Western Slang & Phrases - G

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A "galvenized Yankee," courtesy Library of Congress

G

Gad - Spur.

Gadabout - One who walks about without business

Gaff - To spur a horse.

Gal-Boy - A romping girl or tomboy.

Gallnipper - A large mosquito.

Gallowses - Suspenders, braces.

Galvanized Yankees - Former Confederate soldiers who served in the U.S. Army in the West following the Civil War.

Game Leg - A lame leg.

Gat - A gate or passage.

Gay Cat - One who cases banks and towns for future jobs

Gone Coon - A goner, past recover, a lost man. Also called a gone sucker and a Gone Goose.

Gone Goslin - Done for, doomed.

Gone Up the Flume - Yield, lost, dead.

Goney - A stupid fellow.

Gospel Mill - A church.

Gospel Sharp - A preacher.

Gotham - New York City.

Go the Big Figure or Whole Figure - To go to the fullest extent in the attainment of any object, do things on a large scale.

Got the Bulge - Have the advantage. "We'll get the bulge on him, and take his gun away."

Go the Whole Hog - Out and out in favor of anything. A softened form of the phrase is to go the entire animal.

Go Through The Mill - A metaphor alluding to grain which has been through the mill.

Grab a Root - Eat a meal, especially a potato.

Grab the Apple - Taking hold of the saddle horn to avoid falling off. Also called "grab the nubbin." In either case, this was not something a self-respecting cowboy wanted to be caught doing.

Grail - Small particles of any kind.

Granger - A derogatory term for farmer.

Grassed - To be thrown from a horse.

Grass Widow - A divorcee.

Greatle - A great while.

Greased Lightning - Anything very fast.

Greasy Belly - The camp cook.

Greenhorn - An easterner innocent of cowboy ways. Also referred to as greeners, green peas, and tenderfoots.

Greens - Leaves and green vegetables used for food.

Gringo - A derogatory word for Anglos. One source claims it comes from a shortening of the title of a popular song during the Mexican War: "Green Grow the Lilacs."

This cowboy done been "grassed," 1906, courtesy

Library of Congress.

This image available for photographic prints HERE!

Grist - A quantity or bunch. “There’s been a mighty grist of rain lately.”

Gritty - Courageous, spirited.

Grocery - A bar or saloon.

Grog – To seamen, gin and water, or any spirit and water.

Groggery - A bar or saloon.

Growlers - Buckets, cans, or pitchers carried by apprentices or children to the saloon to be filled with beer and returned to the workplace during the day. They were called "growlers" because of the grating noise when slid across the bar. Fetching the beer from the saloon in a growler was called rushing the growler, working the growler, or chasing the can.

Grub Pile - Referring to a meal or to the chuckwagon.

Grub Slinger - The cook; also referred to as grub spoiler or grubworm.

Grubstake - To provide the materials a prospector needs, including food and money, in return for a percentage of any claim that the prospector might find.

Grum - Surly; gloomy; glum.

Grunter - A hog.

G.T.T. - Gone To Texas. A common expression in use following the Civil War. People would find the letters G.T.T. carved into their doors, left by a kin. Many outlaws went to Texas.

Gull - A cheat, fraud or trick. Also, refers to a stupid animal or person, one easily cheated.

Gully Washer - A hard rain.

Gummy! - An exclamation.

Gump - A foolish person, a dolt.

Guttersnipe - A homeless child who roamed and slept in the streets.

Gut Hooks - Spurs, also called gut lancers.

Gut Line - Rawhide rope.

Gut Warmer - Whiskey.

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