THEM'S FIGHTING WORDS! by J.E.S. HAYS

Back in the day, a man usually tried to avoid a fight. Remember that easy access to firearms we discussed in a previous column. However, humans being human, arguments occurred. Here are some of the terms you’d have heard in such a situation.

Argufy - to argue, have weight as an argument; one of those pseudo-Latinate terms that sounded more educated than the original “argue”

Bad Box – a bad predicament, as in being caught inside a box with no way out

Blow: to taunt or ridicule; the image is of one person blowing hot words onto the other

Bobbery: a squabble, argument; possibly Anglo-Indian, from the Hindu “bap re” (a very disrespectful address, “Oh thou father!”)

Brush: a skirmish or fight; brush as in to brush past or touch up against

Bulldoze: to bully, threaten or coerce, thus a bulldozer is a large person who bulldozes; from the tendency of a bull to shove its enemies around with its horns

Bushwhack: a cowardly attack or ambush; the image is of hiding in the bushes to strike (“whack”) a person

Crawl his hump: to start a fight; the image is of a person crawling up a bull’s hump to irritate the animal

Cross-grained: troublesome, perverse; wood that is cross-grained is notoriously hard to work with

Cross-patch: ill tempered person; from “cross” meaning ill-tempered and “patch” meaning a fool

Crotchecal, crotchety: Cross, perverse, peevish; the etymology is unclear (“crotchet” meant a whim or fancy in the early 1800s)

Curly wolf: a rough, dangerous fellow; it is unclear why being curly would make a wolf more dangerous

Curmudgeon: an avaricious, churlish fellow; possibly from the Gaelic “muigean” meaning a disagreeable person, with “cur” meaning a dog

Dander: ire, irritation, temper, emotion; possibly from Spanish “redundar” meaning to overflow

Dry gulch: to ambush; the image is of laying in wait in a ravine and pouncing on someone

By the ears: in a quarrel or fight; as in holding someone by the ears and making them face off with you

Fight like Kilkenny cats: these were the famous mythical cats which fought until they were all torn into tiny scraps of fur

Fling: a sneer or contemptuous remark; the image is of flinging or tossing such remarks

Flunk out: to retire through fear, to back out; possibly from British slang “to funk” with the same meaning and based on the noun “funk” meaning distress

Frump: to mock or insult, can also mean a bad temper; possibly an imitation of a contemptuous snort

Get your back up: get angry; when an animal is ready to fight, it bows up its back to look larger

Hammer and tongs: went at it in a noisy, furious manner, as in a blacksmith using his tools on the anvil

High binder: dangerous and vicious man or horse; origins unclear

Kick up a row: a row is a disturbance

Knock galley west: to beat senseless; probably a sailing term meaning that something has been tossed quite a distance

Lacing, lashing: a beating, as in striking with a lash

Lambaste, lambasting: beat, a beating; from Scandinavian “lemja” meaning to beat and “baste” meaning to thrash

Lather: to beat, as beating a horse until sweat forms a lather

Let drive: let loose, discharge, as in a blow with a fist or a bullet from a gun

Lick: a blow, usually from the fist, thus a licking is a beating

Loo'd, looed: beaten or defeated; possibly from the name of a card game