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Begins with “L”
One of the many “ladies of the line.”
Lacing – A beating. He took a lacing at the hands of the bully.
Ladies of the Line – Prostitutes.
Lag – Prisoner, convict.
Lagger – Sailor
To Lam – To beat soundly.
Lambasting – A beating, a thrashing.
Lammy – A blanket.
Landed – When a person has amassed a fortune large enough to keep him for the rest of his life.
Land-Loper or Land-Lubber – A vagrant, one who strolls about the country
Lands Sakes! – A more socially acceptable alternative for “Lord’s sake.”
Lapper – A hard drinker.
To Lass -Catch with a lasso, lariat, or reata.
Lasso – A long rope or cord, with a noose, for the purpose of catching wild horses or buffalo on the Western prairies.
Latchpan – Lower lip
To Lather – To beat.
Lathy – Thin, slender like a lath.
Latish – Rather late.
Latty or Letty – A bed.
Laudanum – Not exactly slang, but what is it? Often utilized by the “painted ladies” in the West, laudanum was opium mixed with liquor.
Lay – Price, terms, salary. “He bought a large herd of cattle at a good lay. Also used to describe a cowboy’s bed.
Lead Plumb – A bullet.
Lead Poisoning – Shot. “He died of lead poisoning.”
Lead Plumb – A bullet.
Lead Pusher – A gun.
Leafless Tree – Gallows.
Leap the Book – An illegal or false marriage.
Leather-necks – Soldiers
Leg Bail – To give leg bail is to run away.
Left-handed Wife – Mistress.
Leggins – South Texas term for chaps.
Let Drive – To let fly, to let slip. To discharge, let loose a blow with the fist, a stone, a bullet from a gun, etc.
Let Her Rip – Let it go.
Let On – To mention, disclose, betray a knowledge.
Let Out – To begin a story or narrative.
Let Up – To let up is to release, a relief. “Thank Goodness, the rain finally let up.”
Lick – Molasses.
Lick – A blow.
Lick or Salt Lick – A place where wild animals lick for salt — usually a salt spring.
Lickety Split – Headlong, at full speed.
To Lick – To beat.
Lickfinger – To kiss ass. Also called “lickspittle.”
Licking – A flogging, a beating.
Lickspittle – A mean parasite, one who will stoop to any dirty work
Lief or Lieve – Willingly, gladly.
Like Bricks – Quickly, with energy.
Life Preserver – A gun.
Light (or lighting) a shuck – To get the hell out of here in a hurry. “I’m lightin’ a shuck for California.”
Light On – To fall on, to come to by chance, to happen to find.
Lights or Top Lights – Eyes.
Like a Thoroughbred – Like a gentleman.
Like lickin’ butter off a knife – Something that is easy; not hard.
Lincoln Skins – Greenbacks.
Line Camp – Crude shacks or camps on the outermost boundaries of a ranch.
Line Rider – Cowboys guarded the ranch boundaries. Also called outriders.
NOW IN A BOOK FORM
More Terms, Expanded Definitions + Reverse Lookup + More Pictures
Lining the Flue – Eating.
Lily Liver – Someone who is a coward.
Limsy – Weak, flexible.
Lincoln Skins – Greenbacks.
Linsey Woolsey – A corruption of linen and wool. Material made of linen and wool mixed, a light or coarse stuff. “He gave them coats of linsey woolsey, which were good and warm for winter, and good and light for summer.
Little End of the Horn – To come away from a situation at a disadvantage. The same as “short end of the stick.
Lizzy – Saddle horn.
Llano Estacado – The dry, treeless plains of Texas and New Mexico, also called the “Staked Plains.”
Loaded for Bears – Lightly intoxicated.
Loaded to the Gunwhales – Full out drunk.
Loblolly – Mud hole.
Lock, Stock, and Barrel – The whole thing, the whole “kit and caboodle.”
Loco – Crazy.
Logy – Slow-moving, dull, awkward.
Loller – Live, sportive damsel.
Lone Star – An independent cowboy.
Long And Short – The end, the result, the upshot. “That’s the long and short of the subject.”
Longrider – An outlaw, someone who usually had to stay in the saddle for an extended period of time while on the run from a crime.
Loo’d, looed – Beaten or defeated.
Lookin’ at a Mule’s Tail – Plowing.
Lookin’ to Die – Seriously ill.
Look-See – To investigate. “I think I’ll go have a look-see across that hill.”
Looseness – Freedom. “He spoke with a perfect looseness.”
Lope – A leap, a long step.
Lotion – A drink.
Louse Cage – Bunkhouse.
Love Apples – Canned tomatoes.
Love Lick – Rough caress.
Lucky – Escape, run away. “We might have got into trouble if we hadn’t made our lucky.”
Doc Holliday was a “lunger”.
Lunger – Slang for someone with tuberculosis.
Lunkhead – A horse of inferior breed or appearance.
Lunk-headed – Idiotic, senseless.
Lynching Bee – A hanging
Lubber – A sturdy man, idle, fat, bulky fellow
Luddy Mussy! – Lord, have mercy! An exclamation of surprise.
Lush-crib – A saloon or tavern.
Lushington – A drunk.
Lynching Bee – A hanging.
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