A 19th Century Slang Dictionary
Compiled & Edited by Craig Hadley

PERIOD SLANG

Humbug? Shecoonery? Useless truck or gum? Hornswoggling? Honey-fuggling? Not in this book, dear sir! I swan to mercy, a huckle- berry above anyone's persimmon. Some pumpkins, a caution, 100 percent certified by a Philadelfy lawyer. If not, dad-blame it, I'll hang up my fiddle, and you can sass me, knock me into a cocked hat, give me jesse, fix my flint, settle my hash, ride me out on a rail and have a conniption fit, you cussed scalawag. Now ain't that the beatingest language you ever did hear? Sure beats the Dutch! Pshaw! Do tell! Bully for you!

This is just a small example of the period slang of the 19th century that you would hear during the Civil War. This will help you build your first person character if you learn some of the lingo of the time.

WARNING: We have also included period curse words and obscenities in here as well. While the Civil War soldier was not supposed to curse in front of officers or NCOs, he certainly used them, so we felt it was important to include these as well. These are located at the end of the regular slang dictionary under a separate heading.

Many of these slang terms were taken from a book entitled "Writing for the 19th Century: A Writers Guide for all things Victorian". It is filled with wonderful information regarding slang terms and other wonderful details of 19th century life. We have also included, when we could, when the first recorded time this phrase was known to be used, as well as a brief definition of the word.

And so, dear reader, here be but a microcosm of America's nineteenth-century colloquialisms and slang, some from the upper class, some from the lower, and much from the strata in between.

19th Century Slang

absquatulate: to take leave, to disappear.
1843: A can of oysters was discovered in our office by a friend, and he absquatulated
with it, and left us with our mouth watering. Missouri Reporter, February 2
1862- Rumor has it that a gay bachelor, who has figured in Chicago for nearly a year, has
skedaddled, absquatulated, vamosed, and cleared out. Rocky Mountain News, Denver,
May 10

accelerator: a velocipede. (See also Bicycling in Amusements, p. 19 1.)

acknowledge the corn: to admit the truth; to confess; to acknowledge one's own obvious
lie or shortcoming.
1840: David Johnson acknowledged the corn, and said that he was
drunk. Daily Pennant,St. Louis, July 14
1846: I hope he will give up the argument, or, to use a familiar phrase, acknowledge the
corn. Mr. Speight, Mississippi, U.S. Senate, Congressional Globe, January 28
1850: He has not confessed the corn, as the saying is, that he did preach disunion? Mr.
staniy, North Carolina, House of Reps., congressional Globe

across lots: to push on straight through despite obstacles.
1853: "Go to hell across lots."
Brigham Young, journal of Discourses, March 27
1869: 1 came cross lots from Aunt Sawin's and I got caught in those pesky blackberry
bushes in the graveyard.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Old Town Folks

algerine: a pirate.
1844: They have called the law for punishing treason an Algerine law; they have
denominated us the Algerine party; and they have talked a great deal about Algerine
cruelties.
Mr. Potter, Rhode Island, House of Reps., Congressional Globe, March 12

all creation, all nature, all wrath: everything or everybody.
1819: Father and I have just returned from the balloon - all nature was there, and More
too. Massachusetts Spy, November 3
1833: I could eat like all wrath ... I'll be down on him like all wrath anyhow. J.K. Paulding, Banks of the Ohio
1839: He pulls like all creation, as the woman remarked when the horse ran away with
her. Yale Literary Magazine

all-fired: hell-fired.
1835: His boss gin him a most all-fired cut with a horsewhip.
Boston Pearl, November 28
1852: In my opinion, Dan Baxter would make an all-fired good deacon. Knickerbocker
Magazine, August
1866: 0 Sall, did you ever see such an all-fired sight of shoes?
Seba Smith, Way Down East, p.289
1872: You were too all-fired lazy to get a stick of wood.
J.M. Bailey, Folks in Danbury, p.80

all on one stick: a conglomeration or combination.
1830: He kept a kind of hotel and grocery store, all on one stick, as we say. N. Dana, A Mariner's Sketches, p.18

all-overish: uncomfortable.
1855: 1 grew - all-overish - no other phrase expresses it.
Putnam's Magazine, December

allow: to admit; to be of the opinion.
1840: She said she would allow he was the most beautiful complected child she had ever seen. Knickerbocker Magazine
1866: Where is Hamlin? I allow that he is dead, or I would ask him too. C.,H. Smith, Bill
Arp, p.23

all possessed, like: like someone or something possessed by the devil.
1857: He'd carry on like all possessed -dance and sing, and tell stories,
jest as limber and lively as if he'd never hefted a timber.
Putnam's Magazine, January
1878: She dropped a pan o' hot oysters into the lap of a customer and set him to swearin'
and dancin' like all possessed.
J.H. Beadle, Western Wilds, p.184

all to Pieces: completely; absolutely.
1839: "I know him all to pieces," replied the gentleman.
Charles Biiggs, Harry Franco
1847: 1 knew him all to pieces as soon as I caught sight of him.
Charles Briggs, Tom Pepper

almighty: huge.
1848-. 1 felt almighty blue. Stray Subjects, p.109

amalgamation: the mixing of blacks and whites.
1839: The Senator further makes the broad charge that Abolitionists wish to enforce the unnatural system of amalgamation. We deny the fact. Mr. Morris, Ohio, U.S. Senate, Congressional Globe
1847: Amalgamation, even by marriage, is not at all dreaded [in Texas]. Parties of white and coloured persons not unfrequently come over from Louisiana. Life of Benjamin Lundy, p. II 7

anti-fogmatic: raw rum or whiskey.
1829: The takers of anti-fogmatics, juleps, or other combustibles. Savannah Mercury, July 1
1852: Tom Nettles [was] mixing a couple of rosy anti-fogmatics.
As Good as a Comedy, p.134
1855: A thirsty throat, to which anything like delay in an anti-fogmatic is almost certain bronchitis. W.G Simms, Border Beagles, p.55

Arkansas toothpick: a long knife. Also known as a California or Missouri toothpick.
1855: We mistrust that the author of that statement saw a Missouri toothpick, and was frightened out of his wits.
Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, Kansas, June 9
1869: A brace of faithful pistols in his belt, and a huge Arkansas tooth- pick, or bowie knife, in a leather sheath.
A.K. McClure, Rocky Mountains, p.377

backing and filling: Literally, the alternate movements of a steamboat. Metaphorically, changing one's mind; waffling.
1848: The steam was well up on both boats, which lay rolling, and back- ing and filling,
from the action of the paddles, at the dock.
Stray Subjecm p. 1 74
1854: Men will be sent to Congress who will not back and fill, and be on one principle for one week, one month, and one moon, and upon another principle another week, and month, and moon.
Mr. Stephens, Georgia, House of Reps., Congressional Globe, December II

bad egg: a bad person; a good-for-nothing person.
1864: A bad egg-a fellow who had not proved to be as good as his promise. The Atheneum, p.559

balderdash: nonsense; foolishness; empty babble.

bar, barr: the popular pronunciation and spelling of bear, as used prolifically in the South.
1843: They say you've no barr nor turkey out thare in Filledelfy?
R. Carlton, The New Purchase
1847: All the marks left behind showed me that he was the bar.
T.B. Thorpe, The Big Bear of Arkansas, p.25

beans, don't know, don't care: anything; something; nothing.
1857: "Well, then," said the General, "I don't care beans for the railroad, not a single old red-eyed bean, not a string-bean."
Knickerbocker Magazine, February

beat the Dutch: to beat all or beat the devil.
1840: Of all the goings on that I ever did hear of, this beats the Dutch. Knickerbocker Magazine, February
1854: Well, it does beat the Dutch, and the Dutch, you know, beat the d --- 1. Knickerbocker Magazine, May

beatingest, beatemest, beatenest: anything or anyone that beats the competition.
1874: I reckon I am the beatin'est man to ax questions in this neck of timber. Edward Eggleston, The Circuit Rider, P. 119

bee: a gathering of friends, family and neighbors to carry out a specific, time consuming job, e.g., a cornhusking or quilting bee.
1829: This collection of neighbors is called a Bee, and is the common custom to assist each other in any great piece of labor, such as building a house, logging, etc. The person who calls the bee is expected to feed them well, and to return their work day for day. Basil Hall, Travels in North America, pp.311-312

b'hoy: a rowdy young man; reveler; ruffian. See also G'hal.
1847: [He] had lived too long in the wire grass region to misunderstand the character of that peculiar class of b'hoys who dwell there.
Knickerbocker Magazine, March
1852: [The occupants of the sleigh] are of not-to-be-mistaken Bowery cut - veritable b'hoys. Charles A. Bristed, The Upper Ten Thousand, p.29
1853: My off-handed mannerjust suited the b'hoy, on whom any superfluous politeness would have been thrown away.
Knickerbocker Magazine, July

biddy: a hen.
1874: [The English hens] had a contented cluck, as if they never got nervous, like Yankee biddies. Louisa May Alcott, Little Wives

big bugs: bigwigs; important people.
1853: Who is that walking there with the big bugs in front? he eagerly asked. Why, don't you know? That is the Governor. Daily Morning Herald, St. Louis, May 10
1856: Hiram was beloved by many of the big bugs at Washington. Knickerbocker Magazine, March
1856: She's one of the big bugs here -that is, she's got more money than almost anybody else in town. Widow Bedott Papers, No.25

biggest toad in the puddle: the most important person in a group.

bodaciously: an exaggeration of "bodily."
1833: It's a mercy that the cowardly varmints hadn't used you up boda- ciously. James Hall, Legends of the West, p.38
1878: 1 saw a man in Stockton, California, who had been bodaciously chawed up to use his own language, by a grizzly bear.
J.H. Beadle, Western Wilds, p.118

body: a person.
1798: This hot weather makes a body feel odd. How long would a body be going to Washington? Davis, Travels in America, p.223

boodle: a crowd of people.
1833: He declared he'd fight the whole boodle of 'em.
Seba Smith, Major Jack Downing, p. 183

border ruffians: those living outside the civilized settlements.
1857: A great majority of the people of the West, on the borders, may be emphatically termed Border ruffians. The Eastern people call them by that name. John Taylor at the Bowery, Salt Lake City, August 9
1860: I only wanted to convince gentlemen . . . that Indianians made better border ruffians than we did.
Mr. Craig, Missouri, House of Reps., Congressional Globe, January 4

born days, in all one's: In all one's: lifetime; since one was born.
1840s: Where have you been all your born days, not to know better than that? Sam Slick in England, ch.ii

[not] born In the woods to be scared by an owl: refers to one who is experienced and therefore unafraid.

brick in one's hat, to have: to be drunk.
1854: A seedy-looking old negro, with a brick in his old hat, and a weed 'round it. Knickerbocker Magazine, August

bub and sis: brother and sister, especially applied to children.
1872: Many eminently genteel persons, whose manners make them at home anywhere, are in the habit of addressing all unknown children by one of the two terms, bub and sis, which they consider endears them greatly to the young people. Poet at the Breakfast Table, ch.i

bucket Shop: a gin mill; a distillery.
188 1: A bucket-shop in New York is a low gin-mill or distillery, where small quantities of spirits are dispensed in pitchers and pails [buck- ets]. When the shops for dealing in one-share or five-share lots of stocks were opened, these dispensaries of smaller lots then could be got from regular dealers and were at once named bucket-shops.
New York Evening Post, October

buckskin: a Virginian.
1824: We suspect that Capt. Tribby Clapp doodled the Buckskins. Franklin Herald, April 13

bully for you!: well done; good for you.
1861: Bully for youl alternated with benedictions, in the proportion of two bullies to one blessing. Atlantic Monthly, June, p. 745
1864: The freckles have vanished, and bully for you.
Daily Telegraph, November 18

bummer: the original word for bum. A lazy hobo or drunk.
1857: The irreclaimable town bummer figured in the police court.
San Francisco Call, April 28
1860: Another great sham connected with our social life is that of spreeing or bumming. Yale Literary Magazine
1862: A great majority of the bummers, who so long infested this city, have either left or gone to work. Rocky Mountain News, Denver, May 10

bunkum: claptrap.
1827: This is an old and common saying at Washington, when a member of Congress is making one of those hum-drum and unlistened-to long talks which have lately become so fashionable.... This is cantly called talking to Bunkum: an honorable gentleman, long ago, having said that he was not speaking to the house, but to the people of a certain county [Buncombe] in his district, which, in local phrase, he called Bunkum. Niles' Weekly Register, September 27
1843: Mr. Weller of Ohio thought the question had been sufficiently debated, for nearly all the speeches had been made for Buncombe. Mr. Underwood, Kentucky, House of Reps., Congressional Globe, December II, p.43

candle-lighting: dusk.
1810: From dinner to dark I give to Society; and from candle-light to early bed-time I read. Thomm Jefferson, from Monticello, Februaiy 26
1824: The Rev. Mr. Kidwell, a Unitarian Universalist, will preach at the courthouse at early candle light on Sunday evening.
Liberty Hall and Cincinnati Gazette, March 26
1853: The dancing commenced at early candle-lighting, and continued until long after midnight. Turnover, A Tale of New Hampshire, p.80
1888: The meeting was appointed for early candle-lighting.
American Humorist, August

cap the climax: to beat all; to surpass everything.
1804: Your correspondent caps the climax of Misrepresentation.
Lancaster Intelligencer, Febrwty 21
1811: It caps the climax of French arrogance and turpitude.
Massachusetts Spy, September 18
1821: To cap the climax of his infamy and barbarity, he severed the head from the body of the infant. Pennsylvania Intelligencer, March 21
1860: All that was wanting to cap the climax to this absurd (Lincoln] nomination was the selection of Hannibal Hamlin as a candidate for Vice-Presidency. Richmond Enquirer, May 25, pp.4-5

carryings-on: frolicking, partying, etc.
1840s: Everybody tuck Christmas, especially the niggers, and sich carry- ins-on-sich dancin' and singin'-and shootin' poppers and sky- rackets -you never did see. Major Jones's Courtship

catawamptiously chewed up: utterly defeated, badly beaten. An expres- sion largely confined to the South and West, from at least the 1840s on.

catch a weasel asleep, to: referring to something impossible or unlikely, in regard to someone who is always alert and is seldom or never caught off guard, e.g., You can't trick old Joe any sooner than you can catch a weasel asleep.

caution, a: a warning. Also a ludicrous example, or someone or some- thing striking.
1839: Off we hied to the prairie, and the way the feathers flew was a caution. John Plumbe, Sketches in Iowa, p.56
1840: The way Mrs. N. rolls up her eyes when the English are mentioned is certainly a caution. Mrs. Kirkland, A New Home, p.259
1851: The way he squalled, rolled, kicked, puked, snorted, and sailed into the air, was a caution to old women on three legs.
An Arkansaw Doctor, p.151

cavort: to frolic or prance about.
1834: Government's bought their land, and it's wrong for them to be cavorting around quiet people's houses any more.
C.F. Hoffman, A Winter in the Far West, p.28
1845: She better not come a cavortin''bout me with any of her carryins on. W. T. Thompson, Chronicles of Pineville, p. 1 78

chance: a quantity.
1819: A considerable quantity is expressed by a smart chance; and our hostess at Madison said there was a smart chance of Yankees in that village. David Thomas, Travels, p.230
1833: "There's a smart chance of cigars there in the bar, stranger, if you'd try some of them," said one of the hooshiers.
C.F. Hoffman, A Winter in the Far West, p.219
1833: There was a right smart chance of sickness when she came to the settlement. jameshall, Legends of the West p.88

chirk: cheerful. Synonyms: chirp, chirpy.
1843: She is not very chirk, but more chirkier than she had been; and all our folks appear more chirkier than they really feel, in order to chirk her up. Yale Literary Magazine, p.26
1857: Chirk and lively we both were. Knickerbocker Magazine, janua7y 1878: 1 didn't feel real cherk this week, so't I didn't go to sewin' s'ciety. Rose T. Cooke, Happy Dodd
1878: Ef there's a mortal thing I can do to help ye, or chirk ye up, I want to do it right off.
Rose T. Cooke, Happy Dodd

circumstance: anything to speak of
1836: [The new hotel] will be a smasher, to which the Astor House will be no circumstance. Philadelphia Public Ledger, November 16
1854: You'd better think of all the pretty girls you ever seed, all at once, and then it won't be a circumstance. Elvira takes the rag off everything there's about these parts. Knickerbocker Magazine, December
1856: To be beaten by a mere circumstance of a gal-child.
W.G. Simms, Eutaw, p.394
1857: I've travelled on the cars in my day, but that kind of going wasn't a circumstance to the way we tore along.
S.H. Hammond, Wild Northern Scenes, p.62

cocked hat: To knock someone senseless or to shock him completely. To knock into a cocked hat.
1833: I told Tom I'd knock him into a cocked hat if he said another
word. J.K. Paulding, Banks of the Ohio, p.217
1840: Why pummel and beat over again that which is already beaten to a jelly, jammed into a cocked hat, and flung into the middle of next week?
Mr. Wick, Indiana, House of Reps., Congressional Globe, July 20, p.545
1848: It has completely knocked us into a cocked hat.
Seba Smith, Major Jack Downing, p.306
1852: We will knock [the groggeries] into a cocked hat.
Ezra T. Benson, at the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, journal of Discourses, September 12

Cockneyisms: speaking in a Cockney dialect or pronouncing words with a Cockney accent, a popular speech affectation in Philadelphia from the beginning of the century to 1860. Some of the Cockneyisms were influenced by the writings of Charles Dickens.
1800: [In Philadelphia, Noah Webster) will find the London Cockneyisms flourish in perfection - veal - here converted into "weal," - and
wine into "vine," -the hot-water-war he will find described as a "hot vater var," etc. Aurora, June 20
1830: It is almost impossible to distinguish Americans from English, especially Philadelphians, who like Cockneys talk about "wery good weal and winegar." N. Dana, A Mariner's Sketches, p.16

codfish aristocracy: a contemptuous term for people who have made money in business.
1850: We should regard it as somewhat strange if we should require a codfish aristocracy to keep us in order.
Mr. Butler, South Carolina, U.S. Senate, Congressional Globe, July 9, p. 1248
1853: D. is evidently a retainer of the codfish aristocracy, who will only go where the price will match with his dignity.
Daily Morning Herald, St. Louis, April 22
1860: The defender of genius against vulgar money bags, alias codfish aristocracy. Richmond Enquirer, May 15

cold as a wagon tire: dead.
1833: If a man was as cold as a wagon tire, provided there was any life in him, she'd bring him to. James Hall, Legends of the West p.88

coloured person, person of color: a Negro.
1812: Christopher Macpherson is a man of color, brought up as bookkeeper by a merchant, his master, and afterwards enfranchised.
Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, April 20

conniption fit: a fit of hysteria.
1833: Ant Keziah fell down in a conniption fit. Seba Smith, Major Jack Downing, p.218
1842: The Vermont papers are going into conniption fits, because their state is in debt
$150,000. Philadelphia Spirit of the Times, August 23
1859: She went into a conniption at the sight of the poor Snap.
Harper's Weekly, November 19

considerable: no small specimen.
1816: He is considerable of a surveyor. Pickering, Vocabulary
1843: Wall You're considerable of a critur, you are, by thunder! You eternal, great, green-eyed, black-devil! Yale Literary Magazine
1852: He is really. worth knowing, and considerable of a man, as we say- no fool at all. Charks A. Bristed, The Upper Ten Thousand, p.142

Continental: the money issued by Congress during the Revolutionary War. It eventually became synonymous with anything worthless.
1874: I tole him as how I didn't keer three continental derns fer his whole band. Edward Eggleston, The Circuit Rider, p.120
1888: 1 am not worrying about the nomination. I don't care a Continental if I don't receive it. Missouri Republican, February 16

coon's age: a long time.
1845: We won't hear the end of this bisness for a coon's age: you see if we do. W. T. Thompson, Chronicles of Pineville, p. 72
1848: 1 never did like this Yanky way of married people livin' all over creation without seein' one another more'n once in a coon's age.
W.E. Burton, Waggeries, p.16
1851: This child hain't had that much money in a coon's age.
Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs, p.155

coot: an idiot; a simpleton; a ninny.
1856: He's an amazin' ignorant old coot, tew.
Widow Bedott Papers, No.9
1857: It is a poor coot, let me tell you, that will make such excuses.
H.C. Kimball, Salt Lake City, journal of Discourses, September 20, v, p.251

corned: drunk.
1840: William McG. brought a load of corn to market, and got corned on the strength of it. Daily Pennant St. Louis, May 27

cotton to: to take a liking to, a popular expression throughout the South and West from early in the century on.

cow-hide, cow-skin: a whip made of cowhide. Also used as a verb, to whip or flog.
1801: Dinah was armed with a cow-skin, while Cloe had nothing but the simple weapons of nature. Massachusetts Spy, June 24
1818: The enraged barrister, with a hand-whip, or cow-hide as they are called ... actually cut his jacket to ribbons.
M. Birbeck, Letters ftom Illinois, p.60
1855: His lady had cow-hided him in the streets of his native city.
Th,mo B. Gunn, New York Boarding Houses, p.21-5

cracker: a poor white of the South, named after the crackling whips used by rural Southerners.
1842: We saw many of the country people coming into town; some on horseback, some in waggons, and some on foot.... Single-breasted coats without collars, broad-brimmed and low-crowned hats, and gray hair floating in loose locks over their shoulders, were among their perculiarities .... They are called by the townspeople, Crackers, from the frequency with which they crack their whips.
J.S. Buckingham, Slave States, p.210
1847: I met one of the country crackers, as the backwoodsmen are called, who, having been to Wetempka with a load of shingles, was on his way home. Knickerbocker Magazine, May

crazy as a loon: very crazy.
1854: The old man'll run as crazy as a loon a-thinkin' 'bout his house- hold affairs. H.H. Riley, Puddleford, p.140

critter: creature; varmint; a contemptible person.
1833: It would be ridiculous if it should be a bar; them critters sometimes come in here, and I have nothing but my knife.
Knickerbocker Magazine, p.90
1836: My little critter [a mustang], who was both blood and bottom, seemed delighted. Colonel Crockett in Texas, p. 149
1836: The old critter says he is married, and makes his wife work in the printing office. Philadelphia Public Ledger, September 24
1842: One of the clerks in the Baltimore Post Office, on opening a bag of letters, discovered a live garter-snake in the same. The critter bore no postmark or frank. Philadelphia Spirit of the Times, July 28

dang: euphemism for damn, e.g., dang it all or dang you.

dash!: euphemism for damn, e.g., dash it all.

dashing: showy, elegant or spirited, especially in dress.

dead meat: a corpse, from 1860 on.

death on: very fond of or very talented at.
1847: A long, lanky, cadaverous lawyer, who was death on a speech, powerful in chewing tobacco, and some at a whisky drinking.
Robb, Streaks of Squatter Life, p.30

deef: deaf
1896: You're a-goin' to do what? I reckon I'm a-goin' a little deef.
Ella Higgimon, Tales from Puget Sound, p.68

designs: plans; schemes; intentions. Commonly used throughout.
1846: 1 like gentlemen's society when I know they have no designs upon my heart and when I know any cordiality of mine will not be misinterpreted. Mary Butterfield, letter to fiance, October 31

didoes: to cut up didoes was to get into mischief.
1835: Must all the world know all the didoes we cut up in the lodgeroom? D.P. Thompson, Adventures of Timothy Peacock, p. 170
1838: If you keep a cutting didoes, I must talk to you like a Dutch uncle. J.C. Neal, Charcoal Sketches, p.201

diggings: one's home; lodgings; community.
1838: It's about time we should go to our diggings. J.C. Neal, Charcoal Sketches, p.119
1842: With whom did the idea originate? It's novel in these diggins at least. Philadelphia Spirit of the Times, May 6
1853: How dare you talk thus in these days, and above all in these diggings. Fun and Earnest, p.239

dipping: chewing snuff.
1853: This horrible practice, called in lower Virginia and North Caro- lina dipping, is of respectable standing.
Putnarn's Magazine, February, p.142
1857: She was suspected of a mysterious habit denominated in Southern parlance dipping-in other words, of chewing snuffi
Thomas B. Gunn, New York Boarding Houses, p.221

dirk: to stab with a dirk or dagger.
1825: He had changed his mind as to the dirking.... [He] swore the fellow ought to be dirked, the usual phrase for the punishment of slight offences among these humane republicans.
J.K. Paulding, John Bull in America, pp.39,146
1830: The assassin determined to dirk him in the street on his return. Massachusetts Spy, June 2

doggery: a cheap drinking establishment; in modern lingo, a dive.
1848: The drunkard, while reeling homeward from the doggery, is at- tracted by both sides of the street, which accounts for his diagonal movements. Dow, Patent Sermons, p.99
1850.- A doggery is too contemptible for any man who has a soul more elevated than the swine to condescend to. Frontier Guardian, March 20
1854: And then the doggery-keepers got to sellin' licker by the drink, instead of the half-pint, and a dime a drink at that.
J.G. Baldwin, Flush Times in Alabama, p.65
1855: Some say that this fellow-feeling between him and the marshal results from the fact that he was a doggery-keeper in the states.
Weekly Oregonian, April 7
doings: "fixins" for a meal.
1843: A snug breakfast of chicken fixins, eggs, ham-doins, and even
slapjacks. R. Carlton, The New Purchase, p.58
1847: Flour doins an' chicken fixins, an' four uncommon fattest big goblers rosted I ever seed. Billy Warwick's Wedding, p.104
1859: Tell Sal to knock over a chicken or two, and get out some flour, and have some flour-doins and chicken fixins for the stranger. Knickerbocker Magazine, March

done gone: a pleonasm (redundancy) used frequently by Negroes of the period.
1836: He had done gone three hours ago.
"A Quarter Race in Kentucky, " New York Spirit of the Times, p.22
do tell: phrase used to express fascination with a speaker's subject. 1842: Among the peculiar expressions in use in Maine we noticed that,
when a person has communicated some intelligence in which the hearer feels an interest, he manifests it by saying: "I want to know"; and when he has concluded his narrative, the hearer will reply: "0! do telll " J.S. Buckingham, Eastern and Western States, p. 177
1853: Do tell! I want to know! Did you ever! Such a powerful right smart chance of learning as you have is enough to split your head open right smack. Daily Morning Herald, St. Louis, April 11
1853: At last sez I, "Jidge, did you ever have your portrait tuck?" "No," sez he, as ugly as you please. "Dew te," says I.
Knickerbocker Magazine, September

dram shop: a small drinking establishment, from early in century.

dude: a dandy.
1883: The new coined word dude ... has travelled over the country with a great deal of rapidity since but two months ago it grew into general use in New York. North Adams Transcript, June 24
1888: If the term dude had been invented [in 1866] it would have been applied to a Texas horseman.
Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Tenting on the Plains, p.212
1891: Joe then went east, and married a young dudine out there.
A. Welcker, Woolly West p.69

elephant, to see the: to see it all, to experience it all. Sometimes pertaining to war, to see battle.
1840: That's sufficient, as Tom Haynes said when he saw the elephant. A.B. Longstreet, Georgia Scenes, p.10
1851: I think I have seen the elephant, as far as public life is concerned.
Mr. Hale, New Hampshire, U.S. Senate, Congressional Globe, janua7y 22, p.304
1854: I am a miner, who wandered away from down-east, and came to sojourn in a strange land, and see the elephant.
Knickerbocker Magazine, April
1873: He had lost all his money, consisting of seven twenty-dollar gold
pieces, and a bundle containing a valuable steam gauge. He had seen the elephant (rather too close a view, he thought), was many hundred miles from home, among strangers, and without a dollar in his pocket. Edward Savage, Police Records and Recollections, p.121

exfluncticate: to utterly destroy.
1839: The mongrel armies are prostrate-used up-exfluncticated. Chemung (New York) Democrat November 30
1840: ... the Administration is bodaciously used up, tetotaciously ex- flunctified.
Mr. Wick, Indiana, House of Reps., Congressional Globe, July 20, p.545

express: the mails; a mail stage.
1851: The religious papers which have the greatest circulation are pa- pers of a small size, and are transmitted mostly by express.
Mr. Dunean, Massachwetts, House of Reps., Congressional Globe, January 15, p.245 1854: There are two large express companies, Adams & Co. and Wells,
Fargo & Co., which carry mail matter by Nicaragua, charging from twenty-five to fifty cents on a letter.
Mr. Lathan, California, Congressional Globe, April 7, p.872

F.F.V.: First Families of Virginia, of which many claimed to be members to gain special treatment, but eventually used in jest.
1850: [He was] the first of his race to acknowledge that he was not an F.F.V. Odd Leaves, p. 178
1857: Mr. Floyd, as everybody knows, as an F.F.V., and the soul of honor accordingly. Harper's Weekly, April 11
1861: They must do better down in Virginia than they have done, or EF.V., instead of standing for First Families of Virginia, will get to mean the Fast Flying Virginians. Oregon Argus, August 10

fice, fiste, tyst: a worthless dog; a mongrel.
1843: Did you ever see a pack composed of five or six little fice dogs, barking furiously? Missouri Reporter, St. Louis, June 29
1863: What other Pete can I mean but your dirty little fice dog?
J.B. ]ones, Wild Western Scenes, p. 15
1874: [The barking ranged] all the way from the contemptible treble of an ill-mannered fice to the deep baying of a huge bulldog.
Edward Eggleston, The Circuit Rider, p. 72
1890: All the dogs of the regiment were with us, apparently, from the lofty and high-born staghounds down to the little feist, or mongrel, of the trooper. Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Following the Guidon, p.78

fist, make a: to succeed at something.
1834: A chap would make a blue fist of takin'a dead aim through double sights, with the butt end of a psalm in his guzzle.
The Kentuckian in New York, p.25
1838: He reckoned he should make a better fist at farming than edicating. Caroline Gilman, Recollections of a Southern Matron, p.46
1841: You made a poor fist of this business.
W.G. Simms, The Kinsmen, p.24

fit: popular slang for fought.
1835: Any body can get in, if only he fit big battles enough. I'd give a year's sellary in a minute, if Mr. Van Buren had ever fit a great battle so as to be called a hero. Bucks County Intelligencer, November 4
1839: Here's a going to be one of the peskiest battles that ever was fit. Chemung (New York) Democrat, April 17
1845: There's a mighty chance of lawyers' lies in the papers ... but some of it is true. I did strike the old lady, but she fit me powerfully first. Cornelius Mathews, A Court Scene in Georgia, p.140
1869: He hadn't fit the Arminians and Socinians to be beat by a tom- turkey. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Old Town Stories

fix: a dilemma; a problem; a jam.
183 3: When a man has head religion, he is in a bad fix to die -cut off his head, and away goes his body and soul to the devil.
James Hall, Legends of the West, p.43
1839: The Americans are never at a loss when they are in a fix.
Marryat, Diary in America, p. 106

fixings: trimmings, accessories, etc.
1825: The veteran trapper was furnished with such other appliances, or fixens, as he would term them, as put him in plight again to take the field. New Hampshire Patriot, Concord, May 23
1842: Our friends who love oysters and sparkling rosy wine, and other little fixens in the eating way, will do well to drop in at the Bath House Refectory. Philadelphia Spirit of the Times, January 22
1842: People can't afford to purchase the rich golden and rosy beef- steaks, as formerly. They keep soul and body together with greens and onions, shad, and such like fixins.
Philadelphia Spirit of the Times, April 16
1845: Our ladies are sadly in want of the little fixins made by the milliners. Letter to the Bangor Mercury
1848: [He] makes a heap of money by selling Yankee made Ingin fixins, sich as moccasins, bead-bags, card-cases, and a heap of fancy articles, sich as the Ingins themselves never dreamed of makin. Major Jones's Sketches of Travel p. 167

fix one's flint: to settle a matter.
1837: 1 thought I had fiked your flint yesterday.
Knickerbocker Magazine, April
1843: "Take it easy, Sam," says 1, "Your flint is fixed."
Sam Slick in England
1847: Stranger, if you don't shet your mouth a little closer than a Gulf clam, I'll fix your flint in short order.
J.K. Paulding, American Comedies, p.197
fleshy: fat.
1807: A large, fleshy, rugged, strong, active child.
Massachusetts Spy, August 26
1840: Mrs. Ferret is what we call a fleshy or lusty woman; she weighed two hundred and twelve, in Neal Hopper's new scale at the mill.
John P. Kennedy, Quodlibet, p.110

frolic: a celebration; a party; a wild time. Also, a fight.
1815: He happened to get both eyes gouged out yesterday in a frolic. J.K. Paulding, John Bull in America, p.218
1833: They meant to have a reaping frolic when the corn should be ripe. Harriet Martineau, Briery Creek, p. 18

full chisel: at full speed; executed with everything you've got.
1832: 1 met an express coming on full chisel from Philadelphia.
Seba Smith, Major Jack Downing, p. 168
1878: The only way to get that fellow to heaven would be to set out to drive him to hell; then he'd turn and run up the narrow way full chisel. HaiTiet Beecher Stowe, Poganuc People

funeral, not one's: not one's business; none of one's concern.
1875: Wanted: A nice, plump, healthy, good-natured, good-looking domestic and affectionate lady to correspond with, object -Matrimony. She must be between 22 and 35 years of age. She must be a believer in God and immortality, but no sectarian. She must not be a gad about or given to scandal.... Such a lady can find a correspondent by addressing ... Post Office Box 9, Yuma, A.T. Photographs exchanged! If anybody don't like our way of going about this ... business, we don't care. It's none of their funeral. Lonely hearts classified ad in the Arizona Sentinel, July 10
1896: It ain't any of your funeral, I guess, if I did turn (the clock] back. Ella Higginson, Tales from Puget Sound, p.184

gallnipper: a large mosquito.
1842: The gallnippers of Florida are said to have aided the Seminoles in appalling our armies. Mrs. Kirkland, Forest Life, p.184
1888: Our rainwater was full of gallnippers and pollywogs ... banks of mud all bred mosquitoes, or gallnippers, as the darkies call them. Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Tenting on the Plains, pp. 76-77

g'hal: a rowdy girl; a reveler or ruffian girl. See also B'hoy.
1848: Go it, all ye g'hals, and ye b'hoys, as much as you can, while you are young. Dow, Patent Sermons, P.167

gone coon, gone sucker: a goner.
1840: 1 was afeared you were a gone coon.
C.F. Hoffman, Greyslaer, p.221
1845: The acquisition of Canada ... is put down on all sides as a gone coon. Mr. Giddings, Ohio, in Congress
185 1: I feared that I should lose my way, and then I knew I was a gone sucker. An Arkansaw Doctor, p.109

Gotham: New York City.
1836: An Albany or Newark dog is well worth fifty cents, if brought to Gotham's authorities, as if actually killed in Gotham's streets.... We understand that a dog's flesh is quite a luxury in Gotham market. Philadelphia Public Ledger, August 5
1840: Col. Johnson was in New York, drinkingjuleps at Delmonicos. He was warmly received by Gothamites. Daily Pennant St. Louis, July 22

go the whole hog: to go all the way.
1830. As ladies now wear pantaloons and boots, I see no reason why they should not go the whole hog and mount the hat and swallow tail coat likewise. N. Dana, A Mariner's Sketches, p.186
1833: T. Hamilton quotes a placard, "Jackson for ever. Go the whole hogl" The expression, I am told, is of Virginian origin. In that state, when a butcher kills a pig, it is usual to demand of each customer, whether he will go the whole hog. Men and Manners in America, pp. 17-18

gouge: to gouge at your opponent's eyes in a fight, a widely referred to tactic
throughout the century.
1820: In most cases both parties were severely bruised, bitten, and gouged, and would be weeks in recovering.
Peter Burnett, Recollections, p. 19
1826: ... I saw more than one man who wanted an eye, and ascertained that I was now in the region [on the Mississippi] of gouging.
T. Flint, Recollections, p.98
1830: "Gouge himl Gouge himl" exclaimed a dozen voices.
George Prentice, Northern Watchman, Troy, New York
1843: Rowdy Bill was famous as a gouger, and so expert was he in his anti-optical vocation, that in a few minutes he usually bored out his adversary's eyes, or made him cry "peccavi." R. Carlton, The New Purchase, p.158

greased lightning: anything very fast.
1833: He spoke as quick as greased lightning.
Boston Herald, January 15
1837: If I didn't fetch old dug-out through slicker than snakes, and faster than a greased thunderbolt. R.M. Bird, Nick of the Woods, p.90
1842: The horse went up the street like a blue streak of greased lightning. Philadelphia Spirit of the Times, September 7

grist: a quantity.
1833: There has been a mighty grist of rain lately up above.
J.K. Paulding, Banks of the Ohio, p.133
1847: He owes old Sambo a whull grist of fourpences for blackin' his boots, runnin' of ar'nds, and sich like small chores.
J.K. Paulding, American Comedies, p.142
1853: That old Greke that folks tell so much about never poured out sich a grist of oratory in all his born days.
Seba Smith, Major Jack Downing, p.411

grit: guts; courage; toughness.
1834: Mother says before I was a week old I showed that I was real grit. Seba Smith, Major Jack Downing, p.25
1855: They are full of grit, and ready to swallow Cuba alive.
Seba Smith, Major Jack Downing, p.434

grocery: a drinking establishment. See also Doggery, Dram shop, Groggery.
1830: Wilson told the Sheriff to take thejury to a grocery, that he might treat them, and invited every body that chose to go. Some men who have held a good standing in society followed the crowd to the gro- cery. Jeffersonian, June 30
1857: Some will set up a small grocery or groggery; they go into debt to those who have a bigger groggery.
John Taylor at the Bowery, Salt Lake City, Journal of Discourses, August 9, v, p.119

groggery, grog Shop: a low drinking establishment; a dive.
1835: Long lines of unpainted, wretched looking dwellings, occupied as groggeries. Ingraham, The South West P. 190
1843: To enlarge the Congressional districts ... would break the power of mere shake-hands and grog-shop influence.
Mr. Underwood, Kentucky, House of Reps., Congressional Globe, April 21

grum: surly; gloomy; glum.
1834: The poet looked gloomily, or what is vernacularly called grum. Robert Sands, Writings, P.187
1842: The sun seems extraordinarily sulky and grum.
Philadelphia Spirit of the Times, June 18

gum: lies; exaggerations. As a verb, to dupe someone.
1843: Now this was all gum; Sam could not read a word.
R. Carlton, The New Purchase, p.255
1844: He was speaking of the moon hoax, which gummed so many learned philosophers. Yale Literary Magazine, xiv, p.189

guttersnipe: a homeless child who roamed and slept in the streets. Hundreds roamed the larger cities throughout much of the century.
1890: Guttersnipe is the name which has been given to the more weakly street arab, the little fellow who, though scarcely more than a baby, is frequently left by brutalized parents at the mercy of any fate. This little chap generally roams around until he finds some courageous street arab, scarcely bigger than himself, perhaps, to fight his battles and put him in the way of making a living, which is generally done by selling papers. In time the guttersnipe becomes himself a full- fledged street arab ... with two hard and ready fists, and a horde of dependent and grateful snipes. Darkness and Daylight in New York, p. 116

hang up one's fiddle: to give up.

hankering: a strong desire, used throughout the century.
1847: 1 took an awful hankerin after Sofy M -, and sot in to looking for matrimony. Robb, Streaks of Squatter Life

hash, settle one's: to settle one's business.
1824: The parties settled the hash, and retired to comfortable quarters, to quaff cogniac. Microscope, Albany, February 28
1837: I've settled his hash, though. Knickerbocker Magazine, April
1849: I completely settled his hash. Yale Literary Magazine, xiv, p. 179

high-falutin: highbrow; stuck up.
1854: Old Mrs. Peabody was allers a dreadful high-falutin critter, with stuck-up notions, and old P. is a soft head, driven by his wife, just as our old rooster is driven about by that cantankerous crabbed Dorking hen. J. W. Spaulding, Weekly Oregonian, December 23
1862: Educated peepul, kernel, ain't got any more wit or common sense than other folks, but they try to make you believe they have, an' will talk high falutin words just to frighten you if they kin.
Seba Smith, Major Jack Downing, August 14

hoe-down: a Negro dance.
1855: The revellers set to sprawling through various rude high-legged
reels and hoedowns. Knickerbocker Magazine, September
1885: [the negroes] danced their vigorous hoe-downs.
Library Magazine, New York, July 1

hook, on one's own: on one's own; one's own doing.
1836: Did he make these forgeries on his own hook, or at the instigation of the big bug? Philadelphia Public Ledger, August 24
1837: The enthusiastic jerseyman, who, without belonging to either side, was found at the battle of Monmouth, fighting on his own hook entirely. R.M. Bird, Nick of the Woods

hooter: an atom; a tiny amount.
1839: Now the Grampus stopt, and didn't buge one hooter.
"Major Jack on Board a Whaler," Havana Republican, August 21
1848: Politicians don't care a hooter, so long as their own selfish ends are obtained. Dow, Patent Sermons, p.6
1853: Let him be as dirty as the mortal in Missouri, who is assessed as real estate, still it makes not a hooter of difference. Dow, Patent Sermons

horn: a glass of liquor or ale.
1824: 1 went to be after taking one horn. Microscope, Albany, April 3
1840: I'll bet a horn of Monongahela whiskey that you have had your supper. Knickerbocker Magazine, September
1840: He called lustily for a horn of baldface and mollasses.
Daily Pennant, St. Louis, April 28

horn spoon, by the: an exclamation of surprise, shock or anger.
1853: "By the horn spoons!" repeated the skipper suddenly. Knickerbocker Magazine, February

hornswoggle, honey-fuggled: to cheat; to pull the wool over one's eyes.
1856: Pardon me for using the word; but Sharp honeyfuggled around Me.
Mr. Bennet, Nebraska, House of Reps., Congressional Globe, July 22, p.965
1860: P.E is going to hornswoggle the Democrats. Oregon Argus, May 12 1862: Now we want the particulars as to how much honey fugling and
wool pulling was done. Rocky Mountain News, Denver, August 14
1865: 1 ain't no giant killer. I ain't no Norwegian bar. I ain't no boar constrikter. But I'll be hornswoggled if the talkin an the writin an the slanderin has got to be done all on one side any longer. Some of your folks have got to dry up, or turn our folks loose.
Bill Arp, Letter to Artemus Ward, September I

hoss: widely used for horse.
1852: That was a long race, I tell you, hosses.
H.C. Watson, Nights in a Blockhouse, p.29
1853: Hello, old hoss, whar hev you been this coon's age?
Paxton, A Stray Yankee in Texas, p.201

huckleberry above a persimmon: a cut above. The phrase had many variations and shades of meaning.
1836: It is a huckleberry above my persimmon to cipher out how I find myself the most popular bookmaker of the day.
Colonel Crockett in Texas, p.13
1844: She's a great gal that! Show me another like her any whar, and I am thar directly. She's a huckleberry above most people's persim- mons. Philadelphia Spirit of the Times, August 24
1885: I'm a huckleberry above that persimmon.
Admiral Porter, Incidents of the Civil War, p.204

huffed, huffy: angry; irritated; offended.
1800: The Philadelphia Gazette is huffed at our stating a fact.
Aurora, Philadelphia, December 18
1855: They said that some mischief was going on, and some of them were right huffy about it.
George Smith at the Mormon Tabernacle, Journal of Discourses, March 18

hull: frequently used for whole.
1835: Six months ago, this hull country was the most prosperous in the world. Colonel Crockett's Tour, p. 79
1845: "I've bought out the hull grocery," sings outjake Miller, standin' in Capn' Todd's store with a hull raft of tellers.
St. Louis Reveille, September 1
1849: 1 vow my hull share o' the spoils wouldn't come nigh a V spot. Biglow Papers, No.8

hum: frequently used for home.
1819: When he talked of hum, I took him for a wag, but soon found he so pronounced home.
"An Englishman," in the Western Star, quoted in Massachusetts Spy, May 12
1848: Wen I left hum, I hed two legs, an' they worn't bad ones neither. Biglow Papers, No.8
1856: There wa'nt nobody to hum but her, so I went right in ker dash, and sot down. Weekly Oregonian, August 2
1860: I was a little shaver, helping the bigger boys Calvin and Enoch ... to drive the cows hum of an evening. Knickerbocker Magazine, September

humbug: a deception; a hoax; an imposter; the equivalent of the modern B.S.
1836: Dissection of Joice Heth -Precious Humbug Exposed. The anatomical examination of the body of Joice Heth yesterday, resulted in the exposure of one of the most precious humbugs that ever was imposed upon a credulous community. [Ed. Note: P.T Barnum had claimed the woman was 161 years old.] New York Sun, February 25
1873: Wherever these lectures were holden, it became necessary to de- tail a large force of police to preserve the peace, and rough times we often had of it. Indeed, it really seemed that everybody was bent on a row, and perfectly infatuated with humbug.
Edward Savage, Police Records and Recollections, p. 114

husking bee, husking frolic: a social event in which the community came together to husk corn and to drink; they often ended with drunken brawls.
1838: A fight came off at Maysville, Kentucky in which a Mr. Coulster was stabbed in the side, and is dead; a Mr. Gibson was well hacked with a knife; a Mr. Farr was dangerously wounded. This entertainment was the winding up of a corn husking frolic, when all doubtless were right merry with good whiskey. New York Daily Whig
1847: 1 must pass on to the antagonisms of the cornhusking. When the crop was drawn in, the ears were heaped into a long pile or rick, a night fixed on, and the neighbors notified, rather than invited, for it was an affair of mutual assistance. As they assembled at nightfall, the green glass quart whiskey bottle, stopped with a cob, was handed to every one, man and boy, as they arrived, to take a drink.
Dr. Drake, Pioneer Life in Kentucky, pp.54-56

I snore, I swan, I Swow: socially acceptable alternatives to the expression "I swear," which was considered impolite, originating with the youth of New England.

Johnny, John: a Chinaman.
1857: He knows. He's seed the johnnies goin' into that there doorway next block. Thomas Gunn, New York Boarding Houses, p.275
1873: 1 passed out of the Chinese theater, with a lady and two children. We had to walk through a crowd ofjohns.
Charles Nordhoff, California, p.85
1878: The melancholy Johns with glazed caps and black pigtails, like a lot of half-drowned crows. J.H. Beadle, Western Wilds, p.401

Jonathan: the American people. Also known as Brother Jonathan or Uncle Sam.
1846: Jonathan was hard to provoke; but when once you did get him up, he remained at a dead white heat for a long while.
Mr. Root, Ohio, House of Reps., Congressional Globe, December 24
1848: Jonathan is declared to be in his right in supporting his diplomatic agents like private gentlemen.
Mr. Ingersoll, Pennsylvania, House of Reps., Congressional Globe, June 30

Jonathan: a downeaster; a yankee.
1827: A tall, boney, Jonathan, whose appetite was in proportion to the
magnitude of his frame. Massachusetts Spy, November 14
1843: Occasionally you will see some honest country Jonathan, with his
waggon full of yankee notions. Yale Literary Magazine, ix, p.44

kick: to protest or to object to something; to complain.
1842: [Members of Congress] kicked against receiving any more peti-
tions. Philadelphia Spirit of the Times, January
1857: 1 have to live under their laws, and when they take a notion to swear away my character, I musn't kick.J.G. Holland, The Bay Path, p.69
1888: The tariff is of no good to [the colored man]. But that is not what he kicks about. New York Herald, July 29

knee-high to a ... : humorous description of short stature or youth. 1824: He has lived with me ever since he was knee-high to a musquitoe.
Letter to the Microscope, Albany, June 12
1833: A bit of a rogue he was, too, when he wasn't more'n knee-high to a bumblebee. John Neal, The Downeasters, p.78
1841: He has been known in the Congaree ever since I was knee high to a splinter. W.G. Simms, The Kinsmen, p.63
1853: To see little saplings, some of them scarce knee-high to a milk- stool ... bigger b'hoys, green as unsunned pumpkins....
Dow, Patent Sermons

land sakes: socially acceptable alternative for Lord's sake, considered to be a profanity.
1846: jedediah, for the land's sake, does my mouth blaze?
Knickerbocker Magazine, January
1888: Land sakesl Thet poor cretur never had the spunk to kill himself. Harper's Weekly, Januay 21

lay: price; terms; salary.
1816- He bought a large drove [of cattle] at a good lay.
Massachusetts Spy, September 4
1853: A few months saw him handling the ropes upon a whaler, at a good lay. Captain Priest, p.49

let her rip: let it go!
1853: [Captain Muggss] spirited "let her rip" was an infinite improvement on the "fire" of the old Steuben manual. Life Scenes, p.209
1854: As it is all for the good of the party, Let her rip.
Weekly Oregonian, April 22
1857: Presently I heard, "All set; let her rip."
Knickerbocker Magazine, November

like a book: to speak eloquently or with a large vocabulary.
1829: You talk like a book, Mr. Bond. Massachusetts Spy, January 28
1833: [She] sang like a nightingale and talked like a book.
James Hall, Legends of the West, p. II
1833: An educated and travelled Yankee ... talking like a book, even to the washerwoman. John Neal, The Downeasters, p.26

likely: able-bodied; attractive; serviceable.
1823: Notice. Will be sold at the mansion house of John Vivion deceased, all the personal estate of said deceased, consisting of Seven Negroes.... Two likely young Girls, between the ages of 20 and 25. Two likely Boys, between the ages of 16 and 20. And one likely young Girl of the age of five years. Missouri Intelligencer, August 5

limb: the socially acceptable or polite word for leg.
1854: [The Indian maiden] was seated on a rock, her legs (beg pardon, her limbs) stretched far asunder. Knickerbocker Magazine, June

liquor: to take a drink.
1836: Having liquored, we proceeded on the journey.
Colonel Crockett in Texas, p. 70
1839: It's a bargain then ... come, let's liquor on it.
Marryat, Diary in America, p.239

little end of the horn: same as short end of the stick. To come out of a situation disadvantaged.
1805: 1 am very much afraid I shall come out at the little end of the horn. Baltimore Evening Post, July 5
1817: If the farmers and the traders, instead of attending closely to their proper callings, are busy here and there, they will assuredly come out at the little end of the horn. Massachusetts Spy, February 19
1855: You used to hear brother Joseph tell about this people being crowded into the little end of the horn, and if they kept straight ahead they were sure to come out at the big end. Brighamn Young, April 8

log-rolling: a community effort to roll logs and clear land for a cabin's construction.
1833: The good villagers resorted to what, in woodland phrase, is called log-rolling, which means a combined effort of many to do what is either difficult or impossible to one. J.K. Paulding, Banks of the Ohio
1889: In some localities more thickly settled than others, neighbors render each other mutual assistance. In this case, the trunks of very large trees were cut down, chopped into logs, rolled together, and set on fire. Hence the phrase log-rolling in the vocabulary of our political common-places. Phelan, History of Tennessee, p.28

mad as a March hare: very angry, from early in the century.

make a die: to die.
1825: I wonder [the dog] didn't go mad; or make a die of it.
John Neal, Brother Jonathan, p.398
1845: They said Billy was gwine to make a die of it, and had sent for lem. W.T. Thompson, Chronicles of Pineville, P. 72
1848: I'm afraid I'm going to make a die of it. I'm going to create a vacancy. Stray Subjects, p. 195

man alive: popular exclamation expressing surprise, shock, etc.
1840: Man alive! what do you put yourself in such a plaguy passion for? Mrs. Kirkland, A New Home, p.168
1845: Man alive! I never heard of sich a audacious perceedin'in my life. This town's got a monstrous bad name for meanery and shecoonery of all sorts, but I never know'd they 'low'd pirates here before.
W.T. Thompson, Chronicles of Pineville, p.47

mind, have a: to have a notion; to be willing.
1803: He, having a mind to coax the dog to stay with him, took a piece of bread. Massachusetts Spy, March 2
1829: If they have a mind to take the trouble, let them tell fourty lies a week. Massachusetts Spy, January 28
1830: I s'pose a Governor has a right to flog anybody he's a mind to. Seba Smith, Major Jack Downing, p.87
1878: Well, figger it as you're a mind to; maybe you'll die of somethin' else after all. Rose T. Cooke, Happy Dodd, ch. xii

mitten, to get or give the: a lady, in turning down a proposal, is said to give the gentleman the mitten.
1838: Young gentlemen who have got the mitten, and young gentlemen who think they are going to get the mitten, always sythe [sigh].
Joseph C. Neal, Petter Ploddy, p. 14
1853: Uncle Jo's gal gin him the mitten, to the singing school.
Turnover, A Tale of New Harnpshire, p.8
1855: He went off suddenly to California; likely enough, Kitty gave him the mitten. D.G. Mitchell, Fudge Doings, p.116

mosey: to saunter or shuffle along.
1836: You're not going to smoke me. So mosey off.
Philadelphia Public Ledger, December 2
1846: Lanty Oliphant! bawled Dogberry; ... Mosey in and be sworn.
A Quarter Race in Kentucky, p.38
1888: A third moseyed off some distance, to sit down and lick his wounds. Chicago Inter-ocean, February 6

most: used for almost.
1815: Dorothy vows she will heat some water and scald any man that comes for any further taxes. I'm most afraid to see a stranger ride up. Massachusetts Spy, June 14
1830: I'm plagued most to death with these ere pesky sore eyes. Massachusetts Spy, October 13
1840: 1 reckon he drank most two quarts of [catmint tea] through the night. A.B. Longstreet, Georgia Scenes, p.193

mought: used for might, especially in Philadelphia, where Cockneyisms (see entry) were popular.
1843: It was about two o'clock, he guessed it mought be more, or it mought be less. Cornelius Mathews, Writings, p.14
1848: You mought as well look for a needle in a haystack, as try to find a nigger in New York. Majorjones, Sketches of Travel, p.12
1855: The reglar Fakilty mout have save life, then agin they mout not. Knickerbocker Magazine, March

mudsill: the uneducated, working class.
1858: In all social systems there must be a class to do the menial duties, to perform the drudgery of life. That is, a class requiring but a low order of intellect and but little skill.... It constitutes the very mudsill of society and of political government.
Mr. Hammond, South Carolina, U.S. Senate, Congressional Globe, March 4, p.71 1862: [The secessionists] speak of the labouring millions of the free
States as the mudsills of society, as a pauper banditti, as greasy mechanics and filthy operatives.
Mr. Julian, Indiana, Home of Reps., Congressional Globe, janua7y 14, P.328
1863: It pleased certain Southern orators and writers to characterize [the North] as the abode of the mudsills and tinkers.
O.J. Victor, History of the Southern Rebellion, p.93

nigger In the woodpile: a way of explaining the disappearance of fuel or any unsolved mystery.
1862: These gentlemen ... spoke two whole hours ... in showing -to borrow an elegant phrase, the paternity of which belongs, I think, to their side of the House -that there was a nigger in the woodpile.
Mr. Kelley, Pennsylvania, House of Reps., Congressional Globe, June 3, p.252 7

no-account: worthless.
1853: Yes, Massa, dem no'count calves done fool me again.
Paxton, A Stray Yankee in Texas, p.282
1881: Mitchell of Oregon is another of the no-account men. Philadelphia Record, February 8
1888: Did I come way off down in this here no count country to wash white counterpanes for dogs?
Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Tenting on the Plains, p.255

nohow, no way you can fix it: not at all.
1833: They don't raise such humans in the Old Dominion, no how.
James Hall, Harpe's Head, P.91
1833: This ain't no part of a priming to places that I've seed afore, no
how. jameshall, Legends of the West, p. 190
1836: [They] would have nothing to do with the affair, nohow they could
fix it. Colonel Crockett in Texas, p.125
1843: I couldn't read a chapter in the Bible no how you could fix it,
bless the Lordl R. Carlton, The New Purchase, P.141
1854: Here's my six-shooter, but you can't toll me up thar, nohow.
Knickerbocker Magazine, June

not a jugful: not at all.
1835: Did you ever follow the business of peddling? Not by a jugful, Mister; I never was one of your wooden nutmeg fellers.
D.P. Thompson, Adventures of Timothy Peacock, p.87
1854: Take medicine, said 1. "Not by a jugful," said Jim.
H.H. Riley, Puddleford, p. 162
1855: Not by a jugful, Mr. Souley; Cuba is the most valuable patch of ground we've got. Seba Smith, Major Jack Downin. p.429
notions: a wide range of miscellaneous articles for sale.
1819: This cleared up the mystery of the toys and play-things, which, with hats, bonnets, shoes and stockings of various sizes, [and] Webster's spelling-books, were part of the notions.
"An Englishman, " in the Western Star, May 12
1830: I thought I'd go and see about my load of turkeys and other notions. Seba Smith, Major Jack Downing, p.49
1846: She had a cargo of notions, consisting of Boston china, onions, apples, coffins in nests, cheese, potatoes, etc.
Cornelius Mathews, Writings, P.309

adds, ask no: ask no favor.
1857: 1 ask no odds of them, no more than I do of the dirt I walk on. H.C. Kimball at the Bowe7y, Salt Lake City, Journal of Discourses, July 12
1857: 1 swore I would send them to hell across lots if they meddled with me; and I ask no more odds of all hell today.
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, July 26, P. 78

off the reel: immediately.
1833: [I had a mind] to have a fight with him off the reel, and settle the right of soil at once. J.K. Paulding, Banks of the Ohio, p. 78
1856: You have got to promise right off the reel that you won't say another word. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Dred, ch.xlviii

old man, old woman: one's spouse. Also, one's father or mother.
1843: "He's your old man, mam?" Mrs. C. assented.
R. Carlton, The New Purchase, p.62
1855: As we were talk about the war [she] said . . . "What does your old man think about it?" I answered as well as I could, and am amused at this appellation, purely western, she has given my husband.
Sara Robinson, Kansas, p. 138
1859: [She] feels that she has a right to spend every cent that the old
man allows her. J.G. Holland, Titcomb's Letters, p. 195

old orchard: whiskey.
18 1 0: Come, ye lovers of Old Orchard, let us take a walk into the fields.
Robert Thomas, The Farmer's Almanac, September
1844: The old orchard went merrily around ... tea, coffee, and old orchard served to wash down the good things. Lowell Offering

one-horse: small, limited, inferior.
1854: I'm done with one-horse bedsteads, I am.
Aneed, New York journal of Commerce
1857: A Mormon elder says he has visited and preached in the following places in Texas: Empty-Bucket, Rake-pocket, Doughplate, Buck- snort, Possum Trot, Buzzard Roost, Hardscrabble, Nippentuck, and Lickskillet; most of which, however, he says, are merely one-horse towns. Harper's Weekly, November 14
1858: A country clergyman, with a one-story intellect and a one-horse vocabulary. Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, ch.ii
1859: Close by the little one-horse church, skirted by the belt of cedars. Knickerbocker Magazine, March

opine: to be of the opinion.
1830: Not a few leeches in that city, we opine, will vote for him. Northern Watchman, August 17
1842: [General Winfield Scott] had better keep his fingers to scratch his own ears with, we opine. Philadelphia Spirit of the Times, August 27
1854: We opine that he would have carried with him ... prayers and good wishes. Weekly Oregonian, October 7

Ornary: mean.
1830: You ornery fellow! do you pretend to call me to account for my language? Massachusetts Spy, May 28
1854: [He was] sent to Freehold court-house last term for 'busin' his wife. Awful ornary! Knickerbocker Magazine, March
1857: That poor ornary cuss of a red-haired, cross-eyed grocery-keeper. Knickerbocker Magazine, November

painter, panter: popular pronunciation and spelling of panther.
1803: My master ... said that I ought to live among painters and wolves, and sold me to a Georgia man for two hundred dollars. John Davis, Travels in the U.SA., p.382
1845: It might be a painter that stirred [the dog], for he could scent that beast a great distance. W.G. Simms, The Wigwam and the Cabin, p.48
1850: The bar and painter got so sassy, that they'd cum to the tother side of the bayou, and see which could talk impudenest. "Don't you want some bar meat or painter blanket?" they'd ask; bars is monstrous fat, and painter's hide is mighty warm. Odd Leaves, p. 170

pardner, pard: friendly variation of partner, popularly used in mining
camps.
1854: Pardners keep clus arter one another.
H.H. Riley, Puddleford, p.126
1883: The mine is wirked by two pardners, who dig and wash by turns. D. Pidgeon, An Engineer's Holiday, p.132
1893: Many an old hunter has buried his pard in the Missouri River. Alex Major, Seventy Years on the Frontier, p.260

peaked: thin or sickly in appearance.
1859: He looks peakeder than ever. Professor at the Breakfast Table, ch.9 1860: 1 lived on bread-and-milk nearly six weeks, until my face grew as
peaked as a crow's beak. Yale Literary Magazine, xxv, p.169
187 1: His mother was jest about the poorest, peakedest old body over to Sherburne. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Miss Elderkin's Pitcher
1878: When I came here, she was as peaked as a young rat.
Rose T. Cooke, Happy Dodd, ch.36

peart: fresh and happy; sprightly.
1820: These little fixins make a man feet right peart.
Hall, Letters fi-om the Wes% p.304
1833: 1 wish that fellow would shut the door; he must think that we were all raised in a saw-mill; and then he looks so peart whenever he comes in. C.F. Hoffman, A Winter in the Far West, p.209
1888: [The boys] from being starved, wretched, and dull, grew quite peart under [Eliza's] good care.
Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Tenting on the Plains, p. 171

person of color: a Negro.
1801: People of color.... This new fangled name for the black race, which has ... crept into the vocabulary of the U.S., seems to have been borrowed from that fruitful source of innovations, the philosophical school of Paris. "Z," Port Folio, p.163
1806: At the white ball-room [in New 'Orleans] no lady of colour is admitted. Thomas Ashe, Travels in America
1815: (Died] in Grafton, Sarah, a woman of color.
Massachusetts Spy, November 29
1833: "Well, as I was saying, the nigger"-"I think he might call um gemman of choler," muttered blackey.
I.K. Paulding, Banks of the Ohio, p.213

Philadelphia lawyer: popularly credited with nearly superhuman intellect by the masses.
1803: It would puzzle a dozen Philadelphia lawyers to unriddle the conduct of the democrats. Balance, November 15, p.363
1824: The New England folks have a saying, that three Philadelphia lawyers are a match for the very devil himself. Salem Observer, March 13
1824: Politics has got into a jumble that a Philadelphy lawyer couldn't steer through them. John P. Kennedy, Quodlibet p. 160
1848: It would puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer to pint out the latitude of enything like [the United States] in all creation.
W.E. Burton, Waggeries, p.68

picayune: used to signify something small or frivolous. (See also Money and Coinage, p. 148.)
1837: The hon. senator from Kentucky by way of ridicule calls this a picayune bill.
Mr. Young, Illinois, U.S. Senate, Congressional Globe, December 22
1841: Some gentlemen affected to consider it a small concern, a pica- yune affair.
Mr. Underwood, Kentucky, House of Reps., Congressional Globe, February 20

picture: one's face; one's person.
1825: Young Bob's dad - consarn his pictur - spry as a cat, swom like a fish. John Neal, Brother Jonathan, iii, p.387
1829: "Consarn his picture!" said Jeff in a low tone.
John P. Kennedy, Swallow Barn, p.448
1847: Wall, my sister Marth made me a bran new pair of buckskin trowsers to go in, and rile my pictur if she didn't put stirrups to 'em to keep 'em down. Robb, Streaks of Squatter Life, p.61
Pilo on the agony: to add insult to injury.
1852: If you have any more agony to pile on him, put it on. Knickerbocker Magazine, October
1856: 1 haven't piled on the agony as I might have done.
Knickerbocker Magazine, December
185 7: Three raving, lying, free-negro journals, is piling up the agony a little too steep. Oregon Weekly Times, November 14

plank, plank down, plank up: to pay in cash.
1824: His guardy was sent for, and he planked the cash.
Nantucket inquirer, April 19
1835: His patient returned, and, planking ten dollars, took possession of her invaluable medicine. Daniel P. Thompson, Adventures of Timothy Peacock, P.104
1851: He would plank down the very money he had received.
Daniel B. Woods, Sixteen Months at the Gold Diggings, p. 75

plug-ugly: a Baltimore rowdy; any rowdy or ruffian.
1857: The city of Baltimore, from whose midst the plug uglies claim to hail. Oregon Weekly Times, August 1
1863: Colonel Butler is a tall, fully developed, imposing man, devoid of the slightest resemblance to an ideal Plug Ugly.
James Parton, Butler in New Orleans, p. 79
1865: A brawny fellow, with a plug-ugly countenance, looked over my shoulder at the book. A.D. Richardson, The Secret Service, p.108

plum, plumb: entirely; completely
1850: His breeches split plum across with the strain, and the piece of
wearin' truk wot's next the skin made a monstrous putty flag.
Odd Leaves, P.51
1858: He wur plum crazy an'jumped over the frunt ov the pulpit.
Olympia Pioneer, February 26
1893: "You're plumb crazy," she remarked. Harper's Weekly, p.1211

plunder: personal belongings; baggage.
1815: We heard these men uniformly calling their baggage plunder.
T. Flint, Recollections, p.6
1817: [We carried] our plunder (as the Virginians call baggage) in a light Jersey wagon. J.K. Paulding, Letters from the South, p.38
1818: When you arrive at a house [in Kentucky], the first inquiry is, where is your plunder? as if you were a bandit; and out is sent a slave to bring in your plunder- i.e. your trunk, or valise.
Arthur Singleton, Letters from the South and West, p. 1 06
1842: [In Virginia] you hear the driver say, "Here, you nigger fellow, tote this lady's plunder to her room." Upstairs is pronounced "upst- arrs"; the words "bear" and "fear" are pronounced "barr" and "farr" ; and one passenger was told, "The room upstarrs is quite preparred, so that your plunder may be toted. . ., whenever you've a mind."
J.S. Buckingham, Slave States, p.293

pony up, post the pony: pay up.
1838: It was my job to pay all the bills. "Salix, pony up at the bar, and lend us a levy."J.C. Neal, Charcoal Sketches

poor as Job's turkey: very poor.
1840s: The professor is as poor as job's turkey, if it wasn't for that powerful salary the trustees give him.
R. Carlton, The New Purchase, Vol. 11, p.85

powerful: great; extreme; a large quantity.
1833: Gentlemen, good evening; this has been a powerful hot day.
James Hall, liarpe's Head, p.86
1835: He was powerful tired. Washington Ining, Tour of the Prairies, ch.xiii
1869: Our men has mostly gone across to Californy to see what's the chances for fodder. Folks tell us it's powerful dry over there.
J. Ross Browne, Apache Country, p.461

pucker: in a state of irritation or anger.
1826: My wife will be in a fine pucker when she finds this sum ex- hausted. Massachusetts Spy, November 1
1837: A terrier dog in a pucker is a good study for anger.
J.C. Neal, Charcoal Sketches, P.124
1847: If I am delayed, Blair and Rives will get in a pucker.
Robb, Streaks of Squatter Life, p. 15

puke: a Missourian.
1838: The suckers of Illinoy, the pukes of Missouri, and the corncrackers
of Virginia. Haliburion, The Clockmaker, ii, p.289
1852: Sundry Hoosiers, Buckeyes, Suckers, Pukes, and Wolvereens, all wide awake, and ready for business. Knickerbocker Magazine, April
1856: You can search the house, but as for this puke of a Missourian,
he shall not come in. Sara Robinson, Kansas, P.205

pull foot: to leave in a hurry.
1825: Yahl how [the Indians] pulled foot, when they seed us comin'.
John Neal, Brother Jonathan, p. 107
183 1: Jerry pulled foot for home like a streak of lightning.
Seba Smith, Major lack Downing, p. 142
1837: He had pulled foot for Baltimore, and sold the rest of his tooth
powder. Philadelphia Public Ledger, March 6

quilting bee: a social event in which women get together to make a quilt. 1832: The females have ... meetings called quilting bees, when many
assemble to work for one, in padding or quilting bed coverings or
comforters. S.G. Goodrich, System of Universal Geography, p.107
1835: He informed us that his wife had got a number of her neighbors with her for a quilting frolic.
C.J. Latrobe, The Rambler in North America, p. 135

rambunctious: rowdy, disorderly or boisterous.
1847: [An old he-bar] is as ramstugonous an animal as a log-cabin loafer
in the dog-days. A Swim for a Deer, P. 120
1851: The old lady bawled out, "There comes our ramstuginous little
doctor." An Arkansaw Doctor, p.81
1856: You rambunctious old wool-grower!
San Francisco Call, December 17

reckon: to think or guess.
1819: Asking very civilly, "Can we breakfast here?" I have received a shrill "I reckon so." Massachusetts Spy, January 8
1855: Boys say with us, and everywhere, I reckon, "You worry my dog, and I'll worry your cat." Dr. Ross, Tennessee, in the "New School" General Assembly, Buffalo

retiracy: retirement.
1843: I'd a powerful sight sooner go into retiracy, nor consent to that bill. R. Carlton, The New Purchase, p. 74
1851: If we didn't elect him, I'd go into retiracy.
Seba Smith, Major Jack Downing, p.341

ride out on a rail: to be forced to leave town.
1866: Others proposed giving him a good coat of tar and feathers, and riding him out of town on a rail. Seba Smith, Way Down East, p.251

rip-roaring, rip-staver, rip-snortin': an impressive person or thing.
1833: In ten minutes he yelled enough, and swore I was a rip-stavur. Sketches of Davy Crockett, p.144
1846: What a rip-snortin' red head you have got! Yale Literary Magazine 1856: "Hallo, judge," said Major H., "that's a rip-roaring hat you've got." San Francisco Call, December 19

rum-hole: a small drinking establishment, especially in New York.
1872: The State of New York alone, we believe, uses the term rum-holes for its smaller grog shops. De Vere

Sabbaday, Sabberday, the Sabbath day.
1833: He makes poetry himself sabbadays- made more poetry 'an you could shake a stick at. John Neal, The Downeasters, p. 135
1848: Capting, I sorter recking it ain't entered into your kalkilation as this here is Sabberday. W.E. Burton, Waggeries, p.16

sakes alive: the equivalent of good heavens or for God's sake.
1846: "Law sakes alive," was the reply, "I ain't no how."
Mrs. Kirkland, Western Clearings, p. 78

Salt River: to row someone up Salt River is to beat him up or to give him hell.
1833: See if I don't row you up Salt River before you are many days older. J.K. Paulding, Banks of the Ohio, p. 133
1838: When you want to be rowed up Salt River again, just tip me with the wink. B. Drake, Tales and Sketches, p.36
1843: If I don't row you up Salt Crick in less nor no time, my name's
not Sam Townsend. R. Carlton, The New Purchase, p.261

Sam Hill: euphemism for the devil.
1839: What in sam hill is that feller ballin' about?
"Majorjack on a Whaler," Havana Republican, August 21
1868: He had bought him a little bobtailed mouse-colored mule, and was training him like Sam Hill. Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Following the Guidon, p.142

Savage as a Meat Axe: extremely savage.
1835: A little dried up man, who was whetting his knife against the side of the fire-place, and looking as savage as a meat axe. James Hall, Tales of the Border, p.58
1842: Ridin' makes one as savage as a meat axe.
Mrs. Kirkland, Forest Life, p.126
savagerous:savage.
1837: The strongest man in Kentucky, and the most sevagerous at a tussle. R.M. Bird, Nick of the Woods, P.96
1849: The turtle popped out its head, and rolled its eyes, while a sort of wheeze issued from its savagerous mouth. Frontier Guardian, August 8

school-ma'am, school-marm: a woman teacher.
1840: At the age of fifteen were we qualified for the responsible station of country school ma'ams. Lowell Offering, p.74
1864: Before this day of larger ideas, to be a school-ma'am was to be a stiff, conceited, formal, critical character.
J.G. Holland, Letters to the Joneses, p.254
1878: He up and married one o' them school-marms sent out from Boston. J.H. Beadle, Western Wilds, p.188

seed: often used for saw or seen.
1825: Yah! how [the Indians] pulled foot, when they seed us comin. John Neal, Brother Jonathan, P.107

set by, set much by: to regard; to esteem. From early in the century.

set store by, to: to set value upon; to appreciate.
1840s: He [the Ohio boatman] observed very feelingly, that he set more store to this song than to all the rest. Hall, Letters from the West

seven by nine: something or someone of inferior or common quality, originating from common window panes of that size.
1846: [The charge was] re-echoed by every little paltry seven by nine Locofoco print, and every brawling bar-room politician. Mr. Root, Ohio, House of Reps., Congressional Globe, December 24

shakes, great: of great consequence.
1825: I'm no great shakes at braggin'- I never was. John Neal, Brother Jonathan, P.195

shaw, pshaw!: an expression of contempt or incredulity.
1845-. 0, shaw, 'taint gwine to rain, no how, and I'm all fixed. W. T. Thompson, Chronicles of Pineville, p. 165
1846: She hollered fur her fiddler, but oh, shaw, he couldn't do hir a bit of good. Quarter Race, P.89
1850: P'shaw, gal, your wits are turned through going to school. Knickerbocker Magazine, September
1857: Pshal nonsense! will nothing satisfy you? Knickerbocker Magazine, May

Shecoonery: a corruption of chicanery.
1845: This town's got a monstrous bad name for meanery and shecoonery of all sorts. W.T. Thompson, Chronicles of Pineville, p.47

Shines, to cut: to pull practical jokes or tricks; to make funny business.
1839: We cut a few shines with the girls, and started to the tavern.
History of Virgil A. Stewart, p.69
1842: It is said that some females in England cut up a shine in order to go to Botany Bay, where they are sure of finding husbands.
Philadelphia Spirit of the Times, September 15
1851: My horse snorted, he kicked, he rared up, and cut more shines
than a snapping turtle on hot iron. An Arkansaw Doctor, p.87

shucks: worthless people or things (&orn corn or pea shucks).
1847: He ain't wuth shucks, and ef you don't lick him for his onmannerly note, you ain't
wuth shucks, nuther. Robb, Streaks of Squatter Life, p.135
1851: I kalkilated them curs o' hisn wasn't worth shucks in a bar fight.
Polly Peablossom's Wedding, p.51

Shut pan: shut up; shut your mouth.
1833: Shut pan, and sing small, or I'll throw you into the drink.
J.K. Paulding, Banks of the Ohio, p.213
1835: 1 shut pan on the subject, and fell to eating my dinner.
Colonel Crockett's Tour, p. 102
1853: Spicer raised his hand to stop the speech, but the lawyer wouldn't shut pan. Paxton, A Stray Yankee in Texas, p.139

sin to Moses, sin to Crockett: something that would shame either Moses
or Davy Crockett.
1833: The way he fights is a sin to Crockett.
Sketches of Davy Crockett, p.30
1838: "Ay, ay, sir; it's a sin to Moses, such a trade .... said the stoker. E. Flagg, The Far West, p. 71
1861: The way some of your city wags stuff our honest clod-hoppers is a sin to Moses. Oregon Argus, March 23

skedaddle: to nee.
1861: No sooner did the traitors discover their approach than they ske- daddled, a phrase the Union boys up here apply to the good use the seceshers make of their legs in time of danger. Missouri Democrat, Augwi
1862: Skadaddle is a newly invented word, now greatly in vogue among our brave soldiers on the Potomac. It is equivalent to the verb to absquatulate, and is like that other army verb (to vamose) which our soldiers brought from their campaign in Mexico. Oregon Argus, January 18

skeery: to be afraid or cautious.
1845: I was skeery and bashful at first, in meeting with a young and beautiful creature
like her. W.G. Simms, The Wigwam and the Cabin, p.108
1847: 1 ain't easy skeer'd, but I own up that old fellow did kind a make me skeery. Robb,
Streaks of Squatter Life, p.144
1851: My! I feel so skeary-like, for I've never been aboard one of these steaming boats. Lady E.S. Wortley, Travels, p.108

slantindicular: slanting.
1832: This is sorter a slantindickelar road, stranger [said the Yankee). Memoirs of a Nullifier, p.37
1833: He looked up at me slantendicular, and I looked down at him slantendicular; and he took out a chaw of turbaccur, and said he, "I don't value you that." Sketches of Davy Crockett, P.144

slick: to fix or dress up.
1840: Mr. F. was slicked up for the occasion.
Mrs. Kirkland, A New Home, p.243
1847: H. went to work, loading up his big bore, with as much care as a girl fixes herself when she slicks up. The Great Kalamazoo Hunt, p.44

smart, right: a large quantity.
1842: 1 asked whether the people made much maple-sugar when a planter answered, "Yes, they do, I reckon, right smart," meaning in great quantities. J.S. Buckingham, Slave States, p.327
1855: Thar ain't been much rain lately, but thar's right smart of snow, and its about half melted snow. Famham, Travels in Prairie Land, p.361
1856: 1 sold right smart of eggs dis yer summer.
Har7iet Beecher Stowe, Dred, ch.39

smart as a steel trap: particularly intelligent and quick.
1830: A feller with an eye like a hawk, and quick as a steel trap, for a trade. Seba Smith, Major Jack Downing, p.49