What do Shakespeare and a Flunking Student Have to Do With It? (Wild West Sayings We Use Today)

 What do a fussy person, obsessive love, Shakespeare, and a flunking student have in common? All pertain to the brand new batch of Wild West sayings we use today, below. Ready to have more fun with words? Grab a cup of tea, coffee, or hot chocolate. Let’s take a little journey into the peculiar history of words, shall we?

 Wild West Sayings We Use Today, Part 23

Persnickety

This delightful word describes a nitpicky person who obsesses over trivial details. It emerged in 1889 as a derivative of ‘pernickety,’ which itself appeared in the early 1800s.  

Historical Reference: Many opinions of the origin of persnickety exist—so many that it becomes clear no one knows for certain. It may have come from the Scottish ‘pernicky,’ a word that is also of unknown origin. Alternatively, persnickety was coined by a child who invented a fun way to say ‘particular.’ But then again, the ‘nick’ part of the word may have come from ‘knick-knack’ and the ‘per’ syllable could have something to do with a Latin prefix meaning ‘thoroughly.’ Trying to figure it out would bogle the mind of any nitpicky person.

Example: He’s so persnickety that it borders on snobbery. 

 

Pining

“To be consumed with longing; to languish with intense desire, to hunger after something; to long eagerly.” That’s how the Oxford English Dictionary defines the word ‘pining.’ It originally described someone in the grip of a romantic obsession. It also designated intense mourning for a lost love. Oh, the Romance! Nowadays, we speak of pining for ice cream.

Historical Reference: ‘Pine’ comes from ‘poena,’ which is Latin for ‘punishment.’ This is the same root word from which ‘pain’ and ‘penalty’ derived. The sense of ‘wasting away from grief or longing’ is documented from early in the 14^th century.

Example: “I’ve been pining to see you again.” 

In the Pink

A person brimming with health and in excellent condition is said to be ‘in the pink.’ This phrase also applies to inanimate objects—a house, for example. In that context, it refers to ‘the peak of perfection.’ The idiom was used for centuries since the 16th century. At that time, it described the best of anything.

Historical Reference: The first recorded use of ‘pink’ to mean ‘the best’ occurred in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare in 1597: "I am the pinke of curtesie."

Example: “If you exercise and eat right, you’ll be in the pink before you know it.”

Pitch a Fit

Here, if you needed one, is another way to say ‘throw a temper tantrum.” We are talking two-year-old stuff here, as in you-took-away-my-candy hysterics.

Historical Reference: This idiom’s origin is uncertain. ‘Have a fit,’ the earliest form, appeared by the 1600s. ’Fit’ may have a connection to epileptic seizures. By the early 1900s, ‘throw a fit’ made an entrance. ‘Pitch’ began substituting for ‘throw’ later in the century. 

Example: My roommate pitched a fit after he flunked his test.

Many Wild West sayings still used today have unknown origins. While that’s a little frustrating, it allows us to use our imaginations. Let’s have some fun! Take your best guess on one or more of the idioms in the comments. 

What's New with Janalyn Voigt

A fine spring day is shining outside my office window, tempting me to pull on my hiking boots and take to the trails. Spending time in nature always restores me. It's as if the breath of His Spirit ruffles the grasses, sighs through the trees, and revives my spirit. I hope you will make time, before the softness of Spring is gone, to rejoice in the beauty of God's Creation. 

The launch of the Promise Tree (Montana Treasure, book 1) is going well. Check out the blog tour from JustRead publicity: https://justreadtours.com. Visit some of the stops to read excerpts, reviews and interviews with the author (me). Don't forget to enter for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card.

The Promise Tree

A preacher’s daughter shouldn’t encourage a troublemaker, no matter what her wayward heart desires. 

Liberty has always believed she should marry a man of God, but Jake doesn’t qualify. The promises they’d made at age twelve can’t change that. If only Jake would stop pursuing her, she might keep from falling in love with him. Jake fears he’ll lose Liberty to Beau, the new man in town. He doesn’t trust the smooth-talker—and certainly not with Liberty. Jake and Liberty must each overcome their own false beliefs. Only then can they experience the truth of God’s redeeming love. Read The Promise Tree.

You can step into the Montana Treasure series without having read the Montana Gold books. However, if you prefer to submerge yourself in a fictional world for a while, start with Hills of Nevermore, book 1. The four Montana Gold books are available in print and ebook. As mentioned, audiobook versions have also begun releasing!

Want to know more about the author? Read the official bio:

Janalyn Voigt's unique blend of adventure, romance, suspense, and whimsy creates breathtaking fictional worlds for readers. Janalyn is represented by Wordserve Literary Agency. Her memberships include American Christian Fiction Writers and Northwest Christian Writers Association. When she's not writing, Janalyn loves to discover worlds of adventure in the great outdoors with her family.

Browse books by Janalyn Voigt

Wild West Sayings We Use Today, Part 13

This post is brought to you by Janalyn Voigt.

What do a frustrated person, boiling water, and a young oxen have in common? All relate to the Wild West sayings we'll explore today. So far in the Wild West Sayings We Use Today blog series, we've discovered many terms that originated earlier. Today is no exception. Put on your time-traveling shoes, because this train is about to leave the station!

Wild West Sayings We Use Today

Flummox

Ever felt so confused you gave up in frustration? If so, you can rightfully say you were ‘flummoxed.’ Dating from 1837, flummox means to confuse and confound someone. 

Experts remain a bit flummoxed on the word’s origin. Evidence suggests that it derived from a country dialect in England. 

"The formation seems to be onomatopœic, expressive of the notion of throwing down roughly and untidily" [Oxford English Dictionary; OED].

Historical Reference: Green’s Dictionary of Slang defines flummox as “confused, let down, outwitted.” and notes its first appearance in a book entitled Delicious Chatter (1834): “Joe own’d he was flummix’d and diddles at last.” More famously, the word made its way into Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers (1836) when Mr. Weller says: “And my ‘pinion is, Sammy, that if your governor don’t prove an alleybi, he’ll be what the Italians call regularly flummoxed, and that’s all about it.”

Example: John’s father only wanted to explain his taxes, not flummox him.

Fuss

In the Wild West, as today, people called an excessive display of unnecessary anxiety or excitement a ‘fuss.’ The origin of this word is not known. The OED suggests that ‘fuss’ echoes the sound of sputtering or bubbling. Coffee or tea anyone?

The word may come from the Danish ‘fjas,’ meaning ‘foolery, nonsense.’ Today we use the phrase to ‘make a fuss,’ while in 1726, people said to ‘keep (be in) a fuss.’ Other linguists think the word is an alteration of the English noun ‘force.’

Historical Reference: ‘Fuss’ appeared as a noun in 1701. First use of the word occurred among Anglo-Irish writers, but it has no clear link to the Celtic language. The verb form is recorded from 1702.

Examples:

Noun: Don’t make a fuss.

Verb: Stop fussing.

Greenhorn

Greenhorn describes an inexperienced and immature person who is easy to dupe. We associate this term with the Wild West, and it did originate in America. However, it dates from the mid-15th century. A nuance of 'green' means ‘new, fresh, or recent.’ Combine it with the word for an animal horn, and you have a 'greenhorn.' It’s not hard to see how the figurative sense evolved from the literal expression.

Historical Reference: In 1460, ‘greenhorn’ referred to a young ox (OED). That meaning is now obsolete. According to the OED, greenhorn was used for "a recently enlisted soldier; a raw recruit" from 1650.

Example: Jack was such a greenhorn that he wore his cowboy hat backwards.

Thanks for joining me for another time-travel tour into the Wild West and beyond. I hope you enjoyed this month’s selection. Tell me, how would you use ‘flummoxed’ in a sentence? Which origin of ‘fuss’ most makes sense to you? Will you think of a greenhorn the same way from now on? Which of these sayings gets your vote for most interesting? See you next month!

About Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt fell in love with literature at an early age when her father read chapters from classics as bedtime stories. When Janalyn grew older, she put herself to sleep with tales "written" in her head. Today Janalyn is a storyteller who writes in several genres. Romance, mystery, adventure, history, and whimsy appear in all her novels in proportions dictated by their genre. Janalyn Voigt is represented by Wordserve Literary.

Learn more about Janalyn, read the first chapters of her books, subscribe to her e-letter, and join her reader clubs at http://janalynvoigt.com.

Montana Gold Series

Based on actual historical events during a time of unrest in America, the Montana gold series explores faith, love, and courage in the wild west.

Learn More>>

Wild West Sayings We Use Today, Part 12

The latest installment in the Wild West Sayings We Use Today blog series is all about trifling talk, fishermen, seizures, and a startled person. Several of the expressions below merge two words or phrases. Join me on a new journey through the history of words. 

This post is brought to you by Janalyn Voigt.

Wild West Sayings We Use Today, Part 12

Fiddle-Faddle

We don’t use this term in conversation much anymore. Perhaps you have heard it in cartoons, like me, to criticize trifling talk or a person engaged in such nonsense. 

The origin of fiddle-faddle is unclear. It may be a reduplication (a word changed for emphasis by repetition of similar sounds). In this case, the original word was either faddle, an obsolete word that once meant ‘to trifle,’ or fiddle in the sense of fussing with something. Whether or not that is how the phrase evolved, the two words do combine well to create the term’s meaning. An earlier version, fiddle-cum-faddle, was a bit ponderous. An abbreviated form, fidfad, has a nice ring, don’t you think? 

Historical Reference: Fiddle-faddle first showed up as a noun in The Decades, a collection of sermons by Heinrich Bullinger (1504–1575). It also became an adjective a half-century later, although we hardly ever see that form today. The verb form followed in the 17th century.

Examples:
Noun: I won’t listen to your fiddle-faddle another minute.
Adjective: Keep your fiddle-faddle opinions to yourself.
Verb: Stop fiddle-faddling.
Interjection: Fiddle faddle, Martha! Stop wasting my time.

Fish or Cut Bait

Fishing for the exact meaning of this phrase submerges us in murky waters. Some people use it to prompt another person to make a choice. Others might urge a coworker to focus on the present job or switch tasks. Still others use it as a spur to act or quit. 

 
Fish or cut bait originated in America from the mid-19th century fishing industry. Fishermen needed to decide which of them would fish, and who would cut the bait.

Historical Reference: The earliest example I found is in the July 31, 1837 issue of the Oneida Observer (Albany, NY): “Politicians cannot shilli-shalli along now. They must either ‘fish, cut bait, or go ashore.’.” I wish we hadn’t lost the ‘go ashore’ part of this expression. It really helps us understand the meaning of ‘cut bait,’ the part where confusion enters. It’s clear from this early version that the options were to actively engage, support, or quit altogether.

Example: When it comes to proposing, are you going to fish or cut bait?

By Fits and Starts

You know that on-again, off-again craft project lurking at the back of your closet? Yep, that one. I apologize in advance for bringing it to mind, but it’s the best way to explain this phrase. Maybe you already knew the meaning, but if not, now you do. Anything sporadic happens by fits and starts.

 
'By fits and starts' evolved from two now-defunct British phrases that had similar meanings. ‘By fits’ (fitfully) originated around 1583, and ‘by starts’ (intermittently) goes back further to 1421.

‘Fit’ seems to have come from ‘fitt,’ an Old English word for a fight. During the 16th century, ‘fit’ defined an intense but short-lived attack of illness or another disorder. A century later, the word meant a seizure, a sense it retains today. The definitions of ‘fit’ that describe something the right size or that conforms to standards (fits in) probably derived from the same root word.

‘Start” has several meanings in English also. The one that pertains to our topic made an entrance early in the 15th century. It specified ‘a sudden and transient effort or movement.’ Use of ‘start’ for a beginning, so prevalent now, didn’t ensue until 1566.

Historical Reference: According to the Oxford English Dictionary, ‘by fits’ first appeared in a 1583 translation of a sermon by John Calvin: “He doth not thinges by fittes as Creatures doe but he continueth alwayes in one will.”

The Oxford English Dictionary gives the first written evidence of ‘by starts’ in The Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1587), in which the Scottish and Irish “performed by starts (as their manner is) the dutie of good subiects.”

The earliest use of ‘fits and starts, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is within a sermon given in 1620 by Robert Sanderson, an English theologian.

Who knew a simple phrase could hold so much history? I bet you won’t look at that half-finished craft project stashed in your closet the same way now.

About Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt fell in love with literature at an early age when her father read chapters from classics as bedtime stories. When Janalyn grew older, she put herself to sleep with tales "written" in her head. Today Janalyn is a storyteller who writes in several genres. Romance, mystery, adventure, history, and whimsy appear in all her novels in proportions dictated by their genre. Janalyn is represented by Wordserve Literary.

Learn more about Janalyn Voigt.

Discover Montana Gold

Based on actual historical events during a time of unrest in America, the Montana gold series explores faith, love, and courage in the wild west.

Find out more>>

Wild West Words We Use Today, Part 10

What do sheep have to do with etymology? Quite a lot, apparently. The latest list of Wild West words used today includes two that pertain to the fleecy creatures. Also featured are a handyman in need of a screwdriver and a dog retrieving a ball. Hey, we aim to entertain, folks.

This post is brought to you by Janalyn Voigt

Wild West Words We Use Today, Part 10

Dyed in The Wool

We speak of an attitude that is ingrained, thorough, and unyielding as ‘dyed in the wool.’ This phrase, which hails from 16th-century England, has a practical origin. Wool holds color better when dyed in its raw state than after it is spun into yarn.

‘Died in the wool’ sometimes appears as a variant. This is most likely a misspelling, although it could be a historical carryover from prior to the 19th century, when the spelling of ‘dye’ became fixed.

Historical Reference: ‘Dyed in the wool’ first appeared in 1580. Writers used it to make the point that teaching children early helps adherence of the lessons they learn. In 19th-century America, federalist Daniel Webster used the term to criticize the inflexibility of his political opponents. Today, the phrase has taken on a broader meaning and mostly shed its negativism.

Example: She was a dyed-in-the-wool football fan who never missed a game.

Fair to Middling

This American idiom is especially popular in the South. It defines the condition of a person or object as a range from passing through less-than-ideal. This term shares the field with its colloquial pronunciation, fair to middlin’. A similar phrase, fair to midland, may have derived from a deliberate mispronunciation in the British Midlands. Unless it refers to Midland, Texas, of course. Opinions differ. The origins of this form and indeed the phrase itself are uncertain.

What we do know is that farm products, especially sheep, were loosely categorized into several grades: good, fair, middling, ordinary, and poor. Middling quality was somewhere between fair and ordinary. Fair ranks as second to good. Since the phrase mentions 'fair' first with 'middling' following, I suspect it hints at a downward turn. That's the way I understood it, growing up.

Historical Reference: This term shows up in the July 1837 issue of the Southern Literary Messenger of Richmond, Virginia: “A Dinner on the Plains, Tuesday, September 20th. — This was given ‘at the country seat’ of J. C. Jones, Esq. to the officers of the Peacock and Enterprise. The viands were ‘from fair to middling, we wish we could say more.’”(World Wide Worlds)

Example: Grandma says she’s fair to middling since recovering from the flu.

Fetch

The primary meaning of fetch is 'to bring to' or 'bring back.' A handyman retrieves a screwdriver from his truck. A dog drops a stick at the feet of the owner who threw it. That sort of thing. Fetch was part of Wild West lingo, but it originated before 1,000 BC. 

'Fetching,' an extended form of the verb fetch, means to “bring or draw into a desired relation or condition.” (Online Etymology Dictionary). The term most often applies to women. 

Historical Reference: The origins of fetch are not entirely clear, but it is believed that the word derived from ‘fat,’ the Old German root word meaning ‘to hold.’ Fetching, as a term to describe a captivating person, first appeared in 1880.

Example: She went to fetch the mail, looking fetching in her new hat.

I hope you enjoyed this journey into the history of words. Tune in next month (same day, same blogger) for another foray into Wild West words we use today.

About Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt fell in love with literature at an early age when her father read chapters from classics as bedtime stories. When Janalyn grew older, she put herself to sleep with tales "written" in her head. Today Janalyn is a storyteller who writes in several genres. Romance, mystery, adventure, history, and whimsy appear in all her novels in proportions dictated by their genre. Janalyn Voigt is represented by Wordserve Literary.


Learn more about Janalyn, read the first chapters of her books, subscribe to her e-letter, and join her reader clubs at http://janalynvoigt.com.

Montana Gold Series

Based on actual historical events during a time of unrest in America, the Montana gold series explores faith, love, and courage in the wild west.

Learn More>>

Wild West Sayings We Use Today, Part 10

What do cowboys, an English author, and macaroni have in common? They all relate in some way to the latest installment in the Wild West Sayings We Use Today blog series. Jump in where we are today or start at the beginning. 

Wild West Sayings We Use Today, Part 10 

Diggings

This colloquial expression for a residence, office, or other habitual abode has its roots in the 1500’s. It evolved from the description of a mine as a place of ‘diggings.’ Some sources link the origin of this meaning to the California and Australian goldrushes, although it predated both.

‘Digs,’ common in British slang, derived as an abbreviation of the older term. It describes living in shared facilities, typically as a student or single person.

Historical Reference: Diggings first referred to an entire locality as opposed to a single lodging. The first known use of the expression to describe an individual dwelling occurred in the 1838 book, Charcoal Sketches by Joseph Clay Neal: “Look here, Ned, I reckon it’s about time we should go to our diggings; I am dead beat.”

Example: She went home to her diggings.

Dillydally

People have longed enjoyed playing with words, apparently. In 1741, a process now known as reduplication (insertion of similar-sounds) most likely created dillydally from dally, which itself evolved from the Middle-English dalien, which derived from the Old French dalier. Got it? Which form of the word do you prefer? I vote for the fun one. 

Historical Reference: As a verb meaning ‘to delay,’ the earliest known use of dillydally is from 1741. It crops up in Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, a novel by English author Samuel Richardson: 'What you do, sir, do: don't stand dilly-dallying!' The term is found as a noun even earlier, in a 1610 quotation from Gervase Babington in his "Comfortable notes vpon the bookes of Exodus and Leuiticus": “Such dilly dally is fitter for heathens that know not God, than for sober Christians.1610 'Such dilly-dally is fitter for heathens that know not God.’”

Example: Don’t dillydally. There’s work to be done.

Dude

A truly American slang term, cowboys first used dude to describe a man as a city-slicker—a dandy who dressed in fashionable clothing but lacked practical skills. This use came from the song, “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” where a fine fellow went to town, stuck a feather in his cap, and called it ‘macaroni.’ (Here, we must pause to explain that a ‘macaroni’ was a dandified young British man fond of the Italian dish by the same name he encountered during his travels. You're welcome.) 

By 1960, dude took on the meaning it retains today, as a general term for a man.

Historical Reference: In early 1883, the popular press began to call foppish young men ‘doods,’ a spelling that transitioned into ‘dudes.’”

Example: That dude really should learn to ride. 


Thanks for riding with me through time to discover the history of words that passed through the Wild West to us today.  

About Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt fell in love with literature at an early age when her father read chapters from classics as bedtime stories. When Janalyn grew older, she put herself to sleep with tales "written" in her head. Today Janalyn is a storyteller who writes in several genres. Romance, mystery, adventure, history, and whimsy appear in all her novels in proportions dictated by their genre. Janalyn Voigt is represented by Wordserve Literary.


Learn more about Janalyn, read the first chapters of her books, subscribe to her e-letter, and join her reader clubs at http://janalynvoigt.com.

Montana Gold Series

Based on actual historical events during a time of unrest in America, the Montana gold series explores faith, love, and courage in the wild west.

Learn More>>

Wild West Sayings We Use Today, Part 9

Candles, crochet, a miserly corn merchant, and a mythical French horse all come into play when considering the latest installment in Wild West Sayings We Use Today. Enjoy! 

This post is brought to you by Janalyn Voigt.

Wild West Sayings We Use Today, Part 9

Can’t hold a candle to…

This expression describes someone who doesn’t measure up to a person so superior that even a subordinate position out of the question. 

During the 1600s, an apprentice held a candle so an experienced craftsman could see to work. A truly useless person couldn’t do even that.

Historical Reference: A similar phrase, 'to hold the candle,' appeared in “The foure cardinall-vertues of a Carmelite-fryar observed by Sir Edvvard Dering, knight and baronet in 1641: "Though I be not worthy to hold the candle to Aristotle."

Example: His poor supper can’t hold a candle to the delights of Judith’s kitchen.

Crotchety

The word, 'crotchet,’ once meant "whim or fancy." This sense of the word gave rise to ‘crotchety’ as a term for an irritable older person. It’s not hard to see the connection between a person made cantankerous by vain imaginations.

Historical Reference:

Both words (crochet and crotchet) came from the Middle French word, ‘crochet.’ It has connections to ‘croche’ and ‘krokr, which mean ‘hook’ in Scandinavian and Norse, respectively.

Example: A crotchety old man stomped down the street, muttering and waving a cane.

Curmudgeon

This word to describe a disagreeable man comes to modern times courtesy of the 1500s. Various theories have suggested that it means ‘evil heart’ and a miserly corn merchant have been discarded. The word probably originated from the Gaelic ‘muigean,’ which means a disagreeable person.

Historical Reference: The origin of this term remains unknown.

Example: The curmudgeon railed at his nephew for the better part of an hour.

Curry Favor

A person who uses flattery to gain an advantage is said to curry favor. Curry comes from the Old French verb conraier, meaning “to prepare' or 'put in order.' This is the same root word that gave birth to the word we use for brushing a horse with a curry-comb. The term first described using a curry-comb to groom a mythical French horse named Fauvel – to curry Fauvel.

Historical Reference: ‘Curry favor’ derived from The Romance of Fauvell, a satirical French poem written in 1310 by Gervais du Bus.

Example: She flattered the boss in a failed attempt to curry favor.

Thanks for celebrating the history of words and sayings with me. Tune in next month for the next installment in Wild West Sayings We Use Today.

About Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt fell in love with literature at an early age when her father read chapters from classics as bedtime stories. When Janalyn grew older, she put herself to sleep with tales "written" in her head. Today Janalyn is a storyteller who writes in several genres. Romance, mystery, adventure, history, and whimsy appear in all her novels in proportions dictated by their genre. Janalyn Voigt is represented by Wordserve Literary.

Learn more about Janalyn Voigt.

Discover Montana Gold

Based on actual historical events during a time of unrest in America, the Montana gold series explores faith, love, and courage in the wild west.

Find out more>>

Wild West Words We Use Today, Part 8

The theater, politics, and Andrew Jackson all come up in this installment in the Wild West Sayings We Use Today blog series. We’re making our way through the alphabet to discover the history of words that carry us back to a simpler time. Enjoy! 

This post is brought to you by Janalyn Voigt. 

Wild West Sayings We Use Today

Claptrap

Most people today have heard the word claptrap as a noun describing pretentious nonsense. This is actually a theater term from the 1700’s and was used for a stunt to attract applause (a clap trap). This word came to mean any artifice drawing attention to a political event. Later, it described nonsensical chatter. It’s not hard to understand the progression of this word from its theater origins to the political arena, and then on to foolish speech. Or is that just me?

Historical Reference: The earliest dictionary use of clap-trap appeared in The Universal Etymological English Dictionary (Vol. 2, 1727) by Nathan Bailey: “A CLAP Trap: A name given to the rant and rhimes that dramatick poets, to please the actors, let them go off with; as much as to say, a trap to catch a clap by way of applause from the spectators at a play.”

Example: I’m tired of hearing all that claptrap about how hard he has it at work.

Conniption Fit 

We still speak of a fit of hysterical excitement or anger as a conniption fit, just as people did in the Wild West. The origins of this expression are not clear. The fact that, centuries ago, ‘corruption’ was used interchangeably with ‘anger’ or ‘temper’ suggests one explanation. Another that seems more likely to me anyway is that conniption derived from ‘conapshus,’ a mispronunciation of captious, an adjective that means ‘tending to find fault or raise petty objections.’ 

Historical Reference: According to the podcast, Podictionary, a woman named Aunt Keziah became angry when Andrew Jackson canceled his visit to her small New England town. She fell down in what became the first recorded ‘conniption fit.’ It was 1833. 

Example: If my car keys don’t turn up, I’m going to have a conniption fit. 

Cotton To 

A person might say that he or she doesn’t ‘cotton to’ another person. This means the person is not drawn to or doesn’t like the other party. Or the opposite can be true. Saying that you cotton to another person means you mesh well. This phrase originated as a textile term in the fabric mills of 16th-century England. It became common in the southern United States, where cotton formed a primary crop. When fibers melded to form cotton cloth, they were said to cotton or cotton well. 

Historical Reference: The poet Sir George Wharton used ‘cotten’ as a verb to mean ‘make friendly advances’ in the 1648 pamphlet Mercurius Elencticus. 

Example: My mother really cottons to her new daughter-in-law. 

That’s it for this round. Thanks for indulging my interest in the history of words. Stop back next month (same time, same place) for another look at Wild West sayings we still use today.

About Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt fell in love with literature at an early age when her father read chapters from classics as bedtime stories. When Janalyn grew older, she put herself to sleep with tales "written" in her head. Today Janalyn is a storyteller who writes in several genres. Romance, mystery, adventure, history, and whimsy appear in all her novels in proportions dictated by their genre. Janalyn Voigt is represented by Wordserve Literary.

Learn more about Janalyn Voigt. 

Discover Montana Gold 

Based on actual historical events during a time of unrest in America, the Montana gold series explores faith, love, and courage in the wild west.