To really get into character for this weekend’s Cowboy Festival, you might want to brush up on your cowboy lingo.  Here are some useful words and phrases you can use this weekend to really get into the spirit:

 

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At the bar:

Bend an elbow: have a drink. “He’s been known to bend an elbow with the boys.”

Bender: drunk. “He’s off on another bender.”

Full as a tick: very drunk.

Oh-be-joyful: Liquor, beer, intoxicating spirits. “Give me another snort of that oh-be-joyful.”

Roostered: drunk. “Looks like those cowboys are in there gettin’ all roostered up.”

Soaked: drunk.

Who-hit-John: Liquor, beer, intoxicating spirits. “He had a little too much who-hit-John.”

Base Burner:  a drink of whiskey

Bucket of Blood:  a tough saloon

Bar Dog: a bartender

Neck Oil:  Whiskey

Paintin’ his Nose:  getting drunk

Pair of Overalls:  two drinks of whiskey

Pop Skull:  whiskey

Benzinery: A low-grade drinking place. Cheap whiskey was sometimes called benzene.

Bug Juice: Booze, firewater

Adam’s Ale:Water.

Some names for the disreputable:

Blow: boast, brag. “Don’t listen to him, that’s just a lot of blow.”

Blowhard : braggart, bully.

Coffee boiler : shirker, lazy person. “Would rather sit around the coffee pot than help.”

Crowbait : derogatory term for a poor-quality horse.

Deadbeat : bum, layabout, useless person.

Flannel mouth : an overly smooth or fancy talker, especially politicians or salesmen. “I swear that man is a flannel-mouthed liar.”

Hard case : worthless person, bad man.

Mudsill: low-life, thoroughly disreputable person.

Too Much Mustard: a braggart

On the Prod: Full of piss and vinegar and looking for trouble. Said of both people and critters.

Some compliments:

Bang-up: first rate. “They did a bang-up job.”

Fine as cream gravy: very good, top notch.

Like a thoroughbred : like a gentleman.

Make a mash: make a hit, impress someone. (Usually a female.) “Buck’s tryin’ to make a mash on that new girl.”

Of the first water: first class. “He’s a gentleman of the first water.”

Tie to: rely on. “He’s a man you can tie to.”

Someone to ride the river with: a person to be counted on; reliable; got it where it counts.

Curly wolf : real tough guy, dangerous man. “Ol’ Bill is a regular curly wolf, especially when he’s drinkin’ whiskey.”

Coffee:

Arbuckle’s ~ slang for coffee, taken from a popular brand of the time. “I need a cup of Arbuckle’s.”

Belly Wash: weak coffee

Black Water, Brown Gargle: coffee

Food:

Bear sign: cowboy term for donuts.

Axle grease, Cow Salve: butter

Boggy Top: a pie with no top crust

Calf slobbers: meringue

Chuck Wagon Chicken: bacon

Doughgods: biscuits

Mexican Strawberries: dried beans

Wasp Nest: light bread 
Whistle Berries: beans

Insulting stupidity:

“So dumb he couldn’t pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were on the sole”

“He wouldn’t know horse manure if he stepped in it”

“He’s three bales short of a load”

“He’s half a bubble outta plumb”

“He couldn’t drive nails in a snow bank”

“His brain cavity wouldn’t hold ‘nuf water for a cactus plant”

“She may be dumber than a post hole but decorative”

“She’s a bit of fluff”

“She will never make a hand”

“She don’t know bull from steer”

Complimenting a lady:

“She can out think a cow”

“She’s a real hand”

Some memorable lines:

A hog-killin’ time: a real good time. “We went to the New Year’s Eve dance and had us a hog-killin’ time.”

Namby-pamby: sickly, sentimental, saccharin

Is that a bluff, or do you mean it for real play? :Are you serious?

Hobble your lip :shut up.

Get the mitten: to be rejected by a lover. “Looks like Blossom gave poor Buck the mitten.”

Get a wiggle on: hurry.

Techy as a Teased Snake:  grumpy

Didn’t Have a Tail Feather Left: broke

Crumb Incubator: a cowboy’s bed

Barking at a Knot:  trying the impossible

Ugly: “He’s uglier than a new sheared sheep”

Stingy Person : “so tight if he owned a lake he wouldn’t give a duck a drink of water”

Impossible Task: “like try’n to scratch yur ear with your elbow”

Some cowboy wisdom:

• Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or a fool from any direction.
• Don’t squat with your spurs on.
• Don’t judge people by their relatives.
• Behind every successful rancher is a wife who works in town.
• When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
• Talk slowly, think quickly.
• Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
• Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.
• Don’t interfere with something that ain’t botherin’ you none.
• Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
• It’s better to be a has-been that a never-was.
• The easiest way to eat crow is while it’s still warm.
  The colder it gets, the harder it is to swaller.
• If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.
• If it don’t seem like it’s worth the effort, it probably ain’t.
• It don’t take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep.
• Sometimes you get and sometimes you get got.
• The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with watches you shave his face in the mirror every morning.
• Never ask a barber if you need a haircut.
• If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.
• Don’t worry about bitin’ off more’n you can chew; your mouth is probably a whole lot bigger’n you think.
• Always drink upstream from the herd.
• Generally, you ain’t learnin’ nothing when your mouth’s a-jawin’.
• Tellin’ a man to git lost and makin’ him do it are two entirely different propositions.
• If you’re ridin’ ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it’s still there with ya.
• Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
• When you give a personal lesson in meanness to a critter or to a person, don’t be surprised if they learn their lesson.
• When you’re throwin’ your weight around, be ready to have it thrown around by somebody else.
• Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back.
• Always take a good look at what you’re about to eat. It’s not so important to know what it is, but it’s sure crucial to know what it was.
• The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back into your pocket.
• You can’t tell how good a man or a watermelon is ’til they get thumped.(Character shows up best when tested.)
• Never miss a good chance to shut up.
• If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen are defrocked, shouldn’t it follow that cowboys would be deranged?
• There never was a horse that couldn’t be rode;
  Never was a cowboy who couldn’t be throwed.

These and more phrases and definitions can be found at the links below:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~poindexterfamily/OldWestSlang.html

http://www.northpolewest.com/Cowboy-Lingo-Dictionary_ep_87.html

http://nativewindsranch.4mg.com/lingo.html

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-slang.html

http://www.cowboyway.com/CowboyQuotes.htm