Review Roundup: Outlaws in Training

Devon Day and the Sweetwater Kid: Down the Owlhoot Trail
By J.E.S. Hays
Queerteen Press, April 2013
$14.50 paperback, ISBN 1482698838
$6.99 Kindle, ASIN B00C9G64EO
$6.99 most other e-formats, ISBN 9781611529012
244 pages

Two teens from disparate backgrounds band together in search of fame, fortune, and a place in the world. As they reinvent themselves along a trail to infamy (they hope), they encounter Indians, gamblers, scam artists, trigger-happy stagecoach guards, cowpunchers, and legendary ghosts, often with chuckle-worthy results.

In the thirteen-story anthology Devon Day and the Sweetwater Kid: Down the Owlhoot Trail, author J.E.S. Hays brings together updated versions of two previous shorts (“Devon Day and the Sweetwater Kid: The Beginning” and “Devon Day and the Sweetwater Kid: The Spanish Treasure”) with eleven new tales presenting the further misadventures of two boys who, through their determination to leave a larger-than-life legacy, become closer than brothers and surprisingly well-rounded young men.

Hays is an expert at the art of descriptive writing that doesn’t bore readers. Instead of dumping large chunks of scenery and character description folks tend to skim, Hays weaves the surroundings and minor characters into the stories through the boys’ eyes. The settings and adventures come alive, taking in readers as a third partner in the aspiring owlhoots’ successes and failures. Be prepared for an uncommon perspective on the Old West.

Though the stories are rife with humor and—in spots—pathos, perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of the writing is Hays’s talent for fresh, well-turned phrases. Readers will laugh out loud in some places, hold their breath in others, and commiserate when capers take a turn for the worse. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid have nothing on Dev and Sweet.

As befits the subject and the intended young-adult audience, Hays dispenses with deep symbolism in favor of a more literal approach. Consequently, the book is a quick read, but not because of superficiality. The characters and plots are wholly three-dimensional, making the stories as enjoyable for grownups as for older teens…even those who usually don’t read westerns.


Kathleen Rice Adams is a Texan, a voracious reader, a professional journalist, and an author. She received a review copy of Devon Day and the Sweetwater Kid: Down the Owlhoot Trail from the author. Her opinions are her own and are neither endorsed nor necessarily supported by Western Fictioneers or individual members of the organization. Links in the review are for convenience only; they do not produce affiliate revenue.

THE INDISPENSABLE HORSE by J.E.S. HAYS

What would the Old West be without the horse? A man afoot, or footermans, was reduced to the lowly act of walking where he needed to go, and what cowboy would be caught dead without his trusty hayburner beneath him? The horse was truly indispensable: the original engine upon which all further mechanical power is measured. Whether pulling a wagon (or plow) or carrying a rider, the horse allowed mankind to spread beyond simple villages and explore the world.

This will be the first of several articles about the horse. Further columns will explore the world of riding, saddles and tack, and the art of identifying horse breeds and colors.

Here are some of the basic terms used in the Old West:
Band: a bunch of horses, either wild or in remuda
Bottom: stamina or staying power of a horse
Bridle-wise: a horse expertly bridle-trained
Bronc: originally an unbroken horse, this term came to mean any cowpony
Buzzard bait, Crowbait: a worthless horse, one fit only to feed the carrion birds
Buzzard head: a mean horse
Camp staller: a horse reluctant to leave the camp and get to work in the mornings
Carver, Carving horse, Chopper, Cutter, Cutting horse: a horse trained to select and remove cattle from the herd
Cavvy-broke: not broken to saddle but tame enough to run in remuda
Churn-head, crock-head, crowbait, hame-headed: a dumb, stubborn horse
Clear-footed: a horse with a clean and sure gait
Cloud hunter: a horse that likes to rear
Cold-jawed: a horse having an insensitive mouth, unresponsive to the bit
Coon-footed: a horse whose rear feet aren't straight
Cow horse, Cowpony: a horse trained to work cattle
Dead-mouthed, hard-mouthed: a horse that is unresponsive to the bit
Dude horse: "a plumb gentle horse that will allow kids to crawl up its legs or dudes to sit on it" (Rossi, 1975)
Easy keeper: a horse that thrives on any feed
Jingle: to round up the horses, which are then kept in a jingle pasture (fenced and near the cowboys' quarters) for easy access
Jug-head, Knothead: a horse without sense
Lady-broke: a horse so well-trained that a lady can ride it; the opposite of cavvy-broke

Long horse: one with endurance
Mount, String: the team of saddle-horses allotted to one cowboy on a ranch or trail drive. Typically, it comprised four to six mounts or more: a cutting horse, roping horse, swimming horse and night horse, plus one or two broncos who were in training. The string belonged completely to the cowboy it was assigned to – he was responsible for it, and it was hands-off to everyone else. Outfits kept strings together from each rider to his successor. The new cowboy was never told anything about his string; the assumption was that if he was a good rider, he would need no advice. If a cowboy broke his string by losing a horse or getting one hurt, it was considered a bad omen. For the boss to break a string by assigning one of the horses to someone else was the same as telling the cowboy to find another job.
Oily bronc: a mean horse
Outlaw, renegade, widow-maker: a mean, uncontrollable horse
Owlhead: an untrainable, unridable horse
Pecker neck: a horse trained for riding, but not for cattle work
Pegger: a cutting horse skilled in sharp turns
Plug: a broken-down horse
Pudding foot: an awkward horse with big feet
Range Horse: one that is allowed to run wild part of the year, while working for the rest
Rank: how a cowboy describes a vicious, hard-to-handle horse
Raw bronc, Raw one: an unbroken, green, or inexperienced horse
Remuda. Saddle-stock: saddle horses of a ranch or trail outfit (horses are said to be "in remuda")
Rough string: the left-over horses none of the workers wanted as part of their string
Saddle-broke: trained to carry a saddle
Scrub: a horse of such poor quality that no one would wish to breed from it
Soft-mouthed, Sweet-mouthed: a horse sensitive to the bit
Sour-mouthed: a horse that worries at the bit
Sugar-eater: a pampered horse that is fed treats
Sunday horse: one chosen for its good appearance, behavior, and handsome gait
Top horse: the best animal in remuda
Uneducated: an unschooled horse
Whey-belly: a pot-bellied, inferior horse


Sources:
A Dictionary of the Old West, Peter Watts, 1977
Dictionary of the American West, Win Blevins, 1993
J.E.S Hays
www.jeshays.com
hays.jes@gmail.com

THEM'S FIGHTING WORDS, PART II by J.E.S. HAYS

In the Old West, a man had to know how to cut another to the quick without cursing. As we've already discussed, cursing was taboo, especially in public or in the presence of a woman. Yet there are times when a man just needs to vent his feelings. Here are some choice insults and descriptions from the Old West for your enjoyment.



Anger:
When I'm done with you, there won't be enough left of you to snore.
He was mad enough to swallow a horn-toad backwards.
He was so mad he could bite himself

Bad Tempered or Generally Unpleasant:
He's so mean he'd steal a fly from a blind spider.
He was so mean, he'd fight a rattler and give him the first bite.
He was mean enough to steal a coin off a dead man's eyes.
He made an ordinary fight look like a prayer meetin'.
He was mean enough to eat off the same plate with a snake.
He was mean enough to hunt bears with a hickory switch.
He didn't have manners enough to carry guts to a bear.
He's as welcome as a rattlesnake as a square dance.
He's so crooked, he could swallow nails and spit out corkscrews.
He told lies so well a man would be a foot not to believe them.
He's as crooked as a dog's hind legs.
He's lyin' like a rug.
He ain't fit to shoot at when you want to unload and clean yo' gun.
He's as popular as a wet dog at a parlor social.



Mental State:
He was crazy enough to eat the devil with horns on.
He's off his mental reservation.
His intelligence shore ain't at this camp.
He's as crazy as popcorn on a hot stove.
He's as crazy as a sheepherder.
Somebody stole his rudder.
He's crazier than a run-over coon.
He's studying to be a half-wit.
He ought to be bored for the hollow horn.
His brain cavity wouldn't make a drinkin' cup for a canary.
He couldn't teach a hen to cluck.
He knows as much about it as a hog does a hip pocket in a bathing suit.
His knife's so dull it wouldn't cut hot butter.
He don't know dung from wild honey.
If all his brains were dynamite, there wouldn't be enough to blow his nose.
He couldn't cut a lame cow from a shade tree.
He couldn't track an elephant in snow.
He was so dumb he couldn't drive nails in a snowbank.
He's as dull as dishwater.
He don't know any more about it than a hog does a sidesaddle.
He is plumb weak North of his ears.
He can't tell skunks from house cats.
He had a ten dollar Stetson on a five-cent head.
His family tree was a shrub.
He couldn't track a bed-wagon through a bog hole.
He didn't have nuthin' under his hat but hair.
He couldn't hit the ground with his hat in three throws.
He was as shy of brains as a terrapin is of feathers.



Physical Appearance:
He was uglier than a new-sheared sheep.
He has teeth so crooked he could eat corn on the cob through a picket fence.
His face was puckered like wet sheepskin before a hot fire.
Her face looks like a dime's worth of dog meat.
He was ugly as a burnt boot.
He was so ugly he had to sneak up on a dipper to get a drink of water.
He looked like the hindquarters of bad luck.
His lip hangs down like a blacksmith's apron.
He looks so bad his ears flop.
She's so ugly, she'd make a freight train take a dirt road!
He's as ugly as homemade sin.
She's so ugly she could bluff a buzzard off a meat wagon.
He's as ugly as a mud fence.
He is so thin he could take a bath in a shotgun barrel.
He was so fat, you'd have to throw a diamond hitch to keep him in the saddle.
If he closed one eye he'd look like a needle.
He is built like a snake on stilts.


Additional Insults:
His voice sounded like someone forgot to grease the wagon.
His singin' was enough to make a she-wolf jealous.
He punished the air with his singing.
He had a voice like a burro with a bad cold.
He couldn't hit a bull's rump with a handful of banjos.
He was as drunk as a fiddler's clerk.
She's as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
He'd been in the desert so long, he knew all the lizards by their first names.
His mustache smelled like a mildewed saddle blanket after it had been rid on a soreback hoss three hundred miles in August.
He was grittin' his teeth like he could bite the sights off a six-gun.
This saloon's so bad, a rattlesnake'd be ashamed to meet his mother.
He lasted as long as a pint of whiskey in a five-handed poker game.

Sources:

A Dictionary of the Old West, Peter Watts, 1977
Legends of America website: www.legendsofamerica.com

WHISKEY IN THE JAR-O by J.E.S. HAYS

Alcohol played a major role in the life of most Western men. They didn't have access to the sorts of entertainment we have today. In larger cities, they might have a theater or music hall, but in most small towns, sources of relaxation were few and simple. Certainly, there would have been social gatherings of many sort, but not every day or even every week. Church was always popular, but only available on certain days of the week. That left the three basic forms of entertainment that mankind has always enjoyed: drinking, gambling, and sex in the form of the town brothel(s).



As in the modern era, drinking provided a needed opportunity for socialization and relaxation. Men of that era lived hard lives - many of them worked seven days a week for what we would consider less than minimum wage - and alcohol provided an inexpensive remedy for their stress. They could gather at the saloon with friends, hear the latest news (and probably read an actual newspaper, as many saloon owners kept a variety of papers and magazines for the enjoyment of their patrons), and maybe play a game of chance.

As with anything else that holds such an important position in society, alcohol has generated a great deal of slang. Westerners were a colorful lot in any case, and seldom used one word when several would create a more vivid impression. They invented new euphemisms nearly as quickly as the old ones caught on. One of the most common types of alcohol available in the Old West was whiskey, either corn or rye. We'll start by examining some of the common slang terms for that beverage, and save other alcoholic ramblings for a later column.


A drink of whiskey was known as a base burner, which is a furnace or stove where the fuel is contained in a hopper or chamber, to be fed to the fire as needed. Two drinks of whiskey was a pair of overalls.

Here are some of the other terms you might have heard in the Old West:

Bald-face: this was often used to refer to new whiskey, presumably strong enough to take the hair from your face.

Bark juice: cheap whiskey was often made of nothing more than raw alcohol, burnt sugar, and tobacco; bark was an optimistic term.

Benzene: cheap whiskey: a volatile liquid found in coal tar and petroleum.

Brave-maker or bottled courage: many a man has gotten into trouble because of the false courage provided by alcohol.

Bug juice: frontier whiskey was often made on the premises, and rumor had it that the unscrupulous saloon owner would incorporate into the mix anything handy, or anything that happened to fall into the barrel.

Brigham Young Cocktail: a term used for especially strong whiskey. Brigham Young was the leader of the Latter Day Saints movements (the Mormons). This is a tongue-in-cheek dig at the sect, as devout Mormons do not drink alcohol.

Bumblebee whiskey: strong enough to "sting."

Bust-head: an apt description of either the morning after a drinking binge, or of a fight brought on by the same.

Clinch Mountain: rye whiskey; probably from a folk song called "Rye Whiskey," which begins "Way up on Clinch Mountain, I wandered alone; I'm drunk as a devil and a long way from home." Clinch Mountain is a ridge found in Tennessee and Virginia.

Corn juice: corn whiskey

Coffin varnish: even in those days, it was understood that alcohol could be a potent poison if abused.

Cowboy cocktail: a straight shot of whiskey, the traditional "manly" way to drink.

Family disturbance: one can well understood how a man's wife and children felt about him spending all his free time with the bottle.

Forty-rod lightning: a rod was a unit of length; strong whiskey was reputed to have the power to knock one over from such a distance.

Gut-warmer: a shot of whiskey certainly does create a burning sensation in the belly.

Jack of Diamonds: rye whiskey; from a Texas folk song related to the Clinch Mountain song.

Joy juice: people generally feel happy after getting on the outside of a couple of drinks.

Kansas sheep-dip: sheep were held in poor regard by most cattlemen, so this term probably described poor or cheap whiskey.

Mormon tea: another dig at the tee-totaling Mormon sect.

Neck oil: so called because of the tendency of the head of a heavy drinker to nod.

Nose paint: an apt description of the resultant red nose of a drinker.

Old Orchard or Old Towse: origins are unclear on these terms, perhaps a common whiskey brand.

Pine top: unscrupulous saloon owners often cut their whiskey with such ingredients as turpentine, from pine resin.

Pop-skull: cheap whiskey; you'd certainly feel as if the top of your skull had popped off.

Prairie dew: whiskey was a common as dew, and as refreshing to a dusty cowhand.

Rebel soldier: rye whiskey: many rye whiskey companies are based in the South.

Red-eye: a few drinks of potent whiskey can irritate anyone's eyes.

Red disturbance, red ink: descriptive terms for the distinctive color of the drink.

Sagebrush whiskey: presumably made from this ubiquitous desert plant.

Scamper juice: good whiskey certainly put a man in the mood to scamper about.

Sheepherder's delight: cheap whiskey that tasted like sheep-dip must have.

Snake pizen: cheap whiskey that tasted and acted like venom.

Tangle-leg: a typical pithy Westernism, creating a vivid image of whiskey's effect.

Taos lightning: supposedly originating from the town of Taos, New Mexico.

Tarantula juice: either from the ingredients of an unsanitary barrel or the supposed effects of a bite from the spider.

Tongue oil: whiskey is famous for loosening the tongue (and the inhibitions).

Tornado juice: a potent drink could affect a man like the sudden whirlwind, leaving him breathless and dizzy.

Wild mare's milk: potent whiskey had a kick like a wild horse.

White eye: corn whiskey, of a paler color than other types.



Sources:

A Dictionary of the Old West, Peter Watts, 1987
Everyday Life in the 1800's, Marc McCutcheon, 1993
Legends of America website: http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-slang.html

THEM'S FIGHTING WORDS! (PART 2) by J.E.S. HAYS

Back in the day, a man usually tried to avoid a fight. Remember that easy access to firearms we discussed in a previous column. However, humans being human, arguments occurred. Here are some of the terms you’d have heard in such a situation. This is part 2 of "Them's Fighting Words!" For more fighting words (A-L) look in the archives, July 31, 2013.

Milling: fighting, as in milling about aimlessly in a crowd, punching whoever is closest

On the prod, on the shoot: spoiling for a fight

Peck of trouble: a peck is a unit of measure, a quarter-bushel

Pucker: in a state of irritation or anger; the image is of a puckered brow or frown

Pull in your horns: quit looking for trouble; an irritated cow thrashes about with its horns

Raise his bristles: to incite his anger; an angry animal raises its hairs and puffs itself up to appear larger

Raise sand, raising Cain: to cause trouble; Cain is the Biblical brother of Abel, the first murderer

Rantankerous: a humorous variation of cantankerous; contentious or stubborn

Ringy: ornery or angry man or animal; origin unclear

Rip out: impatiently give vent to one's feelings or opinions, as in letting emotions rip from one’s body

Roily or rily: vexed; roil means to stir up sediment and make turbid

Row up: to rebuke, punish with words; a row is a disturbance

Savagerous: furious; another Latinate term used to sound more educated

Scoff off, scuff away: to drive away or impel, as in by scoff or scorn

Score off: to get the better of one, especially in a verbal debate; the image is of scoring points in a game

Scrap: to fight or box; possibly a variation of “scrape” meaning an abrasive encounter

Scratch, to come to the scratch: to begin a fight; could either be from the literal definition of scratch, or from the fact that roosters scratch the dirt before attacking, to sharpen their claws

Set about: to chastise, beat, thrash; origins unclear

Set-to: argument, debate, contest in words; originally boxing slang from the definition of “set” as in beginning a task or arrangement

Settle his hash: to properly punish him; hash is a dish of minced meat

Sharp stick, after him with a sharp stick: determined to have satisfaction or revenge

THEM'S FIGHTING WORDS! by J.E.S. HAYS

Back in the day, a man usually tried to avoid a fight. Remember that easy access to firearms we discussed in a previous column. However, humans being human, arguments occurred. Here are some of the terms you’d have heard in such a situation.

Argufy - to argue, have weight as an argument; one of those pseudo-Latinate terms that sounded more educated than the original “argue”

Bad Box – a bad predicament, as in being caught inside a box with no way out

Blow: to taunt or ridicule; the image is of one person blowing hot words onto the other

Bobbery: a squabble, argument; possibly Anglo-Indian, from the Hindu “bap re” (a very disrespectful address, “Oh thou father!”)

Brush: a skirmish or fight; brush as in to brush past or touch up against

Bulldoze: to bully, threaten or coerce, thus a bulldozer is a large person who bulldozes; from the tendency of a bull to shove its enemies around with its horns

Bushwhack: a cowardly attack or ambush; the image is of hiding in the bushes to strike (“whack”) a person

Crawl his hump: to start a fight; the image is of a person crawling up a bull’s hump to irritate the animal

Cross-grained: troublesome, perverse; wood that is cross-grained is notoriously hard to work with

Cross-patch: ill tempered person; from “cross” meaning ill-tempered and “patch” meaning a fool

Crotchecal, crotchety: Cross, perverse, peevish; the etymology is unclear (“crotchet” meant a whim or fancy in the early 1800s)

Curly wolf: a rough, dangerous fellow; it is unclear why being curly would make a wolf more dangerous

Curmudgeon: an avaricious, churlish fellow; possibly from the Gaelic “muigean” meaning a disagreeable person, with “cur” meaning a dog

Dander: ire, irritation, temper, emotion; possibly from Spanish “redundar” meaning to overflow

Dry gulch: to ambush; the image is of laying in wait in a ravine and pouncing on someone

By the ears: in a quarrel or fight; as in holding someone by the ears and making them face off with you

Fight like Kilkenny cats: these were the famous mythical cats which fought until they were all torn into tiny scraps of fur

Fling: a sneer or contemptuous remark; the image is of flinging or tossing such remarks

Flunk out: to retire through fear, to back out; possibly from British slang “to funk” with the same meaning and based on the noun “funk” meaning distress

Frump: to mock or insult, can also mean a bad temper; possibly an imitation of a contemptuous snort

Get your back up: get angry; when an animal is ready to fight, it bows up its back to look larger

Hammer and tongs: went at it in a noisy, furious manner, as in a blacksmith using his tools on the anvil

High binder: dangerous and vicious man or horse; origins unclear

Kick up a row: a row is a disturbance

Knock galley west: to beat senseless; probably a sailing term meaning that something has been tossed quite a distance

Lacing, lashing: a beating, as in striking with a lash

Lambaste, lambasting: beat, a beating; from Scandinavian “lemja” meaning to beat and “baste” meaning to thrash

Lather: to beat, as beating a horse until sweat forms a lather

Let drive: let loose, discharge, as in a blow with a fist or a bullet from a gun

Lick: a blow, usually from the fist, thus a licking is a beating

Loo'd, looed: beaten or defeated; possibly from the name of a card game

BY THE GREAT HORN SPOON! by J.E.S. HAYS

A discussion of western exclamations...

What do you say when you don't know what to say? The casual profanity common today was taboo in the Old West, most especially in the presence of women and children...and "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" had yet to be invented.



Many of the terms commonly heard today were considered profanity in that era. For instance, one did not take God's name in vain, so euphemisms for God and his rival the Devil abounded. One most certainly did not use the word "damn," and as for the even more vulgar terms heard in today's society ... forget about it. However, a few of the terms we consider coarse or vulgar today once meant something entirely different. One of the first to come to mind is, of course, "gay," but there were other words and phrases which once had wildly different meanings than they do today. A gentleman, and most Western males aspired to be one, knew which words he could use and which were taboo.

A gentleman did not even discuss such things as sex, gender, or certain body parts in public. A bull was often called a "cow critter," and a leg was a limb. At one point in the century, even the legs of furniture were covered lest someone see more than they should. A Western gentleman was far more polite than many men you'll meet today. Part of this, it is to be admitted, was due to the ready availability of the six-gun and the ready acceptance of the use of the same. If you felt that a man showed less than sterling manner, you were not only entitled to "call him out," but were expected to do so. This resulted in an extremely polite population.



People did not curse in public, but substituted a more acceptable euphemism for the unacceptable terms. Women, especially, never sullied their lips with profanity, but were expected at all times to speak in soft and gentle tones. Even the act of cursing was not directly spoken of, but referred to as "airing the lungs."

Here are just a few of the many exclamations and euphemisms you might have heard in the Old West.

All-fired, hell-fired, or joe-fired: completely or totally. Don't be in such an all-fired hurry. He's joe-fired determined to go through with it.

All my eye: nonsense, untrue. All my eye, you ain't no gentleman!

Balderdash: nonsense, empty babble. You say you won the rodeo? Balderdash!

Balls: to make a mistake. If he don't watch out, he's going to balls that up good!

Beat the Dutch, beat the Devil: above what is expected; an exclamation of surprise. He's playing that horn to beat the Dutch. Don't that just beat the Devil?

Blame or blamed: damn or damned. Dad blame it! I'm going to ride that blamed hoss if it kills me.

Bosh, bunkum: nonsense. That's a load of bunkum!

Blazes: hell. Go to blazes!

Bully, bully for you: congratulations, good job, excellent; can be sarcastic as well. You rode that ornery hoss? Well, bully for you!

By jiminy: an exclamation. I'll clean his plow, by jiminy!

Cap the climax: exceeds expectations. That'll cap the climax all right.

Claptrap: nonsense. Don't feed me a bunch of claptrap!

Corral dust: lies and tall tales. He's full of corral dust.

Crimany, crimminy: an expression of surprise. Crimany, it's cold out here!

Dad or dog: God. I'll be a dog-blamed fool!

Dang, darn, dash, ding or drat: damn; also variations such as gosh-ding, gol-durn-it, dagnabbit, ding-blamed, dang-blatted or whatever other syllables a creative curser could invent.

Deuce, dickens: the Devil. The deuce you say! That hurt like the dickens!

Don't care a continental: don't give a damn.

Do tell: an exclamation of surprise. Do tell! I had no idea the man was married.

Fudge: an expression of contempt, usually of what was just said.

Go boil your shirt: get lost, take a hike.

Gosh or G: God; usually combined with some euphemism for damn. Gosh-dang-it, I told you to tie that filly up before you saddled her!

Gummy: an exclamation. Gummy, I had no idea you'd take offense!

Hobble your lip: shut up.

Humbug: nonsense. Bah, humbug!

I dad: an exclamation of surprise. I dad, where'd that extra ace come from?

I swan, I swamp it, I swow: corruptions of "I swear;" an exclamation of surprise. I swan if he didn't win that hand!

Land sakes, law sakes, or sakes alive: (for the) Lord's sake, a generic exclamation. Land sakes, is that the sheriff? Sakes alive, but I'm powerful thirsty!

Man alive: a generic exclamation. Man alive, that's a big rattler!

Old Scratch: the Devil. Old Scratch have you for that!

Poppy-cock: nonsense. That is pure poppy-cock!

Pshaw, shaw: an exclamation of disbelief or disgust. Pshaw, I missed the son of a biscuit.

Push your barrow: get out of here.

Rip-roaring, rip-snorting, rip-or rib-staver: exceeds all expectations. That was a rip-snorting rodeo! I had a rip-roaring time.

Sam Hill: the Devil. What in the Sam Hill do you think you're doing?

Shut your cock holster: shut your mouth.

Some pumpkins: something impressive. That five-story building sure is some pumpkins!

Son of a biscuit: son of a bitch. That little son of a biscuit cheated at poker!

Stall your mug: make yourself scarce.

Take the rag off: surpass, exceed expectation. Don't that take the rag off?

Tarnation, or 'nation: damnation. What in tarnation is going on over there?

Wipe your chin: shut up.

Oh, and the exclamation in the title? Nobody really knows where it came from. It seems to have first occurred in a song from 1842, and the songwriter may have just made the thing up to fit his rhyme scheme.

Sources:

A Dictionary of the Old West, Peter Watts, 1987
Everyday Life in the 1800's, Marc McCutcheon, 1993
Heavens to Betsy! and Other Curious Sayings, Charles Funk, 1955
Legends of America website: http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-slang.html

FRIDAY FIVE WITH J.E.S. HAYS!

Give a hearty welcome to J.E.S. Hays, who joins us today with her answers to five burning questions we need to know!

1. The most exciting day of my life was the day a baby whale surfaced nearly underneath our tour boat in Kauai'i. I'd been diving all morning, and chose a relaxing boat ride for the afternoon. Suddenly, the pilot cut the motor, jerking everyone forward as we did the oceanic equivalent of skidding to a stop. Directly beside the boat, a large gray back appeared, nearly close enough to touch. If the motor had still been running, we'd have hit the baby with the propeller. We watched it swim away, and when it was several hundred yards off, we saw the backs of its two caretakers, most likely the mother and an "auntie." I could well imagine the scolding that baby got for venturing so close to a boat full of humans!





2. My favorite food is shrimp in any form. The best I ever had was when my marine biology class was sampling the bay, and we kept all the shrimp and boiled them up as we caught them. You can't get fresher than that.





3. Something you may not know about me is that I once traveled to Dublin to hear U2 in concert. I had been planning a trip to "The Old Country" to visit the land of my family's roots, and found that the band was playing their home city that year, so I arranged my holiday around the concert. That was another fantastic vacation, with an extraordinary performance to boot.





4. One book I reread often is O Jerusalem by Laurie R. King. The detailed culture and setting never fail to capture my imagination, and I adore the characters. I can well imagine a woman like Russell catching the interest of Sherlock Holmes, and the brothers Hazr are endlessly fascinating.





5. An interesting fact about my genealogy is that I could be my great-great grandfather's twin. I have an old photo from the Civil War era, and except for the hairstyle, we look practically identical.