Chuckwagon: Cowboy Slang

Cowboys are noted for developing their own vocabulary, known as Cowboy Slang.  Sometimes it was because they couldn’t pronounce the word correctly as used in the language of origin.  They were famous for perverting Spanish words.  Cowboys also named items because the item reminded them of something else.  However they came about, cowboys had a vocabulary that was colorful and their own.  Below are some cowboy slang words used in reference to chuck, or for the non-cowboy, food, while they were on the trail.

• • Calf Slobbers – Meringue on a pie.
  • Fried Chicken – Bacon rolled in flour and fried.
  • Chuck Wagon Chicken – Fried bacon.
  • Charlie Taylor – A substitute for butter. A combination of molasses and bacon grease.
  • “Man at the Pot!” – Term yelled at a person pouring himself a cup of coffee. A cowboy’s way of saying, “Pour me a cup too.”
  • Spotted Pup – Cooking raisins in rice.
  • Stacked to a fill – Compliment to the chief following a great meal.
  • Dry Camp – A camp that has no water available.
  • Prairie or Mountain Oysters – Calf’s testicles.

*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.