hold onto something
  • "...clean your plow": to beat the **** out of someone so they will return to behaving in a civilized manner
  • "you look like you' been eatin' cockleburies": poisonous: the ill appearance one might have after being poisoned
  • "....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)
  • "counting coup": to a Plains Indian warrior or brave, a courageous act of bravery
  • "cut the wolf loose": to go on a bender and get drunk
  • "...cuttin' my eye on it": a sharp, quick, sidelong glance that shows irrelevance
  • "get your dander up": to cause someone to be angry
  • "...giving me the horn": the context used in the show suggests being playfully deceived, or 'pulling one's leg'; it can also be that a person is being cheated upon
  • "I'd sooner let the moon shine in my mouth": a Southernism, expressing the uselessness or ineffectiveness of something
  • "from hocks to horn": head-to-toe
  • "here's lookin' at ya'": as a toast, it expresses good will; wishing someone well
  • "here's mud in your eye": 'cheers' or 'bottoms up'
  • "...all het up about it": agitated, angry or anxious
  • "rode hard and put away wet": worn out or exhausted
  • "rarin' to go": eager and ready to start
  • "oh, shaw!": thought to be a variant of 'pshaw'; also, "oh, shucks"
  • a "squashy gal": one who can be easily persuaded, or someone can have their way with
  • "I'll swan to goodness": a form of swearing without actually doing so; as opposed to "I'll swear to g**"
  • "that dog won't hunt": that idea won't work (Festus likes this one)
  • "there's lots o' ways to skin a cat": the origin of the phrase is inconclusive; you can look it up, but it is all speculation
  • "$xx per month and found": wages of $xx per month plus free food and lodging; this was common in agriculture and construction, trades that required a worker to live on an employer's premises in order to do a job.
  • "treeing the wrong cat": you've got the wrong guy