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Justice in Sabbath

Err ... What?

Cargando editor
17/07/2014, 17:29
Director

This scene has a glossary of cowboy words and expressions, and some notes on the slang used. Bear in mind that this game is not, and does not pretend to be, a grammar school.

The glossary might be useful in order to understand some terms the NPC might use, and also for those who wish to use with their characters some distinctive cowboy-slang. The use of cowboy terms and expressions even gives you extra BPs!

Also this section is the place to post any questions related to expression or phrases that are confusing or not clear or not understood.

Cargando editor
17/07/2014, 17:34
Director

(EDITED, duplicate post with the glossary)

In addition to specific words (see further down), some basic grammar and word changes (used in dialogues, not when describing actions).

EXPRESSION MEANING
ain´t are not/am not
´cause because
´em them
feller fellow
folk people
get´em get them
gimme give me
git go / get
gonna going to
gotten got
hisself himself
I didn´t know nothing I didn´t know anything
-in (eg. movin) -ing (eg. moving)
it don´t matter it doesn´t matter
jes´ just
knowed knew
outta out of
sorta sort of
till until
ya you
yep yes
yer you are
yerself yourself
You got papers sworn out? Do you have papers sworn out?
You the marshal? Are you the marshal?

 

Notas de juego

This is very short list made of expressions found in one movie script, and is neither exhaustive nor necessarily representative of the cowboy slang as a whole, but these expressions do seem to repeat themselves in other places as well.

Cargando editor
17/07/2014, 21:03
"Ace of Spades" Mayer

I'll leave here something I found some time ago. It's just a bigger "dictionary".

http://ridesouthdakota.com/cowboy-slang-dictionary...

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18/07/2014, 09:28
Jack Dekker

And the table in the form of a table:

Term Synonym Meaning
Ace in the Hole   A secret, something that will save your bacon when you use it. 
Adobe    sun-hardened brick made out of clay, straw and water
Aim    intend to do something
Amble    walking a casual slow walk
Amigo Compadre, Feller, Hombre, Pardner, Pard a friend, a pal.
Ante   to hand something over, or to pay. In gambling, it means to make a bet
Artillery Equalizer, Hogleg, Shooting Iron, Persuader, six-shooter words for weapon, any sort of firearm. Hogleg is actually a long-barreled revolver
Badland   land that´s no good for ranching, with lots of big rock formations like buttes and mesas
Bandito   a Mexican bandit
Baron Hidalgo generally, a man that owns a lot of cattle ("cattle baron") or land ("land baron"), the Mexican word is Hidalgo
Bean Eater Mex, Mexicano, Mohado slang for a Mexican
Blue Belly   anybody from the North, especially if they fought in the War
Bone Orchard Boot Hill Both mean cemetary. Boot Hill is mostly for cowboys or other boot-wearing folks
Bosh   nonsense, as in "He´s talking a lot of bosh"
Bronco Bronc wild hombre or unbroken horse
Bug Juice Firewater, Red Eye alcohol
Bunk House   where the ranch hands sleep, no females allowed
Bushed   tired
Cantina   saloon (Mexican)
Chuck Wagon   cook´s wagon
Claim Jumper   someone that claims something that is not his/her
Cowpoke   someone taking their boss´s cows to sell
Cyprian Ladies of the Line whore
Dealing from the Bottom to get Gypped cheating (cards) to get gypped is to get cheated (comes from drinking gypsum contaminated water)
Dinero   money
Dodger   printed piece of paper telling about outlaws that are wanted
Fandango Hoedown, Shindig, Boot-scoot, to polish beltbuckles (dance) big party
Filly   young female (horse or human)
Fixings Grub or Chuck (food), tack (working gear) personal possessions, or food
Flea Trap   sleeping bag, bedroll
Foreman Line Boss, Ramrod the person in charge of something (of an outfit), usually a bunch of ranchhands; Line Boss is in charge when away from the ranch
Gallery   front porch of a house
Gee   general command to turn right. Left is "haw"
Git   go or get
Greenhorn Greener, Tenderfoot someone new to the West
Gringo   Mexican for a white man or a foreigner
Grubstake   loan
Hacienda   big ranch building
Handle   name or nickname
Haw   general command to turn left. Right is "gee"
Heeler   dog trained to herd cattle
Hemp Fever Necktie Party, Strung Up hung
Hen Fruit   eggs
Hitching Post   where you tie your horses
Hole Up   to hide from something or somebody
Hooraw On the Peck (looking for trouble), High Lonesome   to cause Hooraw is shooting up the town or making noise, to be on the High Lonesome is to go out and get yourself drunk
Hoosegow   jail
Horn apple   pommel the round bit that stick up in the front of your saddle
Horning in   being somewhere uninvited
Java   coffee
Jigger   tire out (a horse)
Kit and Caboodle   everything
Leather   saddle, pistol holster. "Slappin leather" is drawing a gun
Lariat maguey, rope, lasso, twine 60´rope of hand-braided leather thongs
Line Camp   a place to keep a few ranch hands to make sure that their cattle don´t wander away
Line Riders   ranch hands of the line camp
Lucifer   match
Maverick   unbranded cows, can be stolen
Mite   little
Owlhoot   drunk or outlaw riding at night
Palaver   discussion
Played Out   worthless, none left
Poke   sex (to have a poke), also means a small bag that holds a feller´s gold dust
Prairie Strawberries Frijoles beans
Range Boss   he makes sure the chores out on the range get done
Ride for the Brand   being loyal to your outfit
Reach for the Sky   hands up in the air
Reckon Study think
Riding Herd   herding cattle or guarding something
Shoot or Give Up the Gun   talking a lot but not doing it
Sin Buster Bible Puncher preacher, or a person who´s always quoting the Bible
Skinned   alert, as in "Keep your eyes skinned"
Sodbuster   farmer
Squawman   a white man who´s married an Indian
Sumbitch sombitch son of a bitch
Trail Boss   in charge of getting a herd from one place to another
Whoop   to have a good time
Cargando editor
18/07/2014, 10:11
Director

Thanks for the link Mayer, and Jack for fixing the table :)

 

Cargando editor
24/08/2014, 19:45
Director

Another link with some cowboy terms and slang (specifically from Texas), not very long:

http://jimfish.freeservers.com/lingo/index.htm

 

Cargando editor
02/09/2014, 20:52
Director

Again, sorry if I make any language-related mistake (which I would really apreciate if pointed).

OK, this scene is for language-related stuff. Overall I think your English is more than adequate for this purpose, and you use the phrasal verbs and slang very nicely. Maybe you should not overdo the slang as much as you did in your last post, as it can make it difficult to understand what you are saying hehe, it´s more to give some "flavor" to a certain expression. But that´s just my opinion. Also the use of "Notes" is handy if the expression is very obscure, especially if there are other players in the scene.

In the last post you used Base burner (drink of whiskey, easy to understand without checking the glossary), benzinery (very funny), boss, mudsills, bat my eyes (watch and not play)... All OK but it´s not mandatory to use all.

Muck out => muck ´em out (this is a very good construction and use of the term)

California Prayer Book => unless you put a Note, this one is difficult to understand for a layman. Or you can even explain it in the actual post.

Tiger´s Tail twisting => I know the glossary listed this as a term for Faro AND Poker, but I could not find any other reference to Tiger Tail twisting, bucking the tiger and other similar terms referring to Poker. The "tiger" is for Faro (because the set had a picture of a tiger originally).

OK, so that´s enough of the slang, you use it well, keep it up and just don´t overuse it. You actually asked if there were any English-related errors. Not many, but careful with these:

-What about some Tiger's Tail twisting, fellers?

You should change "What about..." with "How about..."

On another post, you wrote: "I didn´t want to attract attention". This is acceptable, but sounds a bit weird. To draw attention is more used in this case.

the Curtains rise => very good metaphor... But as it was the end of scene, should it not be "the curtains fall"? :)

Taking a look at his shiny surface

It´s a watch, so no "his" but "its".

the Clothes that make the man

A very good old-fashioned saying... It sort of sounded OK but something was missing or not just right. Actually, what you wanted to say was: "IT´S the clothes THAT make the man". The expression as you had written it makes sense, but it does not mean exactly the same thing.

I put those thoughts away from my head

These are very difficult to explain, the phrasal verbs. But the more you see them and use them, the more fluent and original your writing becomes. In this case, the correct expression is not "to put away" but "to push away". It´s because you cannot "put away from" ... So you could say for instance:

"I pushed those thoughts away from my head/mind"

Notas de juego

 

Cargando editor
02/09/2014, 21:27
"Ace of Spades" Mayer

Yes, I know I had a slang overdose in my last post, that's why added the note below. It felt too odd and maybe confusing without any explanation xD

Aaaand wow. Thanks for all the points. You know, I never really studied english (I mean after high school, where it's mandatory), I learned almost everything on my own, using dictionaries and translators to translate the songs of my favorite bands and dialogues of videogames (the oral and listening came from watching tv shows and films in their original version), so that's why sometimes I get confused with the grammar. Yeah, I know I could get better with just a little study, but I'm just too lazy xD

Cargando editor
22/12/2014, 22:40
Director

Maybe I just needed another spirit* to calm my mind and my soul...

*I mean liquor. Not sure if it's correct, though...

Hmm, not an easy one to explain. "Spirits" is more used in the UK than US when referred to alcoholic beverages, and "liquor" is the equivalent word in the US. In theory, "spirits" are any sort of alcohol, not only the ones that are suitable for drinking (Chemistry stuff...).

So they look like synonyms. But one thing that did not sound right was "another spirit". The noun "spirit" is countable, but it is mostly used in plural. So "spiritS" would be OK, but not "one spirit" or "another spirit". Liquor is countable (and uncountable sometimes) and  it can be used to refer to a strong alcoholic drink.

Cargando editor
27/12/2014, 11:57
"Ace of Spades" Mayer

Thanks :)

Cargando editor
20/02/2015, 21:37
Director

like if it were some kind of sinister kid.

This is a fairly common mistake, "to kid" is the same as to joke. So "just kidding" etc is OK. But you cannot said "a kid" as in "a joke". A kid is a child, but not a joke.

Cargando editor
21/02/2015, 12:25
"Ace of Spades" Mayer

That's what I meant, a child. Like, you know, when you meet a kid and you 'scratch' his head, I don't know how to explain it. Revolverle el pelo or something like that in spanish...

Cargando editor
25/02/2015, 18:53
Director

OK I get it. Hmm, it´s missing the "a", as in

like if it were some kind of a sinister kid.

Then it makes sense!

Cargando editor
25/02/2015, 22:14
"Ace of Spades" Mayer

Allright! Thanks!

Cargando editor
11/06/2015, 20:04
Director

Two more resources for cowboy / Wild West slang, courtesy of Crowe (Kissmelater):

http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/slang/redneck-sl...

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-slang-e-f.html#...

The second link (Legends of America) is a great overall information point for the Wild West, which I have already used (and not shared to keep some of my little secrets hehehe).

Thanks again Crowe!

Cargando editor
07/09/2015, 21:46
Director

apologies for my possible mistakes with verb tenses.

All the verb tenses were spot on! So no need to worry about that :)

Cargando editor
10/09/2015, 23:22
Director

he was disposed to stand tall until the end.

I edited this part just now in your post. I created this scene for any language related stuff, to ask for meanings of words etc. Heck, some players have even used this game to improve their English (weirdos...).

Anyways, your English is more than adequate for this game so nothing to worry about there. In this case, to "dispose" is what they call a "false friend". It looks like the Spanish verb "disponer", but it does not mean the same thing. To "dispose of" something is to throw it away. And dispose something is to incline someone to think in a certain way.

What you are trying to say here is that Choctaw was "ready to stand tall" or "prepared to stand tall" or "willing to stand tall".

Cargando editor
13/02/2016, 08:28
Director

Howdy Londoner! I haven´t put anything to this scene for a while, mainly because there are very few things to comment regarding language use. You´ve really improved since we started I have to say. I mean your English was always good IMHO, but you did say that you were studying when we started and it shows. It´s not easy to write fiction and dialogue trying to act as another person, so hopefully this game has given you some useful practice :)

A few things:

at her laying on the bed

I always used to get the lie-lay mixed up, they are pronounced the same. If it helps, the native English speakers more often than not spell these two the other way around (or simply wrong). A friend of mine showed me nice chart once, and I just googled it and found it. Here it is:

So she was actually "lying on the bed". But this is a tough one to get right. 

I looked for the tobacco between my clothes to roll

Hmm, in English the prepositions do not match the Spanish ones. You have "within", "in", "between", "among", "in the middle"... which can be used for "entre" depending on the situation. Between brings to mind a fixed object on the left and another one on the right, and something in the middle, between these two. It does not really fit what you are trying to say.

This is a tough one actually. I believe the correct option would be: "I looked through my clothes for the tobacco". It´s a phrasal verb used when you search for something an item at a time. Also "I looked in my clothes" is correct, but it does not imply you grabbed different pieces of clothing trying to find something. "Between" just means you are standing with clothes on your left and clothes on your right but not actually in contact with any of the clothes. 

Cheers,

Cargando editor
14/02/2016, 20:46
"Ace of Spades" Mayer

Thanks! Really appreciate it, mate. That chart's gonna save my life, I always had trouble with lay/lie...