cowboy English · revision 15465

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1623}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkaʊˌbɔɪ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|en|cow|boy]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A boy who tends cows and drives them between the farm and the pasture: 1725 in Etymonline;^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster dates it to 1623.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ During the American Revolution it was an insulting name for bands of marauding Loyalists near New York (1775), who rustled cattle.^(Etymonline)^(Hendrickson 2008) The American sense, a man who tends cattle on horseback on a ranch, is by 1849.^(Etymonline)^(Hendrickson 2008) Figuratively, a brash and reckless young man is by 1942, and the adjective, reckless, from the 1920s;^(Etymonline) Hollywood westerns helped spread the sense of any reckless person, as a speeding driver.^(Hendrickson 2008) Cowboys and Indians as a children's game is by 1920.^(Etymonline) The oldest word for the occupation is [[cowherd]], from late Old English, and cowhand is from 1852.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1623 – cowboy (Merriam-Webster).^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1725 – a boy who tends cows.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1775 – a Loyalist raider.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1849 – a ranch hand on horseback.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1942 – a reckless young man.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A man who tends cattle on a ranch, doing his work on horseback, especially in the western United States.^(AHD)^(Hendrickson 2008)

+ # An adventurous hero, as in [[western|alt=westerns]].^(AHD)

+ # ''(informal)'' A reckless or unscrupulous person, as a driver, pilot or tradesman who ignores risks.^(AHD)^(Hendrickson 2008)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cowboy boot]]

+ * [[cowboys and Indians]]

+ * [[drugstore cowboy]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cowman]]

+ * [[cowherd]]

+ * [[cowhand]]

+ * [[cowpoke]]

+ * [[cowgirl]]

+ * [[rancher]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}