[Ads-l] Cowboy Proverbs/Sayings
Jonathan Lighter
wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Fri Apr 18 19:00:06 UTC 2025
1913 _Sunday Tribune_ (L.A.) (Jan. 5) VII 13 [Newspapers.com]: "There
ain't no horse what can't be rode,/ There ain't no rider what can't be
throwed." This was the reply of "Wild Horse" Hill of Blythe yesterday....
JL
On Tue, Mar 13, 2007 at 2:21 PM Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Re: Cowboy Proverbs/Sayings
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I was once a major fan of pulp fiction, especially science-fiction,
> westerns, and Tarzan-esque jungle stories. So, strictly speaking, I
> didn't come across my version in a book. Rather, it was in a
> pulp-fiction magazine of cowboy stories. At that time, ca.1945-1950, I
> literally judged a book - well, a pulp-fiction mag, anyway - by its
> cover. Hence, there's no possibility that I might recall the name of
> the mag, unfortunately.
>
> -Wilson
>
>
> On 3/13/07, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> > Subject: Re: Cowboy Proverbs/Sayings
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I know it as "There ain't no horse that can't be rode, / There ain't no
> man that can't be throwed."
> >
> > Am pretty sure it's in Ramon Adams's _Western Words_ (1944), if not in
> his earlier _Cowboy Lingo_ (1936).
> >
> > JL
> >
> > Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > Poster: Wilson Gray
> > Subject: Re: Cowboy Proverbs/Sayings
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > East Texas being cotton, sugar cane, lumber, and oil country, the only
> > (supposed) cowboy sayiing that I know is:
> >
> > There never was a horse that coudn't be rode.
> > There never was a man that couldn't be throwed.
> >
> > I read it in some book of cowboy stories, back in the 'Forties.
> >
> > -Wilson
> >
> > On 3/13/07, Bapopik at aol.com wrote:
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > > Poster: Bapopik at AOL.COM
> > > Subject: Cowboy Proverbs/Sayings
> > >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > I'm having trouble finding historical citations for a lot of these
> alleged=20
> > > cowboy proverbs/sayings.
> > > ...
> > > ...
> > > ...
> > > Horse Quotes, Hors=
> > > e=20
> > > Sayings, Horse Proverbs
> > > Never approach a bull from the front a horse from the rear and a fool
> from=20
> > > any direction. Old cowboy saying, wise, simple and true.
> > > ...
> > > ...
> > > Anne Johnson
> > > There's an old cowboy saying that in his lifetime, a cowboy should
> have one=
> > > =20
> > > good horse, one good dog, and one good woman. A judge friend of mine
> added=20=
> > > to=20
> > > that one time saying all a woman needs is a good horse and a good dog!
> Well=
> > > ,=20
> > > if that's true, I have succeeded.
> > > ...
> > > ... =20
> > > Stay in the Saddle=
> > >
> > > 12/20/2006
> > > (...)
> > > There=E2=80=99s an old cowboy saying that says, =E2=80=9CIn a
> lifetime, you=
> > > =E2=80=99ll have one=20
> > > good mate, one good dog, and one good horse=E2=80=9D
> > > ...
> > > ...
> > > Skip on Hippie Fashions<=
> > > /a>
> > > This is a story published in the New York Sun, on July 25, 2002. I
> was=20
> > > interviewed by email and was featured in this fashion piece.=20
> > > (...)
> > > So what does Ms. Raine think of high-falootin=E2=80=99 designers like
> Ralph=
> > > Lauren=20
> > > and Hogan =E2=80=94 not to mention celebrities such as Madonna
> =E2=80=94 co=
> > > pping her style?=20
> > > After all, there=E2=80=99s an old cowboy saying: =E2=80=9CIf you climb
> in t=
> > > he saddle, you=20
> > > better be ready for the ride.=E2=80=9D
> > > ...
> > > ...
> > > > href=3D"
> http://www.filmvault.com/filmvault/austin/d/dillscallion2.html">Aust=
> > > in Chronicle (10-11-99)
> > > There's an old cowboy saying: "Any cowboy can carry a tune. The
> trouble=20
> > > comes when he tries to unload it."
> > > ...
> > > ...
> > > Retracing the=20
> > > Spanish Trail
> > > There=E2=80=99s an old cowboy saying that =E2=80=9Conly cattle know
> why the=
> > > y stampede and=20
> > > they ain=E2=80=99t talking=E2=80=9D.=20
> > > ...
> > > ...
> > > Gregory R. Ford & Associates,=20=
> > > =20
> > > Inc.
> > > _"Admire a big horse. Saddle a small one."_=20
> > > (ftp://grfordassociates:floyd@swiftsite.com/grfpartner.html)=20
> > > ...
> > > ...
> > > > href=3D"
> http://www.cattletoday.com/archive/2000/July/Cattle_Today101.shtml">=
> > > Cattle Today (July 2000)
> > > There's a lot of truth in the old cowboy saying that the fastest way
> to mov=
> > > e=20
> > > cows is slowly.
> > > --Old Cowboy Saying=20
> > > ...
> > > ...
> > > ...
> > > _
> http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/its_the_last_thing_you_take=
> > > _o
> > > ff_and_the_first_thing_that_is_noticed_cowboy_/_=20
> > > (
> http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/its_the_last_thing_you_take=
> > > _off_and_the_first_thing_that_i
> > > s_noticed_cowboy_/)=20
> > > ...
> > > =20
> > > =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s the last thing you take off and the first thing
> that i=
> > > s noticed=E2=80=9D=20
> > > (cowboy hat)
> > > =20
> > > "It=E2=80=99s the last thing you take off and the first thing that is
> notice=
> > > d=E2=80=9D is =20
> > > supposed to be an old cowboy proverb about the cowboy hat, but only
> recent =20
> > > citations seem to exist.=20
> > >
> > >
> > > _Google Books_=20
> > > (
> http://books.google.com/books?vid=3DISBN1586852582&id=3D9Fmyk73jqYgC&pg=3DP=
> > >
> A8&lpg=3DPA8&ots=3D5Uxzp5NdwC&dq=3D"old+cowboy+saying"&ie=3DISO-8859-1&sig=
> > > =3DSHr
> > > V8659RmxUKaooeI9UKGFzPZo) =20
> > > The Cowboy Hat Book=20
> > > by William Reynolds and Ritch Rand =20
> > > Gibbs Smith=20
> > > 2003=20
> > > Pg. 8:=20
> > > As the old cowboy saying goes, It=E2=80=99s the last thing you take
> off and=
> > > the=20
> > > first thing that is noticed.=20
> > >
> > > _Cowboy Hats in History_ (http://www.cowboyhathistory.org/) =20
> > > Cowboy Hats in History=20
> > > There are few items in the history of American culture that carry the
> same=20
> > > iconic weight as the cowboy hat. It is the one item of apparel that
> can be=20
> > > worn in any corner of the world and receive immediate recognition. As
> the o=
> > > ld=20
> > > cowboy saying goes, =E2=80=98It=E2=80=99s the last thing you take off
> and t=
> > > he first thing that=20
> > > is noticed.=E2=80=99=20
> > >
> > > The history of the cowboy hat is not that old. Before the invention of
> the=20
> > > cowboy hat, which means before John B. Stetson came along, the
> cowpunchers=20=
> > > of=20
> > > the plains wore castoffs of previous lives and vocations. Everything
> from=20
> > > formal top hats and derbies to leftover remnants of the civil War
> headgear,=
> > > to=20
> > > tams and sailor hats, were worn by men moving westward.=20
> > >
> > > Today=E2=80=99s cowboy hat has remained basically unchanged in
> construction=
> > > and=20
> > > design since the first one was created in 1865. As the story goes,
> John B.=20
> > > Stetson and some companions went west to seek the benefits of a drier
> clima=
> > > te.=20
> > > During a hunting trip, Stetson amused his friends by showing them how
> he co=
> > > uld=20
> > > make cloth out of fur without weaving.=20
> > >
> > > After creating his =E2=80=98fur blanket,=E2=80=99 Stetson fashioned an
> enor=
> > > mous hat with a=20
> > > huge brim as a joke, but the hat was noted to be big enough to protect
> a ma=
> > > n=20
> > > from sun, rain, and all the rigors the outdoors could throw at him.
> Stetson=
> > > =20
> > > decided to wear the hat on his hunting trip, and it worked so well
> that he=20
> > > continued wearing it on his travels throughout the West. In 1865, he
> began=20=
> > > to=20
> > > produce the first incarnation of his big hats in number, and before
> long,=20
> > > Stetson was considered the maker of this newfangled headwear, the
> cowboy ha=
> > > t. The=20
> > > original Stetson hat sold for five dollars.=20
> > >
> > > Shortly after the turn of the century, the cowboy hat, although still
> in it=
> > > s=20
> > > infancy, nevertheless infused its wearer with a singular link to the
> histor=
> > > y=20
> > > of the wild and woolly West. Even after the wild aspect of the West
> was=20
> > > somewhat tamed, the cowboy hat never really lost its ability to lend
> that =20
> > > reckless and rugged aura to its wearer.=20
> > >
> > > =20
> > >
> >
> >
> > **************************************
> > AOL now offers free=20
> > > email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at=20
> > > http://www.aol.com.
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> > come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> > -----
> > -Sam'l Clemens
> >
> > Dope wil get you through times of no money better than money will get
> > you through times of no dope.
> > -----
> > -Free-Wheeling Franklin
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> >
> >
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>
>
> --
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -----
> -Sam'l Clemens
>
> Dope wil get you through times of no money better than money will get
> you through times of no dope.
> -----
> -Free-Wheeling Franklin
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
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