TO BARK OFF SQUIRRELS and other Americanisms

[blufford]

TO BARK OFF SQUIRRELS. A common way of killing squirrels among those who are expert with the rifle, in the Western States, is to strike with the ball the bark of the tree immediately beneath the squirrel; the concussion produced
by which, kills the animal instantly without mutilating it.--Audubon, Ornithology, Vol. I. p. 294.

Here is a link to American and English sayings in the mid 1800s. If you love words or expressions you'll love this book/dictionary that can be read on line.


Dictionary of Americanisms, by John Russell Bartlett (1848)
http://www.merrycoz.org/voices/bartlett/AMER02.HTM

[tamsam]

Wonder how big the tree was that this one was barked out of. Sam

[blufford]

It must have run into that wall and killed himself.

[blufford]

I've seen a couple of these.

PETER FUNK. At the petty auctions a person is employed to bid on articles put up for sale, in order to raise their price. Such a person is called a Peter Funk; probably from such a name having frequently been given when articles were bought in. At the mock auctions, as they are called in New York, this practice of having by-bidders is carried to a great extent; and strangers, unacquainted with their tricks, are often cheated by them. Grose describes a person similarly employed in England, under the name of puffer.

SANG. An abbreviation of ginseng. It is or was also used in Virginia as a verb; to go a sanging, is to be engaged in gathering ginseng.

KOOL SLAA. (Dutch.) Cabbage salad. Many persons who affect accuracy, but do not know the origin of the term, pronounce the first syllable as if it were the English word cold.


CORDUROY ROAD. A road or causeway constructed with logs laid together over swamps or marshy places. When properly finished, earth is thrown between them, by which the road is made smooth; but in newly settled parts of the United States, they are left uncovered, and thereby are extremely rough and bad to pass over with a carriage. Sometimes they extend many miles. They derive their name from their resemblance to a species of ribbed velvet, called corduroy.

[Up North Louie]

We still have surviving examples of corduroy road around here, although they have been covered over with clay and a layer of gravel. With all the frost heaving we get, they hold up far better than their asphalt cousins.

All these roads are in forest land and were, I believe, CCC projects. The corduroy segments are not long, just whatever distance they needed to overcome marshy obstacles in the construction of fire lanes, and so on. I go over a couple stretches of them to get to one of my favorite trout streams, back when I actually had time to fish.

I gotta get back to fishing.

Don

[stranger]

we always called it barking tree rats with a .45 cal bal.

[EDDIE BUCK]

Thanks Blufford, I just found out what was happening that time that I thought my coondog was wearing that coon for a hat. It won't no hat, my coondog was being CATAWAMPTIOUSLY Chawed UP fer show. lol Eddie

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by blufford

is to strike with the ball the bark of the tree immediately beneath the squirrel;

I dont understand this

what ball?

strike what?

...and what happens?

[blacksmithtech]

M-Farmer,

I learned it as "barking squirrels".

Shooting with a caliber too large to use on the squirrel would result in squirrel scrapple so you aim for the tree right next to the critter. Resulting bark/debris will frag the 'lil dumpling. Done it many a time.

Hope that helps -