Learning The Lingo
Learning The Lingo
By Neal Torrey
(C) 2001 All Rights Reserved
Now cowboy poetry can be a lot of fun to listen to,
But to really understand it, you must know a thing or two,
About how cowboys talk, and the special lingo that they use.
When you hear how it came about, you won’t be so confused.
Now, let’s take that word lingo, there’s a story behind that.
It comes from Lingua Franca, which is a technical kind of chat.
You see, the cowboy sorta “borrowed” some terms form Mexico,
Fom the ones already herding cows, the Mexican Vaquero.
Now the “B” and “V” in Spanish tend to sound somewhat the same,
And if the cowboy couldn’t say it right, it got brand new name.
For example, the Mexican who herded cows was called a Vaquero.
But we couldn’t quite pronounce that, and it came out “BUCKAROO.”
Now, when it came to talking tack, the name changes came galore.
Fiador, which is Mexican for throat-latch, became the “THEODORE.”
And since Jaquima was hard to say, it wound up as “HACKAMORE.”
Mecate was chaged to ‘McCARTY”…and there were many more.
Lazo became “LASSO.” and, Caballo, the word meaning horse,
was changed to “CAVVIEYAH,” and thus was butchered even worse!
Bronco means rough or wild. “BRONC” was more the cowboy style.
And the vaquero’s Chaparejos beccame just “CHAPS” after a while.
Dar La Vuelta, to “give a turn,” bcame a “DALLY” around the horn.
Mesteno became “MUSTANG,” and a new cowboy word was born.
Estampida, a word in Spanish that means a loud noise,
Was changed to mean a runaway herd, a “STAMPEDE” to the cowboys.
Now when a cowboy celebrated, his tongue got somewhat loose.
Calabazo, the Spanish word for dungeon, became the “CALABOOSE.”
The Juzgado, the lock-up, was slurred and stirred somehow
To become the cowboys’ word for jail. They called it the “HOOSEGOW.”
Now that’s just the beginning; there’s no telling how far it will reach,
Because cowboys are still in business, making up new kinds of speech.
When he climbs on the “hurricane deck” of a “sunfishing crowbait,”
You may hear some language I haven’t even begun to investigate!
Now this kind of thing is catching, and somethings that you may say
Have seeped into the language and aree said the “cowboy way.”
Terms like “ear-marked,” “maverick,” “hung up” and “bawling out.”
All come from Cowboy Lingo. So, listen close, you’ll figure us out.
