Civil War/Old West slang

Eating irons - Knife and fork
Paddy - Irishman
Bunko - Lies
Flannel mouth - Smooth talker
Whole caboodle - Everything
Dry gulch - Ambush

An Arkansas toothpick in not a Bowie Knife. It's a big knife in the shape of a dagger with equal sides. A Bowie knife (created by James Black who also created the Arkansas Toothpick) was created to give the knife a heavy topside for slashing like a cleaver. The designs are totally different. Just helping out. 

A bit off topic, but slang related;

My great grandpa was always known in the family as 'Frenchy Joe'. An uncle told us it was because he had a cleft palate and couldn't speak properly (ie sounded foreign).
But I read "Memoirs of an Eighteenth Century Footman" by John Macdonald, and the author is nicknamed in the early 1760s 'French Macdonald' because he was a bit of a babe magnet.
Now my great grandpa is also remembered for having a few extra marital affairs, so it seems his nick name was for a similar reason. Anyone else heard of this slang term?

Edited by Sidney - 12-Feb-2012 at 21:25

What happened if a "galvanised Yankee" was captured by the rebels? Would he be executed as a traitor? It would also be interesting to find out how they were treated after the war: how many were murdered or forced to leave by vengeful neighbors?

Originally posted by Sidney A bit off topic, but slang related; My great grandpa was always known in the family as 'Frenchy Joe'. An uncle told us it was because he had a cleft palate and couldn't speak properly (ie sounded foreign). But I read "Memoirs of an Eighteenth Century Footman" by John Macdonald, and the author is nicknamed in the early 1760s 'French Macdonald' because he was a bit of a babe magnet. Now my great grandpa is also remembered for having a few extra marital affairs, so it seems his nick name was for a similar reason. Anyone else heard of this slang term?

"Frenchified" is also slang for a venereal disease

Originally posted by Snafu There's a great slang dictionary from the old east called the Rogue's Lexicon. It was written by the police chief of New York city in 1859 and was used by his officers to decode the heavy slang language of the criminal underworld (anyone who has seen Gangs of New York will recognize many of the terms. Some of them are even still with us) It's still in print and worth checking out if your a slangophile.

Look what i've found
http://archive.org/stream/cu31924073798740#page/n9/mode/2up

California collar: Hangman's noose
Arizona tenor: Tuberculosis patient
Woolies: Chaps retaining the goat's hair
Buck out: Die
Sow-belly: Salted pork
Longhorn: Experienced (no longer a greenhorn)
Catawumpusly: Eagerly
Equalizer: Revolver
Big 50: .50-90 caliber Sharps rifle

Possum - Buddy
Joy juice - Liquor
Sawbones - Surgeon
Company Q - Sick list
Yellow Hammer - Alabaman
Hospital rat - Malingerer

Wallpapered - Drunk (the origin of "getting plastered" perhaps?)
Bully - Hurrah!
Grab a root - have dinner (almost certainly potato)
Bark juice - Strong liquor
Jayhawked - Stolen property
Braxton Bragg's Bodyguard - Lice
Going down the line - Visiting the brothel
Fancy girl - Whore