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.”
facer = an unexpected problem or obstacle. “A facer lay
ahead of them beside which the mere receipt of the five letters was nothing.” Edgar
Beecher Bronson, The Red-Blooded.
fade = to put at a disadvantage. “‘Twas a foight av his own
pickin’, an’ he knows ye’ve got him faded.” James Hendryx, The Promise.
fagging = to tire, weary. “It was his way to pick out the
roughest possible path before him, to settle within himself that it was that of
duty, and to follow it without fagging or complaint.” Gwendolen Overton, The
Heritage of Unrest.
faille = a slightly
ribbed, woven fabric of silk or cotton. “I’ve had things ’most as fine as
Lutie’s. Satins, brocades, failles, grosgrains, taffetas, all kinds, anything I
wanted.” Nancy Mann Waddell Woodrow, The New Missioner.
Caroline Norton |
fairy lamp =
a small, glass candle lamp that gained
popularity during the 1880s and '90's. “A fairy lamp burned over the great open
fireplace, and by this he saw her go to the child’s little crib.” Frances
Charles, In The Country God Forgot.
fairy well =
a small pool of water or spring into which
visitors dropped pins or buttons for wishes to be granted. “Judith, going to
her favorite pool to bathe, saw that it had shrunk till it seemed but a fairy
well hid among the willows.” Marie Manning, Judith of the Plains.
fakir = a street salesman of cheap goods. “It’s but a little
phrase, ’tis true, / ‘ Its meaning well each ‘fakir’ knew.” William De Vere, Jim
Marshall’s New Pianner.
fall into snap =
achieve success easily. “Brother Josh, now
he was little fellow, fell right into snap t’once.” Frances Charles, In The
Country God Forgot.
faller = a logging worker who fells the trees. “The ‘fallers’ had worked along the slope, slope that was almost cliff; and all the trees of value had been felled criss-cross, upon each other and upon the mass of smaller trees their fall had shattered.” Martin Allerdale Grainger, Woodsmen of the West.
fan = to drive away or scatter like chaff. “There was a kind of a Death March into the dining-room from which Mrs. Terriberry had unceremoniously ‘fanned’ the regular boarders.” Caroline Lockhart, The Lady Doc.
fancy woman = a kept mistress, a man’s lover. “The fancy-women who flock wherever the nuggets are thickest, now segregate themselves in a secluded quarter of the township.” Marguerite Merington, Scarlett of the Mounted.
fancy woman = a kept mistress, a man’s lover. “The fancy-women who flock wherever the nuggets are thickest, now segregate themselves in a secluded quarter of the township.” Marguerite Merington, Scarlett of the Mounted.
fandango = a ball or
dance. “We’ve got them fellers roped and tied, gents, and they simply won’t be
ace-high with the ladies of this camp after our fandango is over with.”
Randall Parrish, Bob Hampton of Placer.
fanning mill =
a device consisting of two vibrating screens and using an
air blast to clean and separate grain. “His tooth wobbled like the side
motion of a fanning-mill.” Willis George Emerson, Buell Hampton.
fan-tan = a Chinese gambling game similar to roulette.
“There’s one bias-eyed fan-tanner that won’t pull his freight for Chiny as soon
as he gets his pockets full of good American money.” Florence Finch Kelly, With
Hoops of Steel.
fantods = a state of extreme nervousness or restlessness; the willies; the
fidgets. “That’s the reason she had such fantods when I wanted to kiss
her that day last summer!” Florence Finch Kelly, With Hoops of Steel.
Boys playing marbles, c1891 |
feathers =
wealth, money. “I’ve had feathers enough
in my time to make me a good bed, but I scattered and wasted ’em all with
whisky and brandy.” Florence Finch Kelly, With Hoops of Steel.
feezed = worried, alarmed. “Maud, I’m shore feazed! I been
believin’, since I got back from Noo York, that it was settled I was to marry
Mace.” Eleanor Gates, Alec Lloyd, Cowpuncher.
fend dubs = a call
in marbles preventing a shooter from taking both marbles if he hits two. “What
does ‘fend dubs’ mean?” she persisted. “I will teach you to play marbles
sometime, if you wish to learn.” Mary Hallock Foote, The Led-Horse Claim.
Eugene Field |
Field, Eugene = popular American poet (1850-1895), newspaper writer and editor, known for his children’s poetry. “Always carried a copy of Gene field’s Western verses. Said he knowed Field.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
Presidential fifteen puzzle, 1880 |
figure-four trap =
a simple deadfall animal trap, with
supports arranged in the shape of the number 4. “Instead of shooting the rabbit
for supper, I’m going to try a figure-four trap.” Honoré Willsie Morrow, The
Heart of the Desert.
file-closer = a
commissioned or noncommissioned officer posted in the rear of a line, or on the
flank of a column, of soldiers, to correct mistakes and insure steadiness and
promptness in the ranks. “Two men fell out and made a temporary gap in the
rank; through this a sergeant file-closer extended his white glove, relieved
the captain of his charge, and led the panting steed away.” Charles King, Dunraven
Ranch.
fill your tea-kettle =
bird song. “The meadow-larks, singly or in pairs, announcing their arrival with
a guttural ‘tuerk’ and a saucy flit of the tail, or admonishing ‘fill your
tea-kettle, fill your tea-kettle’ with a persistence worthy a better cause.”
Will Lillibridge, Ben Blair.
fillip = to flick,
flip, propel. “The post-oak leaves, brushing his cheek with their rough, wet
surfaces, filliped the woodsy dew into his eyes.” Mollie Davis, The
Wire-Cutters.
fin = hand, arm. “‘Workin’ with your fins,’ says this
Wilkins, ‘is low an’ onendoorin’ to a gent with pride to wound.’” Alfred Henry
Lewis, Wolfville.
finikin = fussy,
fastidious, precise in trifles, squeamish, picky. “He had all the high and
formal breeding which runs with pure Castilian blood: the finikin hospitality
and that exaggerated punctiliousness toward women.” Mary Austin, Isidro.
fire-bag = a long
leather bag, containing pipe, tobacco, knife, flint and steel. “He also carried
a fire-bag, the Spencer repeating carbine given him by his comrade, together
with an elk-horn whip.” Frederic Remington, John Ermine of the Yellowstone.
fire rake =
a long-handled
combination rake and cutting tool, the blade of which is usually constructed of
a single row of four sharpened teeth. “Then there would be a noise of
fire-rake, and Bill could be heard hurling wood into the furnace.” Martin
Allerdale Grainger, Woodsmen of the West.
fireweed =
an herb found in open fields, pastures,
and particularly burned-over land. “Across moist flats in the jaundicing shade
of big cottonwoods, over windy passes where the air was white with the filmy
spore of fireweed.” Robert Dunn, The Youngest World.
fix = food to
prepare for a meal (cf. fixings). “Come over and have a cup of coffee with me
this morning’; your commissary looks to be out of fix.” George W. Ogden, The
Long Fight.
fix = condition, state; euphemism for “pregnant.” “Sadie,
ain’t you ’fraid t’ talk that way an’ you in that fix?” Dell Munger, The
Wind Before the Dawn.
fix up = to make oneself presentable, dress up, smarten up. “Mr.
Lovering had not come, as his wife placidly explained, ‘because he did so hate
to fix up.’” Mary Etta Stickney, Brown of Lost River.
flag = a quill feather of a bird’s wing. “Say, ain’t he a
bird? Look at his flag; it’s perfect; and see how he carries his tail on a line
with his back.” Frank Norris, McTeague.
Flail |
flam = to deceive,
play a trick, hoodwink. “This here expedition was got up just on account o’
your nerves, an’ now that we’ve come to the most important point of all, why,
you flam out an’ put all the risk on us.” Robert Alexander Wason, Friar
Tuck.
flank = throw a calf onto its side for branding. “Roping and
flanking calves has an interest peculiar to itself.” Willis George Emerson, Buell
Hampton.
Flannel band |
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: Trails of the Wild
Fantods is pretty cool. Not sure how I missed that one. I usually collect those kinds of words.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first ran across "fantods" (in one of Edward Gorey's books), I admit I thought it was a made-up term.
DeleteI've found it in several sources. Though I agree, it sounds like a word someone like O. Henry would have invented.
Deletetribute artist for birthday parties
ReplyDelete"Robbins reveals ability not only to the sizzle on the up-beats, but can melt the ballads as well. Robbins is known as a master showman world renowned the best Mathis impersonator.