cowboy up

Bob Haas highbob at MINDSPRING.COM
Mon Feb 21 21:26:50 UTC 2000


Good ear, Greg.  That might be why the second use of "cowboy up" seemed to
particularly catch my ear.  Cool.  And I suppose you might be right about
COPS and cowboy up, but I would not be able to find out.  I'd have to cowboy
up myself, as I've only been able to watch COPS long enough to know that I
cannot watch it.  Too much pain and misery . . . concentrated.

> From: Greg Pulliam <pulliam at IIT.EDU>
> Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 14:36:58 -0600
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: cowboy up
>
> Actually, Bob, this was the second use of the term _cowboy up_ in
> that episode.  The first instance was just after the sketch artist
> was killed, about 25 minutes in.
>
> I agree--a great episode of this often-inspired show.
>
> I suspect if I watched COPS more often than I do (which is never), I
> might hear "cowboy up" more often.
>
>
>
>
> At 7:17 AM -0500 2/21/00, Bob Haas wrote:
>> To be more specific, Mulder tells a sheriff's deputy, locked in a room and
>> battling a monster that feeds on fear, to "cowboy up," which implies that he
>> needed to be brave, since that would defeat the monster.  Instead, the
>> deputy is saved by the rising sun.
>>
>> A truly inspired episode, at one point in the scene mentioned, Mulder
>> whispers intently to the deputy, "We've got the TV folks out here," or
>> something close to that in an attempt to shame the deputy to open the door.
>> Very dark and very funny.
>>
>> --
>>
>> bob
>>
>>> From: Greg Pulliam <pulliam at IIT.EDU>
>>> Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 00:48:48 -0600
>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>> Subject: cowboy up
>>>
>>> The X-Files on Sunday night had a crossover episode with Cops.  At
>>> one point, after someone is killed, one of the cops said something to
>>> the effect of, "Times like this, you gotta cowboy up, give 150%,
>>> catch the bad guys."
>>>
>>> -
>>> Greg
>>>
>>> greg at pulliam.org
>>> http://www.pulliam.org
>
> -
> Greg
>
> greg at pulliam.org
> http://www.pulliam.org



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