Americanism or American Slang

Quite a while ago I posted various chapters on Americanisms or Slang. Today's post is an index for all of the posts.

Starting with the Letter A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q-R

S Part 1

S Part 2

T

U

V

W

Y

There were no X's or Z's.

Americanisms beginning with the letter B

Continuing with Americanisms from the 19th Century the letter B. If you would like to see the entire listing for the letter B search for the "Dictionary of Americanisms ©1877

Babes. The name of a set of Baltimore rowdies.

Back, v. To back a letter is Western for to "direct" it.

Back is often used for ago; as in the phrase, "a little while back," i. e. "a short time ago."

Back and forth. Backwards and forwards, applied to a person in walking; as, "He was walking back and forth." A common expression in the familiar language of New England.

Backbone. Moral stamina, strength of will, firmness of purpose; the antithesis to doughface. A figurative expression recently much used in political writings.
Infirmity of purpose is the cause of more serious lapses of infirmity of principle. Men do not know how to resist the small temptations of life, from some deficiency in their dorsal arrangements; and the natural result is a departure from the right. Backbone is the material which is designed to make an upright man; and he must be firm on all points, if he would pass scatheless through the struggle of life. — The Republic, 1857.

Back Country. The interior and sparsely settled portions. See Backwoods.
To back down. To back out; to retreat.

Back out To give up.
Well, boys, you know Hoss Allen, — no back out in him, anyhow! — Hou AlUn, of Missouri,

Back Track. To take the back track is to retrace one's steps, to retreat; and hence is equivalent to to back out. Western.

To back Water, v. To retreat, or withdraw; a Western metaphor, derived from steamboat language.

Back-Log. A large piece of wood used in fire-places where wood is burned. Fore-sticks form part of the same fire.

Backward. Is sometimes used in the West for bashful, unwilling to appear in company, on the same principle as " forward" in correct language means the very contrary.

Bacon-Color. Being of a color of bacon.
Maria is eighteen years old, very likely; has a very pleasant countenance, light bacon-colored skin. Plato is nineteen years old, bacon-color and squarely built. — If. T. Tribune, Letter from Norfolk, May 19, 1862.

Bake-Oven. (Dutch.) This term is often used in the West for the simple word oven in a bakery. It is also applied to the iron bakepan.
Bake-Shop. The place where articles made by bakers are sold. Southern. As a general thing, the stores are closed; ... the bate-shops, however, seem to be driving a great business.—N. Y. Tribune, May 16, 1862, Letter from Norfolk, Va.
Balance. A mercantile word originally introduced into the ordinary language of life by the Southern people, but now improperly used throughout the United States to signify the remainder of any thing. The balance of money, or the balance of an account, are terms well authorized and proper; but we also frequently hear such expressions as the "balance of a speech;" "The balance of the day was idly spent;" "A great many people assembled at the church: a part got in, the balance remained without."
The yawl returned to the wreck, took ten or eleven persons and landed them, and then went and got the balance from the floating cabin. — Albany Journal, Jan. 7, 1846.
Most of the respectable inhabitants held commissions in the army or government offices; the balance of the people kept little shops, cultivated the ground, &c.— Williams's Florida, p. 115.
The boats of the South Ferry forced their way through the ice, and kept up their communication for the balance of the day. — New York Tribune.
The monopoly of the things of this world that are necessary to human subsistence by a few constitutes those few the masters of the balance of mankind. — The Suites ( Washington), March 26, 1858.

Bald-headed. To go it bald-headed; in great haste, as where one rushes out without his hat.

Bang up. Any thing of good quality; superior; first rate. "This cloth is bang up."

Beach-Combers. 1. The long waves rolling in from the ocean.
2. A term much in vogue among sailors in the Pacific. "It is applied to certain roving characters, who, without attaching themselves permanently to a vessel, ship now and then for a short cruise in a whaler, but upon condition only of being honorably discharged the very next time the anchor takes hold of the bottom, no matter where they are. They are, mostly, a reckless, rollicking set, wedded to the Pacific, and never dreaming of ever doubling Cape Horn again on a homeward-bound passage. Hence their reputation is a bad one." — Mellville, Omoo, p. 109. Beach Plum. See Sand Plum.

Beast A common name for a horse in the Southern and Western States. It is quite common to see in villages the invitation to travellers, "Entertainment for man and beast;" and in the Bible we read, "A certain Samaritan ... set him on his own beast."

Beef-Dodger. Meat biscuit. Comp. Corn-Dodger.

Bellows-Top. "When egg was beaten in it [flip], it was called bellowstop; partly, perhaps, from its superior quality and partly from the greater quantity of white froth that swelled to the top of it."—Joel Parker, Centennial Address, 1873.

Belly-Bender. Floating pieces of ice, or weak ice, which bend under one, as he passes from one cake to another. Boys take great pleasure in this precarious amusement. Belly-Bound. A sort of apple. (Fr. belle et bon.) Connecticut. Belly-Bumbo. A mode of sliding down hill by boys on their sleds,
when lying on their bellies. See Belly-Guts.

To best. To get the better of. "I've bested him more than he ever bested me."

Big Bugs. People of consequence. Probably the origin of this word lies hid in some anecdote that would be worth finding out.
Then we 'II go to the Lord's house, —I don't mean to the meetin' house, but where the nobles meet, pick out the big bugs, and see what sort o' stuff they 're made of. — Sam Slick in England, ch. 24.
These preachers dress like big bugs, and go ridin' about on hundred-dollar horses, a-spungin' poor priest-ridden folks, and a-eaten chicken-fixens so powerful fast that chickens has got scarce in these diggins. — Carlton's New Purchase, Vol. II. p. 140.
The free-and-easy manner in which the hare-brained Sir Robert Peel described some of the big bugs at Moscow has got him into difficulty. —N. Y. Times, February, 1857.
Miss Samson Savage is one of the big bugs, —that is, she's got more money than a'most anybody else in town. — Bedott Papers, p. 301.

Americanisms beginning with the letter A

I'm going to be sharing some Americanisms that were common during the 19th Century. Some we still use today, some we don't. As a writer I have a lot of fun with these kinds of word groupings. I hope you'll find them useful as well. Today we're starting with Americanisms that begin with the letter "A" I haven't [psted the entire listing of A's but a select group of them. If you would like to see the entire book it is available in Google books. "Dictionary of Americanisms, 2nd Ed." ©1877

About Right. To do a thing about right is to do it well.
I fell foul of the old mare; and if I di.ln't give it to her about right, then there's none o' me, that's all. — New England Stories.

Above one's Bend. Out of one's power. A common expression in the Western States. Above one's huckleberry is a vulgarism of the same signification.
I shall not attempt to describe the curiosities at Peale's Museum; it is above my bend. — Crockett, Tour down East.

Above Par. A term originally applied to stocks, but often transferred to other things which are superior; as, "This horse is above par;" "These goods are above par;" meaning that they are above the ordinary standard, better than common.

Above Snakes. Exaggerated cant for "from the ground," or more than above the ground.
Those two tall Kentuckians, with their tufted chins, somewhere about seven feet ab»re snakes. — Worthy's Travels in the United States.

According to Gunter. Gunter was a distinguished arithmetician, and the inventor of a chain and scale for measuring. The Laws of Rhode Island, both colonial and recent, referring to measures, say, "All casks shall be gauged by the rule commonly called 'gauging by Gunter.'" This refers to the instrument called "Gunter's Slide-rule," adapted for gauging. Hence anything correctly and properly done is said to be "according to Gunter."
Mr. K , a respected citizen of Detroit, has published a letter entirely exonerating General Cass from the charge of having defrauded his association in the land speculations. He is positive that all was done according to Gunter. — JV. F. Tribune.

The expression "according toHoyle" is also common; and an old fellow, who never played a game of whist in his life, always said "according to Hodge."

Aoross Lots. By short cuts, in the quickest manner.
I swore in Nauvoo, when my enemies were looking me in the face, that I would send them to hell across lots if they meddled with me. —Speech of Brigham Young, 1857.

Affinity. A man or a woman for whom one of the opposite sex feels a strong attachment, amounting to a passion; indeed, so strong is this passion claimed to be, that husbands leave their wives, and wives their husbands, for one for whom they possess a stronger affection, and between whom they pretend there is a stronger affinity. This individual they call their " affinity." The following example conveys the meaning of the word: —
"Ain't Theron Gusher a married man?" [inquired Josiah Allen's wife of Miss Betsy Bobbet].
"Oh, yes, pome."
"Some! " 1 repeated in a cold accent "He is either married, or he hain't married, one or the other;" and again I repeated coldly, "Is he a married man, Betsy?"
"Oh, yes, he has been a married man a few times, or what the cold world calls marrying, —he has got a wife now; but Ido not believe he has found his affinity yet, though he has got several bills of divorcement from various wimmen, trying tofind her."—Betsy Bobbet, p. 190.

After Night. After nightfall; in the evening; as, "A meeting will be held in the court-house after night." This expression is said to be peculiar to the Middle States. — Hurd's Grammatical Corrector.

All-Day. Continuing a whole day, able to work a whole day or every day; steady; strong. "An all-day horse," &c.

All Sorts of. A Southern expression, synonymous with expert, acute, excellent, capital. It answers to the English slang term bang-up or out-and-out. It is a prevalent idiom of low life, and often heard in the colloquial language of the better informed. A man who in New England would be called a curious or a smart fellow would in the South be called all sorts of a. fellow; expert in many ways.
She was all sorts of a gal, — there warn'tasprinklin' too much of her: she had an eye that would make a fellow's heart try to get out of his bosom, her step was light as a panther's, and her breath sweet as a prairie flower. — Robb, Squatter Life.

All-to-smash. Smashed to pieces. This expression is often heard in low and familiar language. It is an English provincialism. Mr. Halliwell says, that a Lancashire man, telling his master the milldam had burst, exclaimed, " Maister, maister, dam's brossen, and aw's-to-smash."— Archaic and Prov. Dictionary. See Smash.

Alley. 1. A place where the game of nine or ten pins is played ; usually called a nine or ten pin alley, and sometimes simply an alley.
2. An ornamental marble, used by boys for shooting in the ring, &c.; also called in England a taw. It is made of marble or of painted clay or of alabaster. In some cities, the boys call white marbles alleys.
Jim. I '11 give you a marble. I 'II give you a white alley. White alley, Jim! And it's a bully taw.— Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, p. 27.

Associated Press. A number of newspaper establishments in New York and elsewhere, which have entered into a joint arrangement for procuring telegraphic and other news to be equally furnished to them all, have assumed the name of " The Associated Press."

A-tremble. Trembling, quivering; deeply moved.
And beholding a noble and venerable tree, he says, "Oh, what majesty and glory! Five hundred years sit enthroned on the top of that monarch of the forest." And he feels himself all a-tremble. — The Independent, Aug. 14, 1862. Sermon by H. W. Blecher.

Avalanche. A Texan corruption of the French Ambulance. A spring wagon.

Awful. 1. Disagreeable, detestable, ugly. A word much used among the common people in New England, and not unfrequently among those who are educated. The expression "an aw/uMooking woman" is as often heard as "an ugly woman." The word is now more common in England than in the United States.
The country people of the New England States make use of many quaint expressions in their conversation. Every thing that creates surprise is awful with them: "What an awful wind! awful hole! awful hill! awful mouth! awful nose!" &c. — Lambert's Travels in Canada and the United States.
The practice of moving on the first day of May, with one half the New-Yorkers, is an awful custom. —Major Downing, May-day in New York.
2. Very great, excessive.
Pot-pie is the favorite dish, and woodsmen, sharp set, are awful eaters
Carlton, The New Purchase, Vol. I. p. 182.
It is even used in this sense adverbially, and with still greater impropriety, like many other adjectives. Thus, we not unfrequently hear such expressions as " an awful cold day."
There was Old Crane pokin' round among the gals, and mighty particular to Kezier Winkle. Ain't it ridiculous? I don't see what he could fancy about her. I never thought she was so awful handsome as some folks does. — Widow Bedott Papers.
3. Enormous, flagitious; as, "an awful crime." Awfully. 1. Exceedingly, excessively. Now an adjective of all work in English society. "O thanks very much! I'm so awfully obliged!" 2. Enormously. The chimneys were awfully given to smoking. — Carlton, New Purchase.

To axe. (Ang.-Sax., acsian, axian.) To ask. This word is now considered a vulgarism; though, like many others under the same censure, it is as old as the English language. Among the early writers it was used with the same frequency as ask is now. In England it still exists in the colloquial dialect of Norfolk and other counties. "A true-born Londoner," says Pegge, "always axes questions, axes pardon, and at quadrilles axes leave."

About East

I came across this expression from a book on Americanisms. Here's what it said:

About East.—To the frontiersman or pioneer, the Eastern or New England States are typical of all that he cherishes most and loves best. The vicissitudes of his rough Western life, the toil and hardships he has undergone while battling with nature and building up a new habitation far from the old homestead, all predispose him to turn with longing eyes and undying, though quaintly exaggerated love, to the East—the home of his fathers. A famous Yankee character (Major Jack Downing) makes use of the expression that he would "Go East of sunrise anyday to see sich a place." Everybody and everything connected with the East, i.e., his native land, is commendable. To his mind they cannot be surpassed —hence the things he would hold up to admiration he says are about East, i.e., "about right." Indeed, it is surprising what a strong hold this idea has upon the minds of men. Many a familiar phrase recalls the old times and the old folks to memory, which, in this respect, is evergreen. They talk of Going Down East, that is, to New England, while the DownEaster is neither more nor less than the pure and veritable Yankee.
Source: Americanisms ©1889

Unfortunately this was the only reference I found regarding this term. I found it in other books but always referring to a direction, not the term being quoted above.