Know Your Wild West Slang Terms

Some of the greatest movies and television shows of all-time take place in the Wild West. Noting beats cowboys riding horses, saloon fights and poker games. Sometimes it can be hard to follow a movie scene in the Wild West though because they have their own way of speaking. To understand Wild West movies you must know how to speak Wild West slang.

Wild West Slang Terms: Insults
One of the great things about Wild West is the insults they throw at each other. Wild West slang has some of the most colorful insults. If there is a con man in town they are referred to as a Bunko artist. In Wild West slang lazy people are called coffee boilers because they’d rather sit and watch the coffee boil than help out. A cheater was called a chiseler or a four-flusher, a pessimist was called a croaker, a flannel mouth was somebody that talked fancy like a lawyer or politician, a mud-sill was a low life and somebody eccentric was called and odd stick.

Wild West Slang Terms: Compliments
Not all Wild West slang for people were insults. Some people in the Wild West were called ace-high, which meant they were either first class or well respected. A big bug was somebody that was an important person in town, usually a boss of some kind. A curly wolf is somebody that is very tough and was usually either respected or feared.

Wild West Slang Terms: Expressions
Wild West slang has several expressions that are important to know. When somebody is said to “bend an elbow” that means they had a drink. A person that is “between hay and grass” is not yet a man but isn’t a boy either. When somebody is wearing their “best bib and tucker” it means they are wearing their best clothes. To “fight the Kilkenny cats” means to fight like hell. Fine as cream gravy” means that something is top notch. If someone “gets the mitten” it means they were rejected by their lover. “To get it in the neck” means to be cheated or mislead. If someone tells you to “pull in your horns” then it means to back off and if somebody says “hobble your lip” then they are telling you to shut up

Wild West Slang Terms: Miscellaneous
Most of the time we only see people in the Wild West drink alcohol but believe it or not they also drink coffee. In Wild West slang they call a donut a “bear sign”, “bosh” is nonsense, a burg is a town, a calaboose or a hoosegow is a jail and a fandango is a big party. Crowbait is Wild West slang for a horse of poor quality, to dicker means to trade something and somebody that is offish is aloof.