TRIM AND TRAIL STOCK LINGO PROFESSIONAL

Sharps – Any firearm manufactured Christian Sharps for his Sharps Rifle Company. This term also applied to professional gamblers who cheated at the Poker tables. “Why don’t you come by and spend the shank of the evening with me? Shaky – A term applied by lumbermen, dealers in timber, and carpenters, to boards which are inclined to split from defects in the log from which they have been sawed. Shank of the Evening – Latter part of the afternoon. “Can you help me shake up a fiddle player for the barn dance? Shake A Stick At – When a man is puzzled to give one an idea of a very great number, he calls it ‘more than you can shake a stick at.’ “Hold on, I’ll get to it a couple of shakes.” Also means a good opportunity, offer, bargain, or chance. “His horse riding abilities are no great shakes.” Also means a moment, an instant. Originated from common window panes of that size. Seven by Nine – Something or someone of inferior or common quality. Settle One’s Hash – To properly punish one. Setting-Pole – A pole pointed with iron, used for propelling vessels or boats up rivers. Set-To – Argument, debate, contest in words. Set Store By – To set value upon, to appreciate. Set Her Cap For Him – To direct her attentions to him, to endeavor to win his affections. “He behaved himself more wisely than all, so that his name was much set by.” Set By or Set Much By – To regard, to esteem. “When I got home he set about me with a strap.” Serve Up – To expose to ridicule, to expose. See the Elephant – Originally meant to see combat for the first time, later came to mean going to town, where all the action was or to go somewhere to experience a “worldly event.” Many times denotes disappointment of high-raised expectations. See How The Cat Jumps – A metaphorical expression meaning, to discover the secrets or designs of others.

Also means a jailer, turnkey, or prison warden. Screw – One who squeezes all he can out of those with whom he has any dealings, an extortioner, miser. Scratch – To come to the encounter, begin a fight, i.e. Scraps – The dry, husky, and skinny residuum of melted fat. Scranch – To crunch, crack, or break any hard thing between the teeth. Scow – A large flat-bottomed boat, generally used as a ferry boat, or as a lighter for loading and unloading vessels when they cannot approach the wharf. Score Off – To get the best of one, especially in a verbal debate. “He got scooped into a poker game and lost his shirt.” School Ma’am or Marm – A school-mistress, teacher. Scoff away, scuff away – To blow away, drive away, impel. Scape-Grace – A term of reproach, a graceless fellow. Scape – Gallows – One who has escaped, though deserving of the gallows. Scalawag or Scallywag – A mean, rotten or worthless person. Scad – Large quantities, plenty, an abundance. Scab Herder – Derogatory term for sheep herder. Sawdust – Counterfeit gold-dust or money. To Saw – To hoax, to play a joke upon one. Savey or Sabby – Corrupted from the Spanish saber, to know.To know, to comprehend. Savanna – An open plain, or meadow without wood. Satinet – A twilled cloth made of cotton and wool. Santiago – Coronado’s favorite charge was “Santiago”, Spanish for St.James, Spain’s soldier saint. Salt-Water Vegetables – A term for oysters and clams. Salt-Lick – A saline spring, where animals resort for drink. Salting – Planting rich ore samples in an unprofitable mine to attract unwary buyers. Sakes Alive – The equivalent of “Good heavens!” Sagebrush Men – Cowboy who worked in the arid portions of Montana, Colorado and Wyoming. Sagamore – The title of a chief or ruler among some of the American tribes of Indians. Sadying – A simple and unaffected mode of dancing. Saddle Tramp – A cowboy who spends most of his time in the chuck line. Saddle Stiff – A cowboy, also referred to as “saddle warmer” and “saddle slicker.”

A “saddle stiff” driving the herd along the trail, 1905.

Trim and trail stock lingo