He’s so honest you could shoot craps with him over the phone. I wouldn’t trust him any farther than I can throw him. She’s more slippery than a pocketful of pudding. So crooked he has to unscrew his britches at night. He knows more ways to take your money than a roomful of lawyers. So crooked you can’t tell from his tracks if he’s coming or going. So crooked that if he swallowed a nail he’d spit up a corkscrew. He’s on a first-name basis with the bottom of the deck. So crooked that if he swallowed a nail, he’d spit up a corkscrew. Can’t dance, never could sing, and it’s too wet to plow. It’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. We asked twelve renowned artists to illustrate their favorite Texas sayings, and we present as well a sample of other axioms and adages common to the state-a collection of sayings as big as all hell and half of Texas. Some sayings are instantly familiar because our parents or grandparents quoted them others parallel the indisputable wisdom of biblical proverbs or Poor Richard’s Almanac plenty just make us laugh. A version of this article appears in our 2019 ‘Love Letters to Texas’ collector’s issue.Ĭommon as cornbread, old as dirt, funny as all get-out-homespun expressions link modern Texans to our rural and agricultural past, conveying the resolute spirit and plainspoken humor of our heroes and pioneers. This digitized version has since been updated to remove offensive lines.
#Tails of iron wagon wheel driver
The harder clatter of the wooden wheels (unless it's a dirt road, then just occasional thumps as they hit ruts and holes) or much louder clashing of steel or bronze bound wheels if that's the kind they are.Īnd the short whish-thwack! whenever the driver uses his crop or sharp crack of the whip or whatever he goads them with.Editors’ note: This article was first published in print in 1994. Then of course a symphony of creaks, squeaks and groans from the tortured wood of the cart, the yoke, and the leather or rope harness-especially when navigating the potholes or turns. You'd need to research that one, I don't know.
![tails of iron wagon wheel tails of iron wagon wheel](https://barronimports.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/App52_Iron_Wagon_Wheel_2_-600x686.jpg)
But that heavy, musky animal smell and a smell of maybe something like stale hay or whatever they eat. Refer back to road apple statement for the strongest one. Oxen don't have tails they can swat at pest with, do they? I think they just have short stumps?Īnd of course the overpowering smells. And just for visual atmosphere don't forget the occasional twitching of thick hide, especially when getting stung. The buzzing of flies, maybe the louder buzzing of wasps or bees now and then. Yeah, maybe a grunt or groan every now and then when things get rough, like up a hill or something. Hissing through nostrils or chuffing through open mouths, maybe steam gusting forth if it's cold enough. Thick heavy breathing, getting louder as they get increasingly worn out, and punctuated by sudden loud gusts through open mouths, maybe now and then with flapping lips.
![tails of iron wagon wheel tails of iron wagon wheel](https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/3dd96f5e-65ac-445c-a6b6-552dcefe638b.6aecacaf7bdb680e2384b205f39abe2e.jpeg)
![tails of iron wagon wheel tails of iron wagon wheel](https://img0.etsystatic.com/073/0/10872786/il_fullxfull.821057896_3aiw.jpg)
On a dirt road just some thumps like a muffled drum being struck softly. But on cobblestone the hooves would make a much harder clomp or clack, a sharp clatter if they do have metal shoes (which I doubt). Also, I have no idea if oxen were shod or not, I mean with iron or steel shoes, like horses. It depends largely on what kind of surface they're on. The irregular thud of heavy road apples flattening on the ground for one.