Where'd That Come From

Ever wonder where some of our westernisms some from?

Well take the famous "Buckaroo" for example. Well that's a simple one. It is a mispronounciation of the spanish Vaquero" (cowboy) that just stuck. Same with "Calaboose." It comes from the spanish for jail or "calabosa."

Every wonder why they call the fancy rooms on a luxury liner or train "state rooms"? Well on the old Mississippi river boats in the 1800's the larger cabins were named, not numbered, and they were named after, that's right you guessed it, States of the Union. The Alabama suite, the New Yorker etc." Thus the stateroom.

How about the saying "Keep the bll rolling? It came from the 1840's first known political slogan - 'Tippecanoe and Tyler, too'. A song of the same name was considered to have sung Harrison into the presidency:

Don't you hear from every quarter, quarter, quarter,
Good news and true,
That swift the ball is rolling on
For Tippecanoe and Tyler Too.

Harrison's campaign literature referred to Victory Balls. These weren't, as we might expect, dance parties that celebrated his famous victory, but ten-foot diameter globes made of tin and leather, which were pushed from one campaign rally to the next. His supporters were invited to attend rallies and push the ball on to the next town, chanting 'keep the ball rolling'.

Hold your horses needs no explanation except to some modern techno nerd who doesn't know that before Henry ford we all rode horses.

"It's a cinch" is another westernism. The cinch is the leather or cloth belt that goes from one side of the saddle under the horses belly to the other side of the saddle to tighten things up. Whether the saying comes from this or not isn't definitive but it's a cinch it had something to do with it.

Xmas is Coming

Although not precisely a western in nature I felt I should share a great site with my readers. This story entitled A Very Shiny Nose is a wonderful e-book for the whole family.

A widowed veterinarian is unexpectedly called to the North Pole to try to cure one of Santa's reindeer. It seems that Rudolph's nose isn't glowing red as it should.

With only hours to go before Santa must fly for off in his sleigh, Dr. Jake must solve the riddle of why Rudy's nose glows and then fix it in time or there will be no Christmas.

And as if that isn't enough pressure for the poor veterinarian, he must also figure out a last minute special Christmas gift for his little daughter back home and at the same time come to terms with new feelings of romance he is developing for the beautiful girl he meets at the North Pole.

Sort of a cross between Miracle on 34th St and All Creatures Great and Small,
A Very Shiny Nose is destined soon to become a new Xmas classic.

Check out this holiday story from yours truly: A Very Shiny Nose