1. A party
   A funeral
2. A scam
   A violent fight

In the Old West, a hoedown could refer to any party or celebration. People might have drunk Jack of Diamonds, what they called rye whiskey, at a ho down.

1. Water
   Prayer
2. Whiskey
   Lighter fluid

People of the Old West loved their whiskey. It was also called Kansas Sheep Dip.

1. An ax
   Whiskey
2. Tobacco
   A gun

The Colt Single Action Army Revolver was introduced in 1873. Called The Peacemaker, this gun is one of the most iconic of the Old West.

1. Angry
   Kind
2. Crazy
   In love

There were a lot of ways to say that someone acted strangely in the Old West. Someone could be off their nut, off their rocker or off their chump.

1. Smoke
   Drink
2. Eat meat
   Get in fights

This bit of slang has stuck around. A tee-totaller does not drink any kind of alcohol.

1. They hate it.
   They need it.
2. They want it.
   They are scared of it.

This Old West expression has stuck around. To have a hankering for something means to want it badly.

1. Lost
   Broke
2. Incredibly unlucky
   Very ugly

This is a fun insult from the era. It was used to express that someone was incredibly ugly.

1. Die
   Grow up
2. Leave
   Cry

This is the Old West version of scram. It may be an English twist on the Spanish "vamos" which means "let's go."

1. Sleeping in
   Wasting their time
2. Overeating
   Screaming

Barkin' at a knot meant to do something useless or try to do something impossible. It could also just refer to flat out wasting time.

1. A new cowboy
   A wealthy rancher
2. A politician
   A female cattle rustler

While the most iconic image of the Old West is of a cowboy wandering the planes alone, that is not entirely accurate. There were numerous female cowgirls and outlaws roaming the Wild West.

1. Hat
   Horse
2. Gun
   Knife

Innovations in gun-making made them far more inexpensive and widely available than ever before during this era. Almost everyone on the frontier had an equalizer of some kind, and the cheapest ones were widely called "Suicide Specials."

1. Eastern cities
   Asia
2. The deep south
   Europe

Eastern city folk who didn't know anything about cowboy ways were called greenhorns. They were also called green peas and tenderfoots.

1. Lost
   Stupid
2. Asleep
   Very drunk

Drinking was a big part of the way of life of the Old West. There were numerous slang words for both different types of alcohol and being drunk.

1. Do them a favor
   Marry them
2. Kill them
   Cheat them

To rook someone is to dupe or cheat them. This was common due to the prevalent crime of the Old West.

1. Rich
   Eccentric
2. Quiet
   Wise

Back in the day, there were many ways to say that a person was odd. These include queer fish, odd fish and odd stick.

1. A late lunch
   A beating
2. An arrest
   A nap

A lambasting is a thrashing or beating. To lam someone is to beat them.

1. Stupid
   Black out drunk
2. Pious
   Broke

People flocked to the frontier to seek their fortunes and better opportunities. However, between gambling, the harsh climates, crime, and all of the dangers of the frontier, it was far easier to lose money than make it.

1. A cocktail
   A knife
2. A compass
   A gun

An Arkansas toothpick was a long, sharp knife. They could also be referred to as a Missouri or California toothpick.

1. Slept all day
   Kept night watch
2. Only worked at night
   Could fly

While on a cattle drive, one unlucky cowboy would have to keep watch all night while the others slept. He was called a nighthawk.

1. Partying out in the town
   Drinking
2. Dying
   Throwing up due to illness

This phrase from the Old West has stuck around. It means to head out into town for a wild time.

1. Dog
   Gun
2. Flask
   Wife

A man back in the day might have referred to his wife as his rib. This likely is a reference to the story of Adam and Eve.

1. Spoiled
   Wealthy
2. Sick
   Homeless

The Old West was an unforgiving place full of dangers. Many children on the frontier became homeless orphans who lived in the streets.

1. Jailer
   Lost cause
2. Yes man
   Farmer

Jailers and prison wardens were called screws. The word could also be used to describe someone who tries to get all they can out of everyone they deal with or a miser.

1. Sadistic
   Trigger happy
2. Brilliant
   Out looking for trouble

A lot of Old West slang is gun-related. A cowboy might have said "Look out for Daniel, he's on the shoot tonight."

1. In good condition
   For yourself
2. Closed
   A secret

If someone in the Old West told you something and then told you to keep that dry, you better not tell anyone. It meant to keep something a secret.

1. Gotten pregnant
   Rejected him
2. Yelled at him
   Thrown him out

Back in the Old West, a woman who rejected a man's proposal or broke up with him would have done this. For example: "After Annie caught Jeb with Elle, she gave him the mitten."

1. Strong
   Watery
2. Expensive
   A compliment

While there is not as much coffee slang as alcohol-related slang from the era, there is some. Six-shooter coffee was incredibly strong.

1. Not pay for a drink
   Die
2. Make love
   Strike gold

This is a particularly fun slang phrase of the era. It meant to walk into a saloon, order a drink and walk out without paying for it.

1. Root vegetables
   Steak
2. Porridge
   Sausage

This is a similar to mystery meat. If people were eating sausages but didn't know what kind of meat was in them, they would call them mysteries.

1. Still alive
   Untrustworthy
2. A man of god
   Kind

If you are above snakes, you are above ground. This means you are still alive.

1. A scarf
   A weapon
2. A story
   A child

This one has not quite been forgotten. This is why to spin a yarn means to tell a story.

1. Weak
   Talented
2. Easily led
   Stupid

If someone on the frontier called someone else a saphead, they did not think very highly of their intelligence. Other insults include scamp and scape-grace.

1. Old cowboy
   Outlaw
2. City person
   Foreigner

In the Old West, outlaws were called longriders. This is because they would have to ride long distances while on the run from the law.

1. Scare them
   Steal from them
2. Humiliate them
   Owe them a lot of money

This word could mean to frighten or alarm someone. There was a lot to be frightened of on the frontier.

1. Widows
   Dead men
2. Illness
   Marriage

This refers to the bodies of those who died in the night and are found in the streets in the morning, or who died in saloons the night before. The night after a shootout where two men died, someone in a saloon might have said that the saloon had two men for breakfast.

1. Fry
   Bake
2. Boil
   Toast

If you were a wild west bandit running from the posse, you probably didn't think too much about how your horse was doing. Back then, a horse ridden until it was overheated or exhausted was said to be baked.

1. On a lady
   On a shelf
2. In a barn
   On a poker table

Starting in the mid-19th century or so, women began adding pads or cushions under their dresses to lift the fabric up and create a stylish figure. This feature was actually particularly practical on the crude dirt roads way out west, where the bustle also kept the back to the dress hem from dragging in the dirt. Bustles got larger and more complex before the fashion faded out by the early 1900s.

1. Barrens
   Badlands
2. Bangtails
   Bottoms

In western slang, the word bottoms or bottom-lands referred to rich soil, particularly that desirable soil along a riverbank. Barrens or Badlands typically referred to land where nothing much would grow, making it a poor choice for those seeking to start a farm.

1. He looked sharp.
   He was rich.
2. He had two guns.
   He was at the morgue.

Today, you might tell someone wearing a fancy new outfit that they are dressed to kill. A little over a century ago, however, the phrase meant something totally different. A wild west cowboy would use the phrase to describe someone who was equipped with a pair of guns....because he was actually preparing to kill.

1. Eating
   Singing
2. Lying
   Buying so many cats

Caterwauling is one of those totally fun bits of old west lingo because it sounds so different from many of the modern terms you're probably used to. Back in the day, this term usually referred to terrible singing, but could also be used to reference complaining or whining.

1. Shooting the air
   Riding the rails
2. Beating the water
   Burning the breeze

Back before cars and trains, horses were pretty much the only way to travel on land. If you had to get somewhere quick, you'd burn the breeze....or ride your horse at speeds that would make Kentucky Derby winners jealous.

1. Poker
   Cemetaries
2. Churches
   Schools

If you are bucking the tiger (that's playing poker for you city folks), you'd want to beware the dead man's hand. Generally thought to consist of two black aces and two black eights, it's rumored to be the hand Wild Bill Hickock was holding when he was gunned down in Deadwood in 1876.

1. Buzzard bait
   Makins
2. Scamper juice
   Prairie coal

When you're riding out where the buffalo roam, there's plenty of dried manure left dotting the pasture. These dried hunks of waste were known as prairie coal to the cowboys of old, and were used to fuel fires for cooking and warmth.

1. Shakes
   Bangtails
2. Slapjacks
   Easgles

A wild horse yet to be tamed was known as a bangtail, while a bucking horse of any type was called a boil over. It would take a real bronco buster, or determined cowboy skilled at taming horses, to make these steeds suitable for ownership by average folks.

1. They were super evil,
   They were genuine.
2. They were a thief.
   They were on the run.

Way back in 1717, a play called "A Bold Stroke for a Wife" hit it big in England. It provided the world with the phrase Simon pure, meaning genuine, authentic or the real deal. The term spread across the Atlantic and was common in old west speech.