Old West Words and Phrases

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

whittle whanging

mill-rider

"ain't got no feelin' in his trigger finger"

[Griff]

Whew, thought this'un mighta died.
I'm justa guessin' here:
Whittle whanging:  idling the time away
Mill-rider:  person who shovels feed off the feed wagon in the fields
"ain't got no feelin' in his trigger finger":  could be said of John W. Harding, could kill at the drop of a hat, quick to anger, over reacts.
Been learning a bunch and really enjoying this thread.

[litl rooster]

whittle whanging

mill-rider

"ain't got no feelin' in his trigger finger"

mill-rider possibly the fellas who rode from wind mill to wind mill to check and maintain them, to keep water to the livestock....aka "the miller" or "the windmiller"

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

Is a litl rooster anything like a bantum or banty rooster?   Well now, litl rooster can crow a bit, cuz he got the mill rider thing right.

Any takers for whittle whanging and "ain't got no feelin' in his trigger finger"?

[litl rooster]

Is a litl rooster anything like a bantum or banty rooster?   Well now, litl rooster can crow a bit, cuz he got the mill rider thing right.

Yep pa always said,  I was like a banty in the hen house....

[Whiptail Moses]

no feeling in his trigger finger -- impotent?  or remorseless?

whittle wanging -- BS'ing?

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

no feeling in his trigger finger -- impotent?  or remorseless?

whittle wanging -- BS'ing?

Got the first one right, Whiptail, with your "remorseless" (or no conscience).

Still need someone to come up with the right answer for whittle whanging.

[Russ T Chambers]

no feeling in his trigger finger -- impotent?  or remorseless?

whittle wanging -- BS'ing?

Got the first one right, Whiptail, with your "remorseless" (or no conscience).

Still need someone to come up with the right answer for whittle whanging.

Whittle whanging  -   quarreling or fightinging

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

no feeling in his trigger finger -- impotent?  or remorseless?

whittle wanging -- BS'ing?

Got the first one right, Whiptail, with your "remorseless" (or no conscience).

Still need someone to come up with the right answer for whittle whanging.

Whittle whanging  -   quarreling or fightinging

Shore ain't gonna whittle whang with ole Russ T 'bout his answer- he's right.   

[Delmonico]

Had a fella in at work last night, a well known rancher here in the state.  He stops up and chews the fat when he's in the store.  Well he had a question last night, and I searched out the answer and E-Mailed it to him. 

Last week they had a 100 and some kids out to his ranch and one 4th grader asked him why they call it a tackroom, well cause thats where they keep the tack.  So the question now is why do the call it tack?   Anybody got any Ideas?

[Griff]

  Hey, isn't 10 a little on the old side to respond to every answer with "why....".  It's like my grandpappy said:  "Cause I said so, son"!

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

Tack is short for tackle - items used in a particular activity.

[Delmonico]

Not what I came up with in my Dictionary.  From middle English about 1300 Ad.  Tak, to fasten.   Tack as in horse gear and tack as in thumb tacks came from the same roots, most likey tackle as in fishing tackle came frome the same root,  cause you want to fasten on to the fish.

[litl rooster]

Not what I came up with in my Dictionary. From middle English about 1300 Ad. Tak, to fasten. Tack as in horse gear and tack as in thumb tacks came from the same roots, most likey tackle as in fishing tackle came frome the same root, cause you want to fasten on to the fish.

Tack is short for tackle - items used in a particular activity.

the best one yet

Hey, isn't 10 a little on the old side to respond to every answer with "why....". It's like my grandpappy said: "Cause I said so, son"!

I collect old cowboy tack and have so long before I was interested in CAS, I always figureed it was a term brought here by the English like some of our other horse traditions.

  Have you all ever notice how many of our words and terms come from other countries such as Mexico, the European countries? Not that cowboys are lazy, but why waste alot of effort in learning new words.. exsample vaquero=buckeroo... Listening to a real ranch cowboy converse is interesting, if you really listen you will understand them. However the sentences and words may be well, to quote Baxter Black, a little "cowy".

[Silver Creek Slim]

What is a "carsmith"? I found it in the 1880 census.

Slim

[Delmonico]

I believe it is someone who repairs or builds RR cars.   Today the RR calls that job a Car Man, but in Jolly Ol' England a Car Man was someone who worked with 2 wheels carts trasporting goods. 

Might be someone like that in my ancestors afore they flipped the King the bird and left.

Delmoico aka Glen Carman (often misspelled as a Spanish Ladies name. )

[Silver Creek Slim]

I believe it is someone who repairs or builds RR cars.   Today the RR calls that job a Car Man, but in Jolly Ol' England a Car Man was someone who worked with 2 wheels carts trasporting goods. 

Might be someone like that in my ancestors afore they flipped the King the bird and left.

Delmoico aka Glen Carman (often misspelled as a Spanish Ladies name. )

That's what I figgered it was.

Slim

[litl rooster]

I believe it is someone who repairs or builds RR cars. Today the RR calls that job a Car Man, but in Jolly Ol' England a Car Man was someone who worked with 2 wheels carts trasporting goods.

Might be someone like that in my ancestors afore they flipped the King the bird and left.

Delmoico aka Glen Carman (often misspelled as a Spanish Ladies name. )

Delmonico I believe the fellas that work on RR cars were called "car knockers," My grand dad is dead so I can't back that up.

adding the word Smith would tend make you believe they(carsmiths) built or repaied them.

[litl rooster]

Delmoico aka Glen (often misspelled as a Spanish Ladies name. )

[Silver Creek Slim]

Delmoico aka Glen (often misspelled as a Spanish Ladies name. )

Carmen

Slim