Civil War Slang
For more information about Civil War slang, educators may consult the following sources,
which were used to compile this document.
★ A Field Trip Guide For Educators, The Battle of Gettysburg, research and text development by Jim Roubal, Parks as Classrooms, Gettysburg National Military Park.
★ Time Machine to Gettysburg, A Turner Adventure Learning Educational Program,
produced by Turner Educational Services, Inc. in cooperation with the Center for
Excellence in Education, Indiana University, 1994.
★ BooneBunny’s Historical Hubbub, Featuring Civil War Slang,
http://boonebunny.tripod.com/hubbub.html, 1-3
★ BooneBunny’s Historical Hubbub2
http://members.tripod.com/BooneBunny/morehubbub.html, 1-3
★ More Civil War Slang from BooneBunny,
http://members.tripod.com/BooneBunny/slang.html, 1-2
★ The Civil War’s Common Soldier, National Park Civil War Series, James I.
Robertson, Jr., Eastern National, 1994.
★ Cooking for the Cause, Confederate Recipes, Documented Quotations,
Commemorative Recipes, Patricia B. Mitchell, Sims-Mitchell House Bed &
Breakfast, Chatham, VA, 1988.
★ Union Army Camp Cooking 1861-1865 Revised Edition, Patricia B. Mitchell, SimsMitchell House Bed & Breakfast, Chatham, VA, 1990.
★ The Prison Camp at Andersonville, National Park Civil War Series, William G.
Burnett, Eastern National, 1995.
★ Hardtack and Coffee: The Unwritten Story of Army Life, John D. Billings, Bison
Books, 1993. Reprinted from original written in 1887.
C I V I L WA R P R E S E RVAT I O N T R U S T
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Civil War Slang
Civil War soldiers used the following words and terms.
Bite the bullet................................................................be strong and go for it, face up to a
challenge or something unpleasant
Mealy-mouthed.............................................................someone who “talks in circles” or is
hard to understand because they
don’t get to the point
Rigmarole.......................................................................a long or complicated list or procedure
Smart aleck ....................................................................wise guy, joker
Yahoo ..............................................................................from Gulliver’s Travels – someone who
is a “brute” in human form
Bogus ..............................................................................fake
By Jingo!.........................................................................a mild oath
Jackanapes ......................................................................an insulting person who has recently
✔EXTRACREDIT
How many of
these terms do
we still use
today? Mark a
star next to the
terms you have
used before.
been promoted; an impudent
upstart
Hornswaggled................................................................as in, “I’ll be Hornswaggled!”; I’ve
been tricked or deceived
(Tennessee or Virginia) quick-step............................same as the flux, trots, or screamers –
sick with diarrhea
Hardtack.........................................................................also called flour tile, hard bread,
teeth-dullers, sheet-iron crackers, worm castles, ship’s biscuit.
Hardtack was a cracker-like biscuit
made of flour, salt, and water and it
was the primary ration of the Union
troops. It was also difficult to eat
because it was extremely hard.
Sometimes it even contained worms
and weevils.
Coosh or Cush ..............................................................cooked beef fried with bacon grease
and cornmeal; favorite Confederate
meal
Skillygallee .....................................................................fried pork fat with crumbled hardtack,
favorite Union meal
Desiccated fruits and vegetables ................................Also called desecrated fruits and vegetables – dehydrated fruits and vegetables
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TWO WEEK CURRICULUM FOR TEACHING THE CIVIL WAR
Holding pen ...................................................................prison
Shebangs.........................................................................shelters that prisoners created for
themselves. Often, a shebang was 2
or 4 posts covered with whatever
shelter available – coats, blankets,
or even brush.
Johnny Reb ....................................................................Confederate soldier
Billy Yank .......................................................................Union soldier
Bucking and gagging ....................................................military punishment where a piece of
wood is tied in the offender’s mouth
while he is seated on the ground
with his knees bent close to his
body. A piece of wood is then
placed under his knees while his
arms are also under the stick on
each side of his knees. His hands
are then tied in the front. As a
result, the offender can’t move or
talk.
Sinks................................................................................camp latrines—actually, long open
ditches
Camp followers .............................................................various civilians who followed the
armies, such as merchants, laundresses, former slaves, vivandieres,
and prostitutes
40 dead men...................................................................cartridge box
All in three years...........................................................usually said when something went wrong
Arkansas toothpick .......................................................a very long, large knife
Artillery ..........................................................................camp kettles, stoves, pots, tubs; or, iron
foundries
Joy Juice, Bark Juice, Tar Water ................................same as (K)nokum stiff; O, Be Joyful;
Old Red Eye; Shine; Rifle
Knock-Knee; How Come You
So; Help Me to Sleep, Mother liquor
Barrel shirt.....................................................................barrel worn as a shirt by thieves as a
form of punishment
Beehive ...........................................................................knapsack
Been through the mill..................................................have done a lot, suffered through a
great deal, busy day, bad day
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Blowhard ........................................................................a big-shot, show-off, or braggart
Blue mass .......................................................................men on sick call
Bluebellies......................................................................Union soldiers
Bluff.................................................................................cheater
Bombproof .....................................................................shelter from artillery attack
Bragg’s bodyguard ........................................................body lice; named for CSA Gen.
Braxton Bragg
Bread bag .......................................................................haversack
Breadbasket ...................................................................stomach
Bull pit ............................................................................confinement area for those under
arrest
Bully!...............................................................................Hurrah! Yeah!
Bumblebee .....................................................................sound of flying minie? balls
Bummer..........................................................................a loafer, forager, person safe in the rear
Bummer’s cap ................................................................regulation fatigue or forage cap
Buttermilk Cavalry .......................................................what the infantry called the cavalry
Camp canard..................................................................false report believed by many in camp
Carte de visite ...............................................................photograph on a small card
Cashier............................................................................usually a dishonorable dismissal from
the army
Chicken guts..................................................................officer’s gold braiding on his cuff
Chief cook and bottle washer .....................................someone who is capable of doing
almost anything – from exciting
things to dull things
Company Q....................................................................sick list
Copperhead ...................................................................a Northerner with Southern sympathies, against Lincoln’s war policy
Cracker line ...................................................................line for transportation of food supplies
Creeper...........................................................................soldier’s frying pan used early in the
war
Devil fish ........................................................................fish-shaped Confederate torpedo
Dog collar ......................................................................army issued cravat (necktie), usually
thrown away
Dog robber ....................................................................an army cook
Duds................................................................................clothing
Essence of coffee...........................................................Civil War form of instant coffee
Fairy fleet .......................................................................boats carrying trade between sides at
Fredericksburg
Fast trick ........................................................................woman of low morals, loose woman
Fighting under the black flag......................................soldiers killing lice
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TWO WEEK CURRICULUM FOR TEACHING THE CIVIL WAR
Fit as a fiddle .................................................................in good shape, healthy
Fit to be tied ..................................................................angry
French leave...................................................................AWOL (Absent WithOut Leave)
Fresh fish, paleface .......................................................raw recruits
Gallinippers ...................................................................insects, mosquitoes
Giving the vermin a parole..........................................throwing away clothing infected with
lice
Goober Grabbers ..........................................................good-natured term for Georgia troops
(from goober peas or goobers,
which are peanuts)
Grab a root ....................................................................have dinner, potato
Graybeard Regiment ....................................................37th Iowa, all members at least 45 years
old
Greenbacks, rocks, spondulix .....................................Union paper currency, money
Greenhorn, bugger, skunk ..........................................officer
Grey Backs (Graybacks)...............................................insulting term for Rebel soldiers; or,
lice
Hard case .......................................................................tough or difficult guy
Hard knocks...................................................................a tough break; the hard way
Hayfoot, strawfoot ........................................................command used to teach raw recruits
the difference between left and
right (respectively)
Here’s your mule ..........................................................phrase that the infantry used to insult
the cavalry. The infantry would
hold up their feet and say, “Mister,
here’s your mule,” meaning the
infantryman’s feet did the job of
transporting the soldier. The double insult was that the cavalry rode
horses, not mules
Hopping the twig..........................................................getting married (from custom of jumping over a broom)
Hornets...........................................................................bullets
Horse sense ...................................................................common sense
Hospital rats ..................................................................soldiers who fake an illness
Housewife ......................................................................sewing kit used by soldiers
Hunkey dorey ................................................................Great!
Ironclad possum............................................................armadillo dinner
Jailbird ............................................................................criminal
Jawings............................................................................talking
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Jeff Davis’ pets...............................................................Rebel western troops’ term for Army
of Northern Virginia
Jonah ...............................................................................a person who is bad luck
Let ‘er rip .......................................................................go ahead and start
Little coot.......................................................................Confederate slang for a Yankee
Long sweetening...........................................................molasses
Lucifer ............................................................................match
Mudsill............................................................................unkind Southern term for a
Northerner
Mule ................................................................................meat
Mustered out .................................................................killed in action
Night blindness, gravel ................................................condition caused by lack of green vegetables
Opening of the ball.......................................................units waiting to move into battle
Patent Bureau................................................................knapsack
Peas on a trencher ........................................................breakfast call (song played at breakfast
on fifeand drum)
Pepperbox ......................................................................pistol
Pie eater .........................................................................man from rural area
Played out ......................................................................tired, worn out
Pumpkin rinds ...............................................................grumpy term for lieutenants, named
after their shoulder straps
Quartermaster hunter..................................................shot or shell that passed overhead and
far into the rear
Rio ...................................................................................coffee
Roast beef ......................................................................noon meal
Robber’s Row ................................................................sutler’s (merchant’s) area
Salt horse........................................................................preserved beef
Sand Hoppers ................................................................good-natured term for South Carolina
troops
Sardine box ....................................................................cap box (part of a soldier’s ammunition)
Sawbones........................................................................doctor, surgeon
Scarce as hen’s teeth.....................................................rare or scarce
Secesh .............................................................................secessionist; Northern term for those
who seceded from the Union
Seeing the elephant ......................................................experiencing battle
Shakes .............................................................................malaria
Sham fight ......................................................................mock battle
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TWO WEEK CURRICULUM FOR TEACHING THE CIVIL WAR
Skedaddle .......................................................................Run! Scatter! Retreat!
Smoked Yanks................................................................Union soldiers cooking their food over
a fire
Snug as a bug.................................................................very comfortable, cozy
Somebody’s darling.......................................................said of a dead body – referring to the
fact that someone would miss this
person
Sound on the goose ......................................................well off, wealthy
Sparking..........................................................................kissing
Sunday soldiers, parlor soldiers, kid glove boys ......insulting words for soldiers who were
useless
Take an image ...............................................................have your picture taken
Teacher’s Regiment......................................................33rd Illinois, consisted of faculty from
Illinois State Normal College.
Their officers often refused to obey
orders that were not grammatically
correct.
The Dictator..................................................................Seacoast mortar (very large gun) used
relentlessly in Petersburg siege
Tight, wallpapered........................................................intoxicated, drunk
Toeing the mark ...........................................................doing the job, obeying orders
Top rail (#1) ...................................................................first class, the best
Uppity, hoity-toity ........................................................conceited, stuck-up
Web feet .........................................................................what the cavalry called the infantry
Whipped .........................................................................defeated
Who wouldn’t be a soldier?.........................................Who cares?
Worth a goober .............................................................something that amounts to a lot
Yankeedom, Yankees, Yanks........................................how the Southerners referred to the
North and Northerners
Yellow hammers ............................................................Good-natured term for Alabama
troops
Zu-Zu .............................................................................Zouave soldier (wore very colorful uniforms)
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TWO WEEK CURRICULUM FOR TEACHING THE CIVIL WAR