The following information comes from a couple of documentaries. I recently watched about a couple about the origin of slang words in the United States. I took notes. A friend of mine pointed out, H2 channel, which was originally the history Channel. I’m very glad to see this channel again. I used to like the history Channel. When they show documentaries, rather than reality TV.

Here are some of the terms I learned about:

– Crying uncle: is when a competitor knows that they are about to lose the word comes from Irish Gaelic.

– Full of baloney: in Irish Gaelic means foolish mouth.

– Get along little doggie: originate from Ireland, means an ill cow. Many Irish that migrated to America became Cowboys and thus began the tradition of get along little doggie.

– Longshoremen: has an Irish origin. In Gaelic . It means ship worker.

– Nincompoop: comes from Irish Gaelic and means crying baby.

– Paddy wagon: this term was meant to be a slam against Irish immigrants. A popular Irish name was Patrick and that was the origin of the word paddy. Some people thought the Irish were frequent criminals. Thus the Irish were called Patties. So when Irish were collected by police. The vehicle was called a paddy wagon.

– Full of baloney, comes from the Italian word balonia , which means foolish mouth.

– Cop: in Gaelic. It means protector

– Chow: It has Chinese origins. When Chinese word stir-fry their meals. It was nicknamed chow.

– 10 gallon hat: has Spanish origins and referenced a man by the name of Tom gallon, who was known to be a very attractive man. 10 gallon references someone who is very handsome.

– Shoot the breeze: comes from the Spanish word, breezia

– Gung ho: means teamwork in Chinese. When the US Marines used to work with Chinese during World War I, the military like the term for teamwork and one group of soldiers was called Gung ho.

– Boondoggle: means backwards or remote areas of the country. The term originated from the Philippines and means remote.

– Spiel: has Jewish origins and in Yiddish means long story. Yiddish Is a language that originated from Jews that lived in Germany.

– Klutz: is a Yiddish/Jewish word for uncoordinated.

– Going on a bender: originate from the West. When men would been the elbows bring a drink the amount. Thus, when they would drink and get violent. They would go on a bender.

– Heard it on the grape vine: comes from when the telegraph was strung on polls across the United States. If there were trees available the wire was strung across the tree instead of a poll. When the gold miners saw the wires in the trees, he reminded them of California grapes vines. When they herd news from other sections of the country via the telegraph, they said they heard on the grapevine.

If you know the origin of some US slang words, please feel free to share them in the comment section of this blog. Or maybe you know something that could be just interesting. I’m greedy, I’d be happy to milk of your intellect and knowledge.