Old West Words and Phrases

[Griff]

Ok, talked to a couple of other ol-timers and determined the following:

Bric-a-Brac:  That ginger-bready stuff around the perimeter of the house trim, i.e. Victorian homes.  Can also be inside around cabinets etc. 

nicnacks:  Stuff generally stored on shelves, cabinets, etc, in various rooms of the house; i.e. collectibles, or as my Mom said:  "Any that requires dusting!"

So, could bric-a brac be the stuff that Grandma was referring to when she pointed to her nicnack shelves?

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

bric-a-brac 
A noun
1  bric-a-brac, knickknack, nicknack, knickknackery, whatnot

   miscellaneous curios 

What about nicknack paddywack give the dog a bone?

[Four-Eyed Buck]

Just make sure it's a beef bone, the others splinter........Buck

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

Protection Man

[Russ T Chambers]

Protection Man

Another name for a range detective.

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

Protection Man

Another name for a range detective.

Tom Horn, for example.  Nice goin', Russ T.

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

Another "Protection Man"  http://www.carolyar.com/Biographies/ProtectionMan.htm .

[Silver Creek Slim]

In the back Killer Angels, Chamberlin's Sgt. uses the term "save the baby". Anyone know what that refers to?

Slim

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

In the back Killer Angels, Chamberlin's Sgt. uses the term "save the baby". Anyone know what that refers to?

Slim

In what context was it used?

[Silver Creek Slim]

In the back Killer Angels, Chamberlin's Sgt. uses the term "save the baby". Anyone know what that refers to?

Slim

In what context was it used?

Sorry, typo.   I corrected it. He said it after he had been shot in the armpit. I think it might be something he wanted to ingest. Liquor, etc. BTW, the Sgt. was Irish.

Slim

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

cut the pain

tomfuller

sun balling

[Silver Creek Slim]

cut the pain - to take a pain reliever such as whiskey, morphine, etc.

Slim

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

cut the pain - to take a pain reliever such as whiskey, morphine, etc.

Slim

Real close, Slim.  If an early settler or cowboy didn't have/couldn't get medicine (home remedy or the real thing) to relieve his pain, he would get the axe from the woodpile and put it under his bed.  He might also use a knife or anything that had a sharp edge that would "cut" the pain.  Probably nothing more than a simple form of self hypnosis that might actually work if you really believe strongly enough that it will.

Now then,  how about:

tomfuller

sun balling

[Griff]

tomfuller = ash cakes

[Griff]

snow balling : Well, it might be cheatin' but under Google, I came up with a condition where the sun warms up snow under the surface and allows the wind or gravity to blow the upper layer into snow balls or the beginnings of an avalanche.

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

Well now, Griff, seein' as how its just you an me here, I'll tell you what I have on those.

Tomfuller, possibly from the Choctaw  "Ta-FU-la", was something like hominy with bits of meat thrown in.  Was served in most eating places, and on cattle drives.  Was supposedly cheap, filling, and tasted good.

The other word is actually "sun balling", a term for a ranch hand who was neglecting his work and not carrying his share of the load.  It was based on the fact that a lazy man would be seeking the shade at every opportunity and it was suspected that he never worked up a sweat.  You were telling him he was afraid of the sun, a minor thing when there were lots more dangers a man could face every day working on a ranch.

Thanks for playing trhe game.

[Griff]

I've seen several recipes for "ash cakes" and do include all kinds of things.  My grandma used hominy and meat in hers, (when she could get hominy out in CA).
And I love playing the game, I've learned at lot in reading through all these.

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

Ciboleros

[Silver Creek Slim]

Ciboleros

persons that hunt buffalo from horseback

Slim

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

Ciboleros

persons that hunt buffalo from horseback

Slim

Git ridda that scattergun and gitcha a Sharps.   Gotta be more accurate than that. They hunted buffs horseback, allright, but were a unique group, and had a unique method of bringin 'em down .