cowboy/western slang - particularly "all stove up"
Nfburr
couldn't ride the range today 'cause he's all stove up." If you know this one,
perhaps you can suggest a good source book for other western/cowboy/Texas
phrases.
Much obliged.
Brian J Goggin
Stove? Range?
I think the first to use the phrase was the Aga Khan.
bjg
SLHinton17
>Looking for the history of the phrase "all stove up" as in "that cowboy
>couldn't ride the range today 'cause he's all stove up."
*******************
"Stove" is the adjectival form of the verb "to stave," one of the meanings of
which is to destroy or "punch a hole in", as in an old nautical expression "A
dead whale or a stove boat." "Stove in" is often used for damaged boats;
"stove up" is a natural extension in the American use of "up". I don't believe
it's particularly Western.
*******************
>....perhaps you can suggest a good source book for other western/cowboy/Texas
>phrases.
********************
Two excellent books are: Ramon Adams: _Western Words_ (Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1968) and Peter Watts: _A Dictionary of the Old West_ (NY:
Knopf, 1977.) Unfortunately, both of these are primarily for definitions, and
origins are rarely discussed, except for the many cowboy words derived from
Spanish (as "wrangler" from "_caballorango_", or "hoosegow" from "_juzgado_.
."
The whole art of cowpunching, with its vocabulary, had its beginning in 1521,
when Gregorio de Villalobos brought a herd of cattle from Hispaniola to Mexico.
Sam Hinton
La Jolla, CA
VernonH
copied from some WEB site the URL of which I failed to copy also.
*******quote
Stave, Staved, Stove
Charles Nicholl says of Count Francesco Cenci (LRB, 2 July) that he had 'his
head stoved in'. The verb is 'to stave (in)', with past tense and participle
'staved (in)' or 'stove (in)', so: 'had his head stove in'. There is a verb 'to
stove', meaning 'to heat in an oven', which does have past tense and participle
'stoved'. I haven't met this before, but there is a parallel with 'to heave (in
sight)', with past tense and particple 'heaved' or 'hove'. The form 'hoved (in
sight)' instead of 'hove (in sight)' has recently appeared more than once (in
the Guardian). Presumably we don't see 'droved' for 'drove' (or 'drived' for
that matter) because this particular strong verb is in very common use.
unquote
Vern
***********************************
In article <19990315094150...@ng-fs1.aol.com>, slhin...@aol.com
(SLHinton17) writes:
Vernon C. Hammond,O.D.
McAllen, TX 78501
pet...@ms.com
b...@wordwrights.ie (Brian J Goggin) wrote:
> On 15 Mar 1999 00:54:12 GMT, nfb...@aol.com (Nfburr) wrote:
>
> >Looking for the history of the phrase "all stove up" as in "that cowboy
one,
> >phrases.
>
Stave, Staved, Stove... to crush or break inward, as in "staved in
several ribs." Usually used with the staves or ribs of a ship, but
it was probably "borrowed" by cowpokes to indicate that someone
had several damaged ribs which would make riding difficult.
HTH
Pjk
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Dale Hagglund
> Looking for the history of the phrase "all stove up" as in "that
> cowboy couldn't ride the range today 'cause he's all stove up." If
> you know this one, perhaps you can suggest a good source book for
> other western/cowboy/Texas phrases.
This phrase is still current in the part of Alberta, Canada, I grew up
in, and, I would guess, in Western Canada in general. I'm sure I used
it in my last conversation with my parents. I don't think of it as a
"cowboy" term, as such, but I think it's more common in rural speech
(my parents farm) than urban.
This is not to say that it's widely or frequently used, by any means,
but it's certainly not uncommon to describe someone who is
particularly stiff or sore for some reason as "all stove up."
Dale.
alabama.native
>This phrase is still current in the part of Alberta, Canada, I grew up
>in, and, I would guess, in Western Canada in general. I'm sure I used
>it in my last conversation with my parents. I don't think of it as a
>"cowboy" term, as such, but I think it's more common in rural speech
>(my parents farm) than urban.
>
>This is not to say that it's widely or frequently used, by any means,
>but it's certainly not uncommon to describe someone who is
>particularly stiff or sore for some reason as "all stove up."
>
>Dale.
You're right. It's not just a cowboy/western term. It's very common
here in Alabama. I learned it back in the fifties in grade school. A
basketball hit the end of my finger and it hurt like hell. Everybody,
even the doctor, said it was not broken but just "stove up".
Larry Phillips
> Stave, Staved, Stove... to crush or break inward, as in "staved in
> several ribs." Usually used with the staves or ribs of a ship, but
> it was probably "borrowed" by cowpokes to indicate that someone
> had several damaged ribs which would make riding difficult.
The usual form describing this condition is 'stove in', not 'stove up'.
--
---------------------------------------------------------------
I like deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound of them
as they go flying by.
Larry Phillips
>
> This phrase is still current in the part of Alberta, Canada, I grew up
> in, and, I would guess, in Western Canada in general.
Nope, not here in BC, though we might say 'stove in'.
Dale Hagglund
> Dale Hagglund wrote:
> > This phrase is still current in the part of Alberta, Canada, I grew up
> > in, and, I would guess, in Western Canada in general.
> Nope, not here in BC, though we might say 'stove in'.
I tend to think of ``Western Canada'' as the three prarie provinces of
Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. I think of most of BC as the
``West Coast.''
Similarly, my impression is that, down here in USAnia, ``the West''
does not usually include the coastal states of California, Oregon, and
Washington.
Dale.
Skitt
Larry Phillips <lar...@home.com> wrote in message
news:36EDF509...@home.com...
>Dale Hagglund wrote:
>>
>> This phrase is still current in the part of Alberta, Canada, I grew up
>> in, and, I would guess, in Western Canada in general.
>
>Nope, not here in BC, though we might say 'stove in'.
Bingo!
MWCD10:
Main Entry: 2stave
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): staved or stove /'stOv/; stav·ing
Date: circa 1595
transitive senses
1 : to break in the staves of (a cask)
2 : to smash a hole in <stove in the boat>; also : to crush or break
inward <staved in several ribs>
3 : to drive or thrust away
intransitive senses
1 archaic : to become stove in -- used of a boat or ship
2 : to walk or move rapidly
--
Skitt http://i.am/skitt/
Central Florida CAUTION: My veracity is under limited warranty
Dale Hagglund
> Larry Phillips <lar...@home.com> wrote in message
> >Nope, not here in BC, though we might say 'stove in'.
>
> Bingo!
>
> [MWCD10 entry excised.]
Errr, well, this is wonderful of course, but I assure you that if I
can barely get out of bed one morning because I'm sore and stiff, I am
all stove up, regardless of what the dictionaries say. (Or would that
be "irregardless"? Naahh...)
"Stove in", as defined in the dictionary entry you quote, does not
mean the same as "all stove up", and cannot be used in its place.
Just conceivably, I could be all stove up for a few weeks because my
ribs got stove in when a cow knocked me down and ran over me. This
meaning of "stove in", though, is not used commonly (at all?) where I
grew up; I'm probably familiar with it through reading.
Dale.
cheshir...@my-dejanews.com
Dale Hagglund <r...@best.com> wrote:
> Larry Phillips <lar...@home.com> writes:
>
> > Dale Hagglund wrote:
>
> > > This phrase is still current in the part of Alberta, Canada, I grew up
> > > in, and, I would guess, in Western Canada in general.
>
>
> Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. I think of most of BC as the
> ``West Coast.''
>
> Similarly, my impression is that, down here in USAnia, ``the West''
> does not usually include the coastal states of California, Oregon, and
> Washington.
Well, yes it does, but "the West Coast" usually brings to mind only
California.
Cheerz,
Cheshirecat
cheshirecat100(AT)hotmail(DOT)com
Larry Phillips
> Well, yes it does, but "the West Coast" usually brings to mind only
> California.
Certainly not to those here in the Great Pacific Southwest.
a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca
<lar...@home.com> wrote:
>cheshir...@my-dejanews.com wrote:
>
>> Well, yes it does, but "the West Coast" usually brings to mind only
>> California.
>
>Certainly not to those here in the Great Pacific Southwest.
>
And Mexicans, I understand, can barely bring themselve to say
"California", remembering its rape.
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Peter Duncanson [BrE]
>On Monday, March 15, 1999 at 4:00:00 AM UTC-4, Nfburr wrote:
>> Looking for the history of the phrase "all stove up" as in "that cowboy
>> couldn't ride the range today 'cause he's all stove up." If you know this one,
>> perhaps you can suggest a good source book for other western/cowboy/Texas
>> phrases.
>
>I'm in rural SC and "stove up" is very commonly used around here. Basically it means you are sore and stiff and it is hard to get up and around. Merriam Webster has a definition I guess closest to what we use it for:
>
>Definition of stove-up
>: suffering physical discomfort caused by injury, illness, exercise, or overwork : battered, worn-out
>
>https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stove-up
The OED says:
2. stove-up adj. run-down, exhausted; worn out; chiefly pred. of
persons. N. Amer. slang.
1901 A. C. Hegan Mrs Wiggs ix. 127 If I was n't so stove up, an'
nobody was n't lookin', I'd jes' skitter 'round this here yard
like a colt!
1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §129/12
Physically run-down,..stove-up.
1955 R. P. Hobson Nothing too Good for Cowboy xvi. 175 You look
stove-up, boy, what's the trouble with that hind leg of yours?
....
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
radio...@gmail.com
> Looking for the history of the phrase "all stove up" as in "that cowboy
> couldn't ride the range today 'cause he's all stove up." If you know this one,
> perhaps you can suggest a good source book for other western/cowboy/Texas
> phrases.
> Much obliged.
Tony Cooper
accident or violence, not illness.
Yes, I know this is a post from 1999.
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
Horace LaBadie
cowboys. Even older than this thread.
Cheryl
made of staves) that are crushed in. That usage probably pre-dated the
settling of the American West, if not the use of "cowboy" to mean "a
male who takes care of cows".
--
Cheryl
David Kleinecke
Mack A. Damia
aman...@gmail.com
All of both sides of my family landed here in the South in the 1600s. ‘Stove up’ is completely a normal way to describe how you feel when you’re all stiff and hurting.
ATL represent.😊
aman...@gmail.com
Soup
Nautical origin ~ Timbers on ships which had been breached by rocks or
such were said to be stove in.
Peter Duncanson [BrE]
wrote:
>On 04/04/2019 04:22, aman...@gmail.com wrote:
>> Yeah, old post, but I said to my psychiatrist (ha) when she asked after my mom today that mom was all stove up. Didn’t think about it, since we all say it here. She laughed, but she’s from TN & knew exactly what I meant.
>> All of both sides of my family landed here in the South in the 1600s. ‘Stove up’ is completely a normal way to describe how you feel when you’re all stiff and hurting.
>Only ever heard it as 'stove in'.
However, OED:
2. stove-up adj. run-down, exhausted; worn out; chiefly
>Nautical origin ~ Timbers on ships which had been breached by rocks or
>such were said to be stove in.
Ross
Tony Cooper
Peter Duncanson [BrE]
wrote:
>On Friday, April 5, 2019 at 10:30:11 AM UTC+13, Soup wrote:
>> On 04/04/2019 04:22, aman...@gmail.com wrote:
>> > Yeah, old post, but I said to my psychiatrist (ha) when she asked after my mom today that mom was all stove up. Didn’t think about it, since we all say it here. She laughed, but she’s from TN & knew exactly what I meant.
>> > All of both sides of my family landed here in the South in the 1600s. ‘Stove up’ is completely a normal way to describe how you feel when you’re all stiff and hurting.
>> Only ever heard it as 'stove in'.
>>
>> Nautical origin ~ Timbers on ships which had been breached by rocks or
>> such were said to be stove in.
>
>Originally to break up a cask or barrel (into staves).
placed together side by side and hooped, collectively form the side of a
cask, tub or similar vessel". [OED]
That sense of "stave, noun" is a back formation from "staves" the plural
of "staff".
CDB
"staving off" is something done with a staff.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/stave