Old Words that survived..

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Where to put this?  Language is part of our history & these words and phrases are from back in the day, or before, So;

http://mentalfloss.com/article/51150/12-old-words-survived-getting-fossilized-idioms

[Tsalagidave]

Nice find Sir Charles,

Period slang is a big part of an impression and has become what I believe to be one of the most interesting topics in this hobby.

I think that everyone gets tired of it when period slang is heard in a movie which leads living-historians to overly represent it to the point where it begins to sound anachronistic despite its historical provenance. To freshen up the pot, I thought I'd drift away from words/terms found in film (eg. "the jakes" in True Grit or the way overused "go heeled", "lawdog" etc. from Tombstone.

Also, watch out for anachronistic speech inserted by modern scriptwriters.  In the series Hell on Wheels, the character Bohannen referred to a German character as a "kraut". This term would not exist until the early 20th century. He likely would have called him by his state affiliation (Prussian, Saxon, etc.) or he would have referred to him as "Dutch" or a "Dutchman" which was a common generalization for any Germanic person. In The Gangs of New York and The Read Headed Stranger, the Chinese were called "chinks". This is another derogatory term that did not come about until the 20th century. The common slang for immigrants/laborers from mainland Asia were "Chinamen" "Chinee" or "Celestials". If someone wanted to show distain, they'd likely call them a "heathen" or "heathen Chinee".  This is why you never want to bank on the word's authenticity just because it was in a movie.

Here are a list of terms solidly documented to use in the American West at least as early as 1861 but likely were in common use a lot earlier. I made up some sentences to document how they'd be used.

A punch or to punch someone: mawley, bunches of fives

"He's jist the lark for that type of fun. Ol' Douglas come at him not thinking about how fast those bunches of five would come back."
"Rawls is an ornery cuss. I know of nary a man that can place a harder mawley than him."

Head: nut, cone, canister, noodle, mug, knowledge box

"Watch your canister Cole; there is a low beam over there. I'd hate to see your knowledge box get smarter the hard way."

Nose: sneezer, snorer, snuffer, snuff tray, nozzle, the mazzard

"Matthias! you keep looking at Garcia's wife that way and he'll be fit to flatten your mazzard!"

Mouth: kisser, whistler, the oration tray

"I told Randolph not to jaw so much when when corralling the horses; sure enough some filth got kicked up into his oration tray. Everyone got the fun except ol' Randolph."

Blood: the claret, ruby, crimson, the home brewed, the gravy

"Did you see that row at the El Dorado last night? A Sonoran took offense with Ricardo's streak at Monte, then everyone took sides. With all that fun and fury, the claret was running that night. Every mother son of them in thar spillt' some of his home brew."

Knock someone out: knock him off his pins...pegs...stumps...foundation, sending him to grass

"Ary time Solomon want's a fight, he finds the biggest one in the place to start it with and ary time he is sent to the grass. I'd learn oncet arter getting knocked off my stumps if I was ol' Sol."