Western words

Do you know what they called cemeteries in the Old West? Find out now!

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Tarnation! I better get to the jaw cracker before I end up in the bone orchard! If you don’t know what this all means, don’t worry—we’re here to help! Cowboys in the Old West not only tamed the inhospitable land, but they also forged their own language. They created unrefined similes and metaphors, broke the rules of grammar, flooded figures of speech with humor, and made a verb out of anything. In this article, we review 12 expressions we inherited from the men and women who populated the American frontier—many of which we still use today. Giddyup!

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Yeehaw! Welcome to the rodeo! You probably know this one: "Yeehaw" is one of the most famous words in cowboy lingo. It’s an expression of excitement and celebration, usually pronounced by slurring the vowels in a loud shout of triumph. Have you ever used it?

"Yeehaw" is a combination of gee and haw, two words used to direct a horse to move. The term is believed to have originated in the southern United States and was later popularized by Western movies and television shows.

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Also thanks to Western movies, we all know what a saloon is. But where does the word come from? Saloons were the bars of the Old West, where cowboys, outlaws, gamblers, and miners went to have a drink, get a free lunch, catch some entertainment, and engage in a fight or two.

The word saloon appeared in America in the 1840s and derives from the French term salon, which in turn comes from the Italian salone, meaning "a large hall in a public place for entertainment or amusement."

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In its literal sense, the term _bellyache_—which has been in use in the English language since at least the mid-1500s—refers to a pain in the stomach. However, beginning in the 1880s, Americans gave it a figurative meaning.

As a slang word, bellyaching is used to describe someone who complains too often in an irrational or unjustified way to avoid responsibility. For instance, "Quit your bellyaching and take care of the horses once and for all" is a good example of how a cowboy might have used this term.

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This idiom is a Western variation of the popular expression "all bark and no bite." All hat and no cattle is used to describe a phony, pretentious person who talks a lot but does little. It can also refer to someone who has a way with words but can't deliver on their promises.

Its origin is probably related to people who wore cowboy hats as fashion, but who didn’t herd and tend cattle on a ranch for a living.

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Howdy is the quintessential cowboy greeting. Although it’s an expression characteristic of the Southern United States, howdy actually originated in late 16th-century England. It is a contraction of the phrase "How do ye?", which was commonly used to ask about someone’s health.

Today, howdy is used in many rural Southern and Western states—especially Texas—in casual contexts as a standard greeting instead of "hello."

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Do you have a friend or family member who talks and gossips non-stop? In the Wild Wild West, they would have said they are jawing.

The origin of this slang term is unclear, but since you need to open and close your jaw to speak, it makes sense that it became a verb used to describe someone who talks excessively. Have you ever used this term?

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And speaking of mouths—do you know what they used to call a dentist who traveled from place to place to relieve cowboys of their pain? Yeap, a jaw cracker!

We don’t know the exact origin of this slang term, but it’s pretty self-explanatory. It might sound a bit rowdy, but we can only imagine that Old West dentistry wasn’t for the faint of heart—especially since blacksmiths or barbers were often the ones tasked with pulling out a decaying tooth. No wonder frontier dentist Doc Holliday became a gunslinger!

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American slang is full of colorful phrases that help us express strong emotions without crossing the line into blasphemy. Heck, darn, gosh, and gee-whiz are just a few examples. Tarnation is another of these euphemistic expressions used to convey surprise or anger.

The term was coined in the late 18th century in America as a softened version of damnation, which was considered impolite at the time. Tarnation is a mix of darnation and tarnal, a shortened form of the word eternal.

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According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a tenderfoot is "an inexperienced beginner, a novice." Today, we use this term to describe someone who’s raw and unaccustomed to outdoor living or hard work. For example, a rookie starting a new job or a young football player might be called a tenderfoot.

Originally, a tenderfoot was an immigrant or newcomer who wasn’t used to the rugged pioneer lifestyle—especially the grueling labor of ranching and mining. It came into use in mid-19th century America as a pejorative way to describe newcomers to the West. Other colorful synonyms from the same period include pilgrim, Johnny-come-lately, mail-order cowboy, stringin’ a greener, and skim-milk cowboy, among others.

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In the Old West, desert canary was a slang term for a burro. But what exactly is a burro? A burro is a wild or feral donkey, valued for its sturdiness and reliability. These hardy animals were extensively used by miners and prospectors as pack animals, and by cowboys to guard livestock.

Burros played a vital role in frontier life, so why did they call them desert canaries? Simple, they are affectionately called this way because of their characteristic braying that could be heard all across the desert.

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The first thing most folks picture when they hear giddyup is a cowboy riding off into the sunset—and they wouldn’t be wrong. Giddyup originated in the Wild West during the 19th century as a command to instruct a horse to get going.

The term is likely a playful alteration of "get up," and it’s still used today in casual conversation to mean "let’s go" or "hurry up." Whether you're wrangling cattle or racing to catch a bus, giddyup gets the job done!

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Can you imagine what life was like in those lawless frontier towns? The Old West was surely a dangerous place where people experienced more than one way to die or get killed. So it’s no surprise that they had many colloquial ways of referring to the cemeteries.

Bone yard, boot hill, and grave patch were just a few of the grim nicknames for "cemetery" at that time. But our favorite is undoubtedly bone orchard. Pretty poetic for such a rough and hostile era, don't you think?

Words with no frontiers

A handful of words barely change across languages. Can you guess them?

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Every now and then, language brings us together. You can be pardoned for not knowing how to order dinner in Finnish or Dutch. But, most likely, any human will understand you if you say "pizza." Something similar would happen if you were trying to stop a "taxi", or if you were offered "chocolate." Can you guess these 15 words that are practically the same across languages?

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Music is the language of the soul, and apparently, of many tongues too. It traces back to the Greek mousikē, meaning "art of the Muses." The Romans borrowed it as musica, and, just like a catchy tune, it spread.

For example, in Italian, it’s still musica, and in Spanish it’s música. In French, musique, in Turkish müzik, and in Japanese ミュージック (myūjikku).

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This word comes from the Old Italian banca, meaning "bench," because medieval moneylenders did their business on benches in marketplaces. If they failed, their bench was broken—hence bancarotta, or "bankruptcy."

In French, it’s banque, in Spanish banco, in Italian banca, and in German Bank. Even the Dutch stick with bank. A word so universal, you could call it… currency.

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The good news is you will have no problem calling a taxi in several countries. How much they’ll charge you, however, will vary.

This word is short for taximeter, from the French taximètre, which itself comes from the Latin taxa (a "charge" or "fee").

In German, it’s Taxi, in Russian такси (taksi), in Indonesian taksi, and in Finnish, taksi. The French, ever stylish, also call it taxi too.

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This one is just as convenient. The word "hotel" comes from the French hôtel, which originally meant a mansion or townhouse, derived from the Latin hospitale (a place for guests).

It seems like the whole world agreed on the global concept of "mi casa es su casa." For example, in Italian, Indonesian, and Spanish, it’s hotel, in Turkish otel.

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The internet —the modern-day agora. Of course, it’s a recent term, one that transported itself until it became a universal word. As a result, the versions for it don’t vary much across the board.

It’s short for "interconnected networks", a term born in the 1970s. In German, it’s Internet, in French internet, in Japanese インターネット (intānetto), and in Finnish, Dutch, and Spanish, for example, it’s still "internet".

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The piano –both the instrument and the soft intensity– has been conquering souls for so many centuries, that many languages agreed to call it the exact same word.

Its full name, pianoforte, comes from Italian, meaning "soft-loud," because mechanically it could perform both, making it more nuanced than the harpsichord, its predecessor.

In Spanish, it’s piano, in French, it’s piano, in Norwegian, it’s _piano_… You get the idea. The Russians say пианино (pianino), but you would still understand it.

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Cleverly, your ticket to the world is called pretty much the same everywhere you travel.

It comes from the French passeport, literally meaning "pass through a port."

Most languages have a combination of "pass" and "port" in them, and some just reduce it to "pass". For example, in Italian, it’s passaporto, in Finnish passi, in Swedish it’s pass, in Indonesian paspor, and in Turkish, pasaport.

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Many cultures must agree that bananas are nature’s perfect snack. No need to change its fun label. It comes from the Wolof word banaana.

In German, it’s Banane, in French banane, in Japanese バナナ (banana), and in Finnish banaani. And it is exactly banana in endless others, like Spanish, Portuguese, Croatian, and Italian.

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The pizza —Italy’s gift to the world and the reason we all have a favorite topping. It comes from the Latin pinsa, meaning "flatbread."

In French, it’s pizza, in Turkish pizza, in Russian пицца (pittsa), and it’s piotsa in Gaelic. Different ways to pronounce similar sounds, really.

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The existing word was chosen to name the device invented in the 20th century. It comes from the Latin radius, meaning "ray" or "beam," referring to the waves it receives as signals.

In French, it’s radio, in Japanese ラジオ (rajio), in Finnish radio, and in Turkish radyo. Even in Swahili, it’s redio.

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"Safari" comes from the Arabic safar, meaning "journey," which traveled through Swahili before becoming a global term for wildlife expeditions.

The word gained popularity during the colonial era, when Europeans ventured into Africa to hunt (or, these days, photograph) the "Big Five."

In French, Indonesian, Spanish, Finnish, Hindi, and others, it’s safari. Few languages came up with an alternative term, really.

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Similarly to the radio, when photographs were invented, it was decided to name them with terms everybody could understand. This was to combine the Greek phōs (light) and graphē (drawing).

The invention of photography in the 19th century revolutionized how we capture memories, and the word itself became a global staple.

In French, it’s photo, in Japanese フォト (foto), in Turkish foto, and in Finnish valokuva. Well, you got us there. But the Finnish can also call it foto.

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It would be easy to ask for coffee everywhere in the world, and we are grateful for that. Imagine having to remember a contrite translation as soon as you wake up!

It comes from the Arabic qahwa, which originally referred to wine but later became associated with the energizing drink. The word traveled through Turkish kahve and Italian caffè before spreading worldwide.

In French and Spanish, it’s café, in Japanese コーヒー (kōhī), in Finnish kahvi, and in Indonesian kopi.

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They say that one out of ten people don’t like chocolate. That must mean that approximately 90% of the world enjoys it. And they all agree to call it the same name.

It comes from the Nahuatl word xocolātl, which the Aztecs used to describe a bitter drink made from cacao beans. Spanish conquistadors brought it to Europe, where it was sweetened and transformed into the treat we adore today.

In French, it’s chocolat, in Japanese チョコレート (chokorēto), and in Turkish çikolata. Even in Hindi, it’s चॉकलेट (chŏklaṭ).

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It’s no wonder, is it? One of the words that remains barely changed across languages has the Latin universus ("whole, entire") as its root.

It’s because, originally, the term was a phrase describing an academic institution: universitas magistrorum et scholarium ("community of masters and scholars").

In French you’d call it université, in Spanish universidad, in Italian università, in German Universität, and similarly on.