A Cowboy's Dictionary Trivia Quiz

Answer: I was a good cattle hand.

"Cow-punchin'" was the term often used for the work of a cowboy. It was also common to call a cowboy or cowgirl a cow puncher. Although the term suggests physically hitting something, it was derived from roping and herding cattle. So, this cowboy is a good one.

Answer: My boss always wanted to pick a fight.

The term "crawl his hump" is derived from cowboys trying to tackle angry buffalo. In order to get at the buffalo, cowboys would have to crawl over the hump directly behind the buffalo's head. It soon came to mean "picking a fight". In this case, the boss always wanted to pick fights with the cowboy.

Answer: So I left.

"To light a shuck" means to leave for somewhere else. In his "Riding for the Brand: Stories", Louis L'Amour notes that cowboys who were leaving for somewhere, usually Texas, lit a shuck of straw to signal their going to other. Sometimes he might light a few along his route. This is where we get our "lit out" to mean run away.

Answer: My horse bucked and I fell off.

The term "boiled over" refers to a bucking horse or bronco, while "chew gravel" means to hit the ground. These are fairly straightforward terms that cowboys invented to describe their various experiences on the range taming wild horses. Cowboys were often bucked off their wild horses, but many refused to ride a horse that wasn't a little wild!

Answer: I got ambushed, robbed, and left for dead.

"Drygulching" was when someone was ambushed and left for dead, usually stripped of all their clothing and belongings as well. When someone held a grudge in the Wild West, this was a good way to exact revenge. You may have heard of towns in books or movies being called "Dry Gulch", which might have been a warning!

Answer: It was obvious my boss was a swindler. I wanted to give him a whipping.

A chiseler was a conman or a swindler. To "give someone Jessy" is to spank or whip someone. Chiseling probably referred to illegally "chiseling" or stealing goods or work off of another. The meaning of "giving Jessy" is less clear, but might refer to legendary outlaw Jesse James. So, the cowboy saw his boss was to blame and wanted to return the beating he'd gotten.

Answer: I made it to a hotel.

A dice house was a bunkhouse, or any sort of sleeping quarters. In this case, it means "hotel". Dice was a popular pastime for cowboys to participate in at their bunkhouses, so bunkhouses and hotels became known as dice houses in many cases.

Answer: I wanted to get stuffed on food, when I saw my boss.

To get "full as a tick" is to get drunk or full on food and drink. It may refer to getting as stuffed as a straw tick, a term used for straw mattresses. The cowboy's parched and hungry after his drygulching!

Answer: He pulled his gun, though I shouted 'Back off'.

"To draw" is to pull a gun out of a holster. "Pull in your horns" was a warning to back off or step back, a reference to roping and pulling cattle. When roping cattle, a cowboy would have a rope around the cow's neck or horns, and so to get the cow out of another's way he would pull in the horns.

Answer: I hit my target.

"Make his Jack" means to hit his target (the Jack being the target). Thus, the nickname "Single Jack" means to be a one-shot gunman. The cowboy killed his boss after his boss tried to kill him, ending the boss' fighting and criminal activity.