Below is a list of mostly forgotten terms, people, and the occasional song, drawn from a reading of frontier fiction, 1880–1915. Each week a new list, progressing through the alphabet, “from A to Izzard.”
dinger = something
outstanding of its kind (cf. humdinger). “It would shore make a dinger of a
hide-out.” W. C. Tuttle, Thicker Than Water.
 |
| Dinkey engine, steam shovel, c1914 |
dip = a candle made by repeatedly dipping a wick into
tallow. “By the time ‘a dip’ had been constructed the full weight of the disaster
had fallen upon the defeated and despairing woman.” Dell Munger, The Wind
Before the Dawn.
dirk = a short dagger of a kind formerly carried by
Scottish Highlanders. “They go loaded down with six-shooters and dirk knives.” John
C. Bell, The Pilgrim and the Pioneer.
dished = shaped like a dish or a pan, concave. “Under its lee
lay an abandoned gravel wagon with dished wheels.” Frank Norris, McTeague.
divvy = a share, portion. “I’m onto a lay now that promises
to pan big. If it does, I’ll divvy square.” Frank Lewis Nason, To the End of
the Trail.
do for = to injure,
beat up, murder. “I thought sure Retief was going to do for you when I heard
about it.” Ridgwell Cullum, The Story of the Foss River Ranch.
do up = beat up. “Everybody he knew he either loved or
hated, and was ready, according to his feeling, either to do anything for, or
to “do up” on a moment’s notice.” Florence Finch Kelly, With Hoops of Steel.
dobe / ’dobe = a derisive term for the Mexican silver dollar (from Spanish, adobe). “Uncle Sam’s strongbox yielded up over a thousand dobes.” Andy Adams, Cattle Brands.
dodger = a small handbill or circular. “The editor issued an ‘Extra’ of dodger-like appearance, and it is doubtful if he would have used larger type to announce an anticipated visit of the President.” Caroline Lockhart, The Lady Doc.
dog = a short, heavy piece of steel, bent and pointed at one end to form a hook and with an eye or ring at the other, used for many purposes in logging. “A sharp, heavy logging ‘dog,’ had lost grip of a moving log under the strain of hauling, and flicking round had ripped a great wound down Fitz’s leg.” Martin Allerdale Grainger, Woodsmen of the West.
dodger = a small handbill or circular. “The editor issued an ‘Extra’ of dodger-like appearance, and it is doubtful if he would have used larger type to announce an anticipated visit of the President.” Caroline Lockhart, The Lady Doc.
dog = a short, heavy piece of steel, bent and pointed at one end to form a hook and with an eye or ring at the other, used for many purposes in logging. “A sharp, heavy logging ‘dog,’ had lost grip of a moving log under the strain of hauling, and flicking round had ripped a great wound down Fitz’s leg.” Martin Allerdale Grainger, Woodsmen of the West.
 |
| Four-wheeled dog cart |
Dog Soldiers =
a militaristic band of Cheyenne Indians
who resisted western expansion into Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming.
“He bade them each mount behind an Indian,—his body guard, or staff, called the
‘Dog soldiers,’ because they worshipped dogs, having crowded about to protect
their chief.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
dog tent = a small
tent shaped like a kennel. “He led a nomadic existence, moved continually from
one piece of work to another, his temporary habitations ranging from modern hotels
to dog tents and shacks.” A. M. Chisholm, Desert Conquest.
dogger = a worker performing a menial task. “No wonder nature
kicks you out with all manner of illness. You are mere doggers of the
machinery.” Honoré Willsie Morrow, The Heart of the Desert.
Dominecker = a
black-and-white feathered chicken, considered cowardly because it will run from
a fight. “A game-cock like you can do up a dozen yellow-legged Domineckers.”
Mollie Davis, The Wire-Cutters.
domino = a large, hooded cloak with a mask covering the eyes,
worn at masquerades. “I think the best plan is to wear a domino and mask, as we
go in with you ladies, so that you may not be recognized.” Maria Amparo Ruiz de
Burton, The Squatter and the Don.
donkey engine =
a small auxiliary steam engine, esp. on a
ship. “The donkey-engine was mounted in a trice and the big crates containing
the mowing-machines were yanked out on deck.” Hugh Pendexter, Tiberius
Smith.
dope = a mixture of ingredients, edible or drinkable.
“Better unsaddle and stop for grub; got some swell dope ’bout ready.” Therese
Broderick, The Brand.
dope = grease, lubricant. “I’ll make that d—d or’nery Con
Humphreys kill the biggest maverick in the bunch ’n’ write yu on th’ inside o’
hit’s hide, wi’ wagon dope fo’ ink ’n’ his pinted ole nose fo’ a pen.” Edgar
Beecher Bronson, Reminiscences of a Ranchman.
dope and roll =
to fool, cheat. “Change was right; you
can’t dope and roll me; gwan!” Edgar Beecher Bronson, The Red-Blooded.
dopey = stupefied by sleep. “It don’t take as much sleep for
me now as it used to, an’ I never was dopey.” Robert Alexander Wason, Happy
Hawkins.
 |
| "Satan," Paul Gustave Doré |
dornick = a small stone, field stone. “‘By what that pint pans out,’ he says, ‘that should be twenty dollars worth of gold in this yere dornick!’” Alfred Henry Lewis, Wolfville Folks.
dottle = the plug of half-smoked tobacco in the bottom of a pipe after smoking. “Old Rance knocked the dottle out of his pipe, shoved the pipe in his pocket, and leaned forward on the table, facing the sheriff.” W. C. Tuttle, Thicker Than Water.
dottle = the plug of half-smoked tobacco in the bottom of a pipe after smoking. “Old Rance knocked the dottle out of his pipe, shoved the pipe in his pocket, and leaned forward on the table, facing the sheriff.” W. C. Tuttle, Thicker Than Water.
double express =
a double-barreled hunting rifle. “My
brother and I each have a double express with us, and do you think we’d sit
still in our seats?” Paul Leicester Ford, The Great K&A Train Robbery.
double-six =
a team of six horses. “Save on the De Smet
hill, there was a notable absence of ‘double-sixes’.” Gertrude Atherton, Perch
of the Devil.
double tree =
a crossbar on a wagon or carriage to which
two animals are harnessed side by side. “Now, me an’ Ches was about as
different as they ever get, most ways, an’ yet we pulled a level double-tree
out in the open.” Robert Alexander Wason, Happy Hawkins.
double-header =
use of two railway locomotives to pull a
long or heavy train. “The mail-trains dashing through and the leather bags
rolling in the dust behind them now possessed a fascination for Frank, and,
with the rest of his fellow-creatures, he would marvel over the cause for a
‘double-header.’” Elizabeth Higgins, Out of the West.
Dougherty =
a horse- or mule-drawn passenger wagon
having doors on the side, transverse seats, and canvas sides that can be rolled
down. “He had worked himself to such an implicit faith in the worst that he
decided that the wide figure, heavily blue-veiled, and linen-dustered, on the
back seat of the Dougherty was she.” Gwendolen Overton, The Heritage of
Unrest.
doughgod =
a logger’s term for bread. “’Tis a foine
va-acation ye’re havin’ playin’ nurse fer a pinched toe, an’ me tearin’ out th’
bone fer to git out th’ logs on salt-horse an’ dough-gods ’t w’d sink a
battle-ship.” James Hendryx, The Promise.
 |
| Doukhobour, pulling plow, Manitoba, 1899 |
down on/to one’s uppers = very poor (reference
to shoes from which heel and sole have been worn to nothing). “He made a little
money, but he didn’t know enough to keep it…Got down to his uppers.” Frank
Lewis Nason, To the End of the Trail.
Dr. Price’s baking powder = a baking powder sold
in cans, advertised as the only baking powder that does not contain ammonia,
lime, or alum. “He is one of these elder brothers to dear, defenseless little
girls, being, himself, absolutely pure—like Price’s baking powder.” Hattie
Horner Louthan, This Was a Man!
drag a lariat =
to interfere. “She’s not to go draggin’
her lariat ’round loose no more, settin’ law an’ order.” Alfred Henry Lewis, Wolfville.
drag-stone = stone
pushed against something to keep it from moving. “The rasping of a drag-stone
on the floor gave warning that some one was pushing open the door from the
outside.” Mollie Davis, The Wire-Cutters.
dragging the long rope
= “a range euphemism for stealing other men’s cattle, specifically unbranded
calves.” Bertrand Sinclair, Wild West.
 |
| Ottoman dragoman |
drappie = intoxicating drink. “Haven’t got a wee bit drappie,
have you?” Samuel Merwin, The Road-Builders.
draw = to gather information. “I drawed, though, that Mace
was havin’ a way-up time.” Eleanor Gates, Alec Lloyd,
Cowpuncher.
draw it easy =
an expression of disbelief or derision.
“Tough! Say, that’s drawin’ it aisy. LaSals’s good enough for me.” Frank Lewis
Nason, To the End of the Trail.
draw the longbow =
to exaggerate, tell tall tales. “I hate to
tell you all about the Sonora, because she was so humorous, and you will think
I am piling it on, drawing the long-bow.” Martin Allerdale Grainger, Woodsmen
of the West.
 |
| Drawn thread work |
dray = a low, heavy
cart without sides, used for haulage. “The great flat-topped dray for hauling
poles came last, with its four government mules.” Owen Wister, Lin McLean.
Previous: D (d.f. - ding)
Next: D (drench - dyke)
More:
Sources: Cassell’s
Dictionary of Slang, Dictionary of the American West, The Cowboy Dictionary,
The Cowboy Encyclopedia, Cowboy Lingo, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, and
various online dictionaries
Image credits: Wikimedia
Commons
Coming up: Race in early frontier fiction
I've heard humdinger but never just dinger. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt may be a combination with "hummer," which also meant something exceptional, excellent.
DeleteThat's a doozy, Ron.
ReplyDelete