The Creation of Cowboy Slang Words

Cowboy lingo and slang words in general share a history which is both fun and fascinating. It’s informal, often colorful, and can provide unique insights into the culture and time period from which it originates. But how are slang words created? Lets have a look-see.

Birth of a Slang Word 

Slang words often arise from a need for new expressions. They can be born organically, out of creativity, humor, or a desire for secrecy. For instance, teenagers might develop slang to communicate without adults understanding… we’ve all done it. Similarly, certain professions or communities might create specific jargon that outsiders wouldn’t comprehend.

Evolution and Adoption 

Once a slang word is born, it needs to be adopted by a group of people to survive. This is often a social process. If a word is catchy, useful, or resonates with a lot of people, it’s more likely to be adopted. Social media and the internet have accelerated this process, allowing slang words to spread rapidly across different regions and cultures.

Mainstream Acceptance

 Over time, some slang words may gain mainstream acceptance and become part of the standard language. This usually happens when they fill a gap in the language or when they are used so widely that they become impossible to ignore. For example, the word “selfie” started as slang but is now recognized in dictionaries and used in everyday language.

The Role of Society and Media 

Culture and media play a significant role in the creation and propagation of slang. Music, movies, and television shows often introduce new slang words. These words can become popular if they capture the public’s imagination or succinctly express a concept or feeling that wasn’t previously encapsulated in a single word.

In other words...

The creation of slang is a living testimony to the flexibility and adaptability of language which is constantly evolving to reflect us and our changing world including those colorful wild-westerners we call wrangler, cowhand, vaquero or just plain “cowboy”.

Learning Cowboy Words

Aim - to intend

Airtights – canned goods

All a settin - in good condition

Arbuckles – coffee   (note: there is still an Arbuckles Coffee roaster in Tucson Az – and it is mighty good cowboy bean)

Argle-bargle – a heated or confused argument

Bad medicine – bad news

Band wagon - traveling salesman's wagon

Barking Squirrel - prairie dog

Bed ground -  where cattle are held at night

Bed Him Down - to kill a man 

Beef head - Texan 

Beef tea - shallow water where cows have stood

Belly cheater - a cook

Between hay and grass - between boyhood and manhood

Bite the Ground - to be killed

Buckaroo – cowboy

Bunk whistler – cowboy who snores

Catalog woman: mail order bride

Chaparral – dense thicket of evergreen oaks or bramble bushes 

Cow chip – dried cow manure

Chuckhouse - ranch or mining cookhouse  

Doughgods:  biscuits

Down to the Blanket:  almost broke 

Dogie –  abandoned calf 

Dragoon –  six-shot single action revolver 

Eatin irons - silverware

Fair to Middlin’ – feeling good 

Firewater -whiskey

Flumdiddle  - something foolish or worthless

Getting  Long in the Tooth:  getting old 

Gone Coon - goner, past recovering, a lost man. 

Greyback – louse

Hairpants - chaps with the hair on hide

Honda – small loop on the lariat

Hornswoggle - cheat or trick, to pull the wool over one's eyes. 

Horse feathers – silly 

Hot Rock -  a biscuit 

Hurdy-gurdy house - dance hall

Jackeroo - same as buckeroo

Jayhawker – 49er who survived crossing Death Valley CA 

Jiggle buster - diet

Jiggle Johhnny - walking with a swagger  

Jinglemingle - cowboy/western get-together or dance 

Johnny Behind the Deuce – Small-time gambler 

Spitshined- adapted or made suitable for festive occassion. 

Stump muffined - confused 

Legadero – stirrup strap 

Lily liver – coward 

Loblolly – mud hole 

Nester – homesteader or sodbuster 

Noodle knocker – difficult problem/situation 

Old blue – longhorn used as the lead steer on the TX/KS Trail 

Overland trout – bacon 

Old Scratch – the devil 

Owlhoot Trail – outlaw trail

Rattle your hooks - get a move on

Reata – rawhide lariat 

Scalawag – mean, untrustworthy

Slumgullion – watered down drink

Stone boiling – method of cooking by dropping red- hot stones in water with raw food. 

Swing men – cowhands that ride on the flanks of the herd.

Tangleleg – whiskey 

Toot whistle – beans 

Truth-tester – questionable statement 

Waitin’ yesterday – lost cause 

Whistle berries - beans 

Woolies - sheep