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Begins with “T”
Table Muscle – A pot belly.
Taffy – Flattery.
Tail-Race – The water course leading from a mill after it has passed the water-wheel.
‘Taint – A corrupt abbreviation for it is not.
Take French Leave – To desert, sneak off without permission.
Take on – Grieve. “Don’t take on so.”
The cowboys who worked for the Aztec Land & Cattle Company, known as the Hashknife Outfit, in Arizona “took the rag off” many other “saddle stiffs.” Photo, 1897.
Take the Rag Off – Surpass, beat all. “Well, if that don’t take the rag off the bush.”
Take the Starch Out – Extinguish one’s conceit, widely applied to weakening, refuting or deterioration.
Talk a donkey’s hind leg off – To talk with no purpose.
Talking-Iron – A gun or rifle, called also a shooting-iron.
Tall Hog at the Trough – Superior, outstanding, exudes leadership.
Tallow – Fat, whether on humans or animals.
Tally – To live tally is to live as man and wife though not married.
Tan Your Hide – Spanking. “I started raisin’ Cain, an my mama said she was going to tan my hide!”
Tangle-footed, tangle- legged – Drunk from bad whiskey.
Taos Lightening – A name given to any potent liquor.
Taps – To be on one’s taps is to be on one’s feet, on the move, ready to move.
Taradiddles – Falsehoods, traveler’s yarns or tales.
Tare, Tear – A frolic, spree, riot, bender, rampage.
Tarantula Juice – Cheap whiskey.
Tarnal – Yankee swear word.
Tarnation – A mild oath or explanation.
Tatch, Thatch – Hat.
Teapot – A depot or railroad station.
Tearin’ up Jake – Making a lot of noise. “He must be tearin’ up Jake out there!”
Tear Squeezer – A sad story.
Techy or Techy as a Teased Snake – Grumpy, irritable.
Tee-Total – Entirely, total.
Tee-Totaller – A thorough temperance man, who avoids every kind of ardent spirits, wine, and beer.
Tejas – When the Spanish first arrived in America, the present state of Texas was called Tejas, a Spanish version of a Caddo Indian word meaning “allies.”
Ten-cent Man – A small, narrow-minded, trifling man.
Ten Commandments – Fingers or nails.
Tenderfoot – A person new to the job, or a young person.
Tenderloin – The red-light commercial district of a town, featuring brothels.
Tendsome – Requiring much attendance, as, ‘a tendsome child.’
Ter – To
Texas Butter – Gravy made with flour, hot water, and fried steak grease.
Texas Cakewalk – A hanging.
That Dog Won’t Hunt – That idea or argument isn’t going to work. Or, the person saying it doesn’t believe what you’re saying. After I broke curfew for the second time and blamed it on my car catching fire, my daddy said to me, “Traci, that dog won’t hunt.”
There You Ain’t – Expresses a failure. The opposite of “There you are.”
Three Ways from Sunday – Moving quickly; high-tailing it out of there.
Three-by-nine smile – A laug or smile to the full extent on the jaws.
Three-legged Mare – Gallows.
Throw Off on – Make fun of.
Throw up the sponge – Quit, give up, surrender.
Thundering – Very, exceedingly.
Thumb Buster – Single action six-gun that required cocking.
Thumper – A gross falsehood.
Thumping – Very large.
Tied Up – Given over, finished.
Tiger Town – Refers to an alley, street or district that had many gambling halls where Faro was played. Also referred to as “Tiger Alley.”
Tight – Drunk
Tightener – A hearty meal.
Tile Loose, Tile Off – Slightly deranged. Also “slate loose.”
Tilt On – to come across, meet.
Old 76 Still, advertising focused on “tiplers,” Strobridge & Co. between 1850 and 1900.
Timbers – Legs. Also “stems” or “pegs.”
Tin – Money.
Tin-horn Lot – A term used to express contempt towards a small-minded or mean fellow.
Tinker’s News – News that has already been heard or told before.
Tippery – Payment
Tie To – Rely on. “He’s a man you can tie to.”
Tight Scrouging – Hard squeezing. Said of anything difficult to accomplish.
Tipple – Drink liquor.
Tin – A slang word for money. ‘Kelter,’ ‘dimes,’ ‘dough,’ rocks,’ and many other words are used in the same manner.
We never put tin on a horse to win,
Lack of oof explains it partly,
But the horse that will be in the final three,
Is the one that races Smartley.
— Sporting Times.
Tiswin – A kind of weak beer brewed from corn, popular among the Apache.
Titivate – To dress up.
Tit For Tat – I shall treat you as you treat me.
Titter – An eruption on the skin.
Toad Strangler – Heavy rain.
Toddle, Tortle, Turtle – To be off.
Toddy – A kind of punch made of rum, water, sugar, and nutmeg.
Toff – A dandy, a swell, one who dresses well. “Toffer” is the female version.
Toggery, Togs – Clothing.
To Rights – In the proper way.
Tote – A hard drinker.
To Toll – To entice, to lead on. Western.
Tombstones – Large teeth.
Tongs – A name for pantaloons and roundabouts formerly in use in New England.
Tongue Oil – Strong liquor.
Tonsil Paint – Liquor, also referred to as “tonsil varnish.”
Too Big For His Breeches – Said of a man who is above his business, arrogant, haughty.
Too Much Mustard – A braggart.
Topping – Elegant, swell, great.
NOW IN A BOOK FORM
More Terms, Expanded Definitions + Reverse Lookup + More Pictures
Top-sawyer – Denoting excellence, superiority
Tornado Juice – Whiskey.
Tottie – A fast girl.
Tottle, Tottlish – To walk unsteadily.
Towelling – Thrashing, beating.
Trace – A trail or path.
Trailing – Moving cattle from one location to another.
Train Up – Hurry.
Trampous, Trampoose – To walk, to lounge or wander about, to tramp.
Tranklements, trollybobs, trollybags – Entrails, intestines.
Traps – Goods, household stuff, baggage.
Trat – A pretty girl.
To Tree – To take refuge in a tree, usually said of a wild animal. To tree oneself, is to conceal oneself behind a tree.
Trickly – Tricklish, practicing tricks.
Tricks – Ones personal belongings.
Trig A Wheel – To stop a wheel so as to prevent its going backwards or forwards
Trimmings – Bread and butter and other necessary eatables for the tea-table.
Trotter Boxes, Trotter Cases – Shoes or boots.
Trounce – To beat
Truckage – The charges for carrying on a truck, the cartage.
Truk, Trug – A prostitute of the lowest class. Usually dirty, slatternly.
Tub-thumping – Street preaching.
Tuckered Out – Tired out, fatigued.
‘Twa’n’t – It was not.
Twig – Observe, understand.
Twist – A good appetite. Also to outlaws, it means to hang.
Twistical – Tortuous, unfair, not quite moral.
Twisting the Tiger’s Tail – Playing Faro or poker. Also referred to as “bucking the tiger.”
Twofer – A loose woman.
Two Whoops and a Holler – Not far away.
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