Painter, panter: popular pronunciation and spelling of panther.
- 1803: My master… said that I ought to live among painters and wolves, and sold me to a Georgia man for two hundred dollars. John Davis, Travels in the U.SA., p.382
- 1845: It might be a painter that stirred [the dog], for he could scent that beast a great distance. W.G. Simms, The Wigwam and the Cabin, p.48
- 1850: The bar and painter got so sassy, that they'd cum to the tother side of the bayou, and see which could talk impudenest. "Don't you want some bar meat or painter blanket?" they'd ask; bars is monstrous fat, and painter's hide is mighty warm. Odd Leaves, p. 170
Pardner, pard: friendly variation of partner or close friend, popularly used in mining camps.
- 1854: Pardners keep clus arter one another. H.H. Riley, Puddleford, p.126
- 1883: The mine is wirked by two pardners, who dig and wash by turns. D. Pidgeon, An Engineer's Holiday, p.132
- 1893: Many an old hunter has buried his pard in the Missouri River. Alex Major, Seventy Years on the Frontier, p.260
Peaked: thin or sickly in appearance.
- 1859: He looks peakeder than ever. Professor at the Breakfast Table, ch.9
- 1860: I lived on bread-and-milk nearly six weeks, until my face grew as peaked as a crow's beak. Yale Literary Magazine, XXV, p.169
- 1871: His mother was jest about the poorest, peakedest old body over to Sherburne. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Miss Elderkin's Pitcher
- 1878: When I came here, she was as peaked as a young rat. Rose T. Cooke, Happy Dodd, ch.36
Peart (pert): fresh and happy, sprightly.
- 1820: These little fixins make a man feet right peart. Hall, Letters from the West p.304
- 1833: I wish that fellow would shut the door; he must think that we were all raised in a saw-mill; and then he looks so peart whenever he comes in. C.F. Hoffman, A Winter in the Far West, p.209
- 1888: [The boys] from being starved, wretched, and dull, grew quite peart under [Eliza's] good care. Mrs. Elizabeth Custer, Tenting on the Plains, p. 171
Person of color: a Negro.
- 1801: People of color.... This new fangled name for the black race, which has ... crept into the vocabulary of the U.S., seems to have been borrowed from that fruitful source of innovations, the philosophical school of Paris. "Z," Port Folio, p.163
- 1806: At the white ball-room [in New 'Orleans] no lady of color is admitted. Thomas Ashe, Travels in America
- 1815: (Died) in Grafton, Sarah, a woman of color. Massachusetts Spy, November 29
Philadelphia lawyer: popularly credited with nearly superhuman intellect by the masses.
- 1803: It would puzzle a dozen Philadelphia lawyers to unriddle the conduct of the democrats. Balance, November 15, p.363
- 1824: The New England folks have a saying, that three Philadelphia lawyers are a match for the very devil himself. Salem Observer, March 13
- 1824: Politics has got into a jumble that a Philadelphy lawyer couldn't steer through them. John P. Kennedy, Quodlibet p. 160
- 1848: It would puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer to pint out the latitude of enything like [the United States] in all creation. W.E. Burton, Waggeries, p.68
Picayune: used to signify something small or frivolous.
- 1837: The hon. senator from Kentucky by way of ridicule calls this a picayune bill. Mr. Young, Illinois, U.S. Senate, Congressional Globe, December 22
- 1841: Some gentlemen affected to consider it a small concern, a picayune affair. Mr. Underwood, Kentucky, House of Reps., Congressional Globe, February 20
Picture: one's face; one's person.
- 1825: Young Bob's dad - consarn his pictur - spry as a cat, swom like a fish. John Neal, Brother Jonathan, III, p.387
- 1829: "Consarn his picture!" said Jeff in a low tone. John P. Kennedy, Swallow Barn, p.448
- 1847: Wall, my sister Marth made me a bran new pair of buckskin trowsers to go in, and rile my pictur if she didn't put stirrups to 'em to keep 'em down. Robb, Streaks of Squatter Life, p.61
Pile on the agony: to add insult to injury.
- 1852: If you have any more agony to pile on him, put it on. Knickerbocker Magazine, October
- 1856: I haven't piled on the agony as I might have done. Knickerbocker Magazine, December
- 1857: Three raving, lying, free-negro journals, is piling up the agony a little too steep. Oregon Weekly Times, November 14
Pitch a Fit: To throw a temper tantrum, get upset.
Plank, plank down, plank up: to pay in cash.
- 1824: His guard was sent for, and he planked the cash. Nantucket inquirer, April 19
- 1835: His patient returned, and, planking ten dollars, took possession of her invaluable medicine. Daniel P. Thompson, Adventures of Timothy Peacock, P.104
- 1851: He would plank down the very money he had received. Daniel B. Woods, Sixteen Months at the Gold Diggings, p. 75
Plug-ugly: a Baltimore rowdy; any rowdy or ruffian.
- 1857: The city of Baltimore, from whose midst the plug uglies claim to hail. Oregon Weekly Times, August 1
- 1863: Colonel Butler is a tall, fully developed, imposing man, devoid of the slightest resemblance to an ideal Plug Ugly. James Parton, Butler in New Orleans, p. 79
- 1865: A brawny fellow, with a plug-ugly countenance, looked over my shoulder at the book. A.D. Richardson, The Secret Service, p.108
Plum, plumb: entirely; very
- 1850: His breeches split plum across with the strain, and the piece of wearin' truk wot's next the skin made a monstrous putty flag. Odd Leaves, P.51
- 1858: He wur plum crazy an'jumped over the frunt ov the pulpit. Olympia Pioneer, February 26
- 1893: "You're plumb crazy," she remarked. Harper's Weekly, p.1211
Plunder: personal belongings; baggage.
- 1815: We heard these men uniformly calling their baggage plunder. T. Flint, Recollections, p.6
- 1817: [We carried] our plunder (as the Virginians call baggage) in a light Jersey wagon. J.K. Paulding, Letters from the South, p.38
- 1818: When you arrive at a house, the first inquiry is, where is your plunder? as if you were a bandit; and out is sent a slave to bring in your plunder. Arthur Singleton, Letters from the South and West, p.106
- 1842: [In Virginia] you hear the driver say, "Here, you nigger fellow, tote this lady's plunder to her room." Upstairs is pronounced "upstarrs"; the words "bear" and "fear" are pronounced "barr" and "farr" ; and one passenger was told, "The room upstarrs is quite preparred, so that your plunder may be toted, whenever you've a mind." J.S. Buckingham, Slave States, p.293
Pony up, post the pony: pay up.
- 1838: It was my job to pay all the bills. "Salix, pony up at the bar, and lend us a levy. "J.C. Neal, Charcoal Sketches
Poor as Job's turkey: very poor.
- 1840s: The professor is as poor as Job's turkey, if it wasn't for that powerful salary the trustees give him. R. Carlton, The New Purchase, Vol. 11, p.85
Powerful: great; extreme; a large quantity.
- 1833: Gentlemen, good evening; this has been a powerful hot day. James Hall, Liarpe's Head, p.86
- 1835: He was powerful tired. Washington Ining, Tour of the Prairies, Ch. XIII
- 1869: Our men has mostly gone across to Californy to see what's the chances for fodder. Folks tell us it's powerful dry over there. J. Ross Browne, Apache Country, p.461
Pucker: in a state of irritation or anger.
- 1826: My wife will be in a fine pucker when she finds this sum exhausted. Massachusetts Spy, November 1
- 1837: A terrier dog in a pucker is a good study for anger. J.C. Neal, Charcoal Sketches, P.124
- 1847: If I am delayed, Blair and Rives will get in a pucker. Robb, Streaks of Squatter Life, p. 15
Puke: Slang term for a Missourian.
- 1838: The suckers of Illinoy, the pukes of Missouri, and the corncrackers of Virginia. Haliburion, The Clockmaker, II, p.289
- 1852: Sundry Hoosiers, Buckeyes, Suckers, Pukes, and Wolvereens, all wide awake, and ready for business. Knickerbocker Magazine, April
- 1856: You can search the house, but as for this puke of a Missourian, he shall not come in. Sara Robinson, Kansas, P.205
Pull foot: to leave in a hurry.
- 1825: Yah! How [the Indians] pulled foot, when they seed us comin'. John Neal, Brother Jonathan, p. 107
- 1831: Jerry pulled foot for home like a streak of lightning. Seba Smith, Major lack Downing, p. 142
- 1837: He had pulled foot for Baltimore, and sold the rest of his tooth powder. Philadelphia Public Ledger, March 6
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