Welcome everyone to a little bit different of a blog post today! It’s a mite chilly, what with the snowcrete that has no signs of thawing, and the shockingly high electricity bill, so it’s got me pining for the days of the past, though I don’t know if they were really all that warm in the winter.
Since I write mostly historical, I’m a stickler for my research. I love to learn new things, and I bet you do too. Today I decided to share a few interesting phrases with you!
These were all common words or phrases in language in the 1800s, like our modern day slang. I really don’t know how in the world they came up with these. That would make for an interesting story.
Ready to learn a few new words? Maybe you can work them into a conversation this week!
Pudding Foot – This was the “cowboy talk” for a horse with big feet
Dinah – This was one of the names miners and loggers used for dynamite.
Loma – A Southwestern term used for a rise or a low hill. It was borrowed from the Spanish, and was often used to name places.
Long Sweetening – Molasses! How about that? I’d have never guessed! Molasses had other names too, sich as blackstrap, larrup, lick, long lick, and long-tailed sugar. And, sugar itself? It was called short sweetening.
Grama – Any species of the Boutelou grass that was common in the West. Early explorers and pioneers were surprised that it was as nutritious when tried and brown as it was fresh and green in spring and summer.
Corral Dust – Cowboy talk for a yarn, or a tall tale
Cart Wheel – A big coin, like a silver dollar
Book Count – A bit different than I’d have guessed! This means the number of cows the tally book says are on there.
Tedra – Adapted from the Spanish word heidra, which means ivy, yedra means poison ivy or poison oak.
Bridal Chamber – Among miners, the far end of a narrow tunnel where work is being moved forward
Owl Hoot – An outlaw
Mail-Order Cowboy – A tenderfoot decked out fancy-like in what he hopes is cowboy gear. This was also called mail-order catalog on foot.
Goosey – A man or a horse that’s jumpy
Doctor – This was the logger’s name for their camp cook
Weren’t those some fun words? Now that the learning for the day is done, how about a giveaway? I think an eBook of my Mail-Order Teacher would be a fun one!
Here’s a little look at what that one’s about.
He thought he was heading to a teaching job, not that of a husband. Now what?
Samuel Donner, an experienced schoolteacher with a steely gaze and a firm grip on his principles, arrives in the dusty town of Cottonwood Falls answering their call for help. He’s determined to bring order to chaos and transform the unruly children into well-educated citizens. His first target: the blatant disregard for attendance.
Abigail Lees, a single mother of three, struggles to keep her head above water. When Samuel visits, warning that her eldest son, Thomas, needs to attend school more often, she’s surprised. Unbeknownst to her, Thomas has taken on the responsibility of providing for the family, sacrificing his education in the process.
Torn between his duty to the town and his growing affection for Abigail, and the fact another woman insists he’s her mail-order husband, Samuel finds himself in a difficult position. He wants to help Thomas and Abigail, but adhering to his promise to the school board, and fending off unwanted advances, proves increasingly challenging.
Then Thomas is accused of a serious crime, and Samuel must reach a decision. Will he stand by the boy, even if it means jeopardizing his reputation and potentially betraying the trust of the community? And can his love for Abigail survive the storm of doubt and suspicion that threatens to engulf them all?
If you’d like to learn more, or read this book, you can find it here.
To be entered to win your own ebook copy, just tell me which of the phrases above you thought was the craziest! I’ll choose one commenter randomly to win the ebook!
Sarah is wife to an amazing teacher and mom to two boys who are growing up just a little too fast. She spends her days working and writing in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
Pudding foot is new to me.
I know I’d heard that one in old westerns, but it was a surprise to me to learn what it was!
I think Owl Hoot is crazy sounding.
I agree!
I was surprised by “mail-order cowboy.” The earliest known use of mail-order referring to a person (as in bride) was in 1903. I assume “mail-order cowboy” would have come even later.
That one surprised me too, but the reference was listed. I think perhaps, like since the first mail-order pride ad wasn’t called that, but put in the Boston Evening Post in 1789, it may have become one of those words that were used long before it became commonplace. Like how we use them for a while before the dictionary votes to add them.
Good morning Sarah! I enjoyed the slang words. Some were surprising. I read your Mail Order Teacher last year. I enjoy reading your books! any new series in the works?
Best wishes!
Hi Tracy! You are so sweet! I just released book five in my Red Ridge Chronicles series, and Monday I had a release in a multi-author series. I’ll drop my Amazon link here, in case you see anything that catches your eye!
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Sarah-Lamb/author/B098H3SGLK
I thought long sweetening and short sweeting is pretty crazy but also makes sense. Molassis, with it’s strong flavor last a long time, if the sweet it’s used in lasts. lol
These all were pretty wild though! Thanks for sharing them.
I didn’t think of it that way! The flavor does last a long time!!
I thought Dinah was the craziest.
Haha! Yes! I’d never have guessed that!
In Finnish language word “loma” means vacation.
How interesting!!!
I find “pudding foot” the craziest, although there are certainly others as well.
Yes, I think it’s funny how some of their slang words mean something totally different to us nowdays!
Owl Hoot had me laughing out loud!
Me too!!
I thought the mail order cowboy was funny.
I did too!
I think the craziest was pudding foot.
I’m really wondering why they called it that.
Goosey that one just made me laugh, I mean Goosey. Don’t see how they get that name mean a human or horse that’s jumpy. I was thinking like being silly. Although there are all crazy.
Long sweetening was a little strange.
I agree!
My dad used goosey a lot for horses that were a little jumpy and nervous. I think pudding foot is really funny. Dad used sugar foot to describe a horse with a really sweet disposition, or ironically to describe a horse that was the total opposite!
Oh that’s neat, do your dad already was familiar with that a bit!
Doctor – This was the logger’s name for their camp cook
I got a tickle out of this. Unless the cook was both the cook and a doctor. Hmmm
Welcome today. Oh but this looks like such a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing it.
Hah! I wondered that too. I wonder what the doctor was called!
Good morning, I think Corral Dust was different for sure. You know I grew up with the word Loma, meaning a little hill. Growing up we lived in a desert region and there were little hills and my 3 older brothers built like a go cart and they would go to the Lomita(little hill) and they would ride down it, they had alot of fun and they could come down it pretty fast which was a little scary for me anyway. 🙂 Your book sounds like a great read, I am not entering this ebook giveaway as I am not tech savvy, but thank you. Have a great day .
Oh gosh, I bet they went so fast!! I don’t know if I’d have tried that!
Maybe Bridal chamber.
Yes, that was strange!
Bridal Chamber. These are some of the craziest things I have ever heard, and I thought we had weird sayings in the South. lol Fun to learn all these things so when I’m reading a cowboy book I can figure out what they are talking about.
I really wonder how they thought of some of these names!
Bridal Chamber seems really crazy for a mine
I agree completely!
Pudding Foot is definitely a stand out!
Yes, it is, isn’t it?
Almost all made sense, Pudding foot, nit as much. I would have thought it would have applied to a horse with a sloppy gait or not very sure footed. I like Grama. Maybe it was a nod to grandmothers, good and nurturing no matter what their age.
Mail-Order Teacher sounds like it will be an enjoyable read. Teachers had to live by such high standards and restrictions in the West. It would be so easy to be out of line and be fired.Thank you for a fun post.
I wonder if that was a nod to them!
Goosey
Yes! And another person said her father actually used that word for those kinds of horses!
I thought Dinah was good. It makes sense in the song I’ve Been Working on the Railroad. “Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah.” I bet the term kitchen meant something, also.