Bunko Artist: A con man.

Burg: A town, rather than the common camps and small settlements.

Bushwhack: A cowardly attack or ambush.

Buzzard Food: Dead.

By Hook or Crook: To do any way possible.

Calaboose: Jail.

California Widow: A woman separated from her husband when he went out west, leaving her behind, but not divorced.

Catawampously: Fiercely or eagerly.

Celestial: A term used in the West to refer to people of Chinese descent; the word derives from an old name for china, the "Celestial Empire."

Chisel, chiseler: To cheat or swindle a cheater.

Chow: Food, dinner.

Chuck: Food.

Clean his/your plow: To get or give a thorough whipping.

Coffee Boiler: Shirker, lazy person that would rather sit around the coffee pot than help.

Consumption: Slang for pulmonary tuberculosis.

Copper a Bet: Betting to loose, or being prepared against loss. "I'm just coppering my bets."

Come a cropper: Come to ruin, fail, or fall heavily. "He had big plans to get rich, but it all became a cropper, when the railroad didn't come through."

Cooling yer heels: Staying for a while. "He'll be cooling his heels in the pokey."

Coot: An idiot; simpleton; a ninny.

Cold as a wagon tire: Dead.

Cotton to: To take a liking to.

Couldn't hold a candle to: Not even close. "She couldn't hold a candle to that beauty across the room."

Cowboy Up: Tuff-up, get back on yer horse, don't back down, don't give up, and do the best you can with the hand you're dealt, give it all you've got.

Crazy as a loon: Very crazy.

Croaker: Pessimist, doomsayer. "Don't be such an old croaker."

Crowbait: Derogatory term for a poor-quality horse.

Curly Wolf: Real tough guy, dangerous man. "Ol' Bill is a regular curly wolf, especially when he's drinkin' whiskey."

Cuss Words: The swear words back then are pretty much the same as they are now, though they were not used as prevalently back then. Profanity was frowned upon by polite society and old west cowboys rarely would swear in front of a lady.

Cut a Swell: Present a fine figure. "He sure is cutting a swell with the ladies."

Cutting Horse: A horse with the ability to cut cows out of a herd.

Daisy: Good; excellent.

Deadbeat: Bum, lay about, useless person.

Dickens: Devil, overmuch, allot: a word most often used in explanations of confusion or pain; "the dickens you say," or "it hurt like the dickens."

Dicker: Barter, trade.

Die-up: The deaths of several cattle from exposure, disease, starvation, or other widespread catastrophe.

Dinero: from the Spanish, a word for money.

Directly: Soon. "She'll be down, directly."

Dinero: From the Spanish, a word for money.

Dogie: An orphaned calf; by extension, any cattle.

Dog Soldiers: Part of the warrior society of some Plains Indian tribes.

Don't care a Continental: Don't give a damn.

Don't get your dander up: Anxious; excited.

Douse-the-Lights: Lights out. Time to hit the hay.

Down on: opposed to. "His wife is really down on drinking and cigars."

Doxology Works: A church.

Dragged out: Fatigued, worn out.

Dreadful: Very, a lot. "He's just got a dreadful amount of money."

Driving the Nail: A sport consisting of attempts to drive a nail into a post with rifle or pistol fire.

Dry Gulch: To ambush someone, especially when the ambusher hides in a gully or gulch near a road and jumps the passersby.

Ducky: Used in early century as term of endearment.