Glossary
Of Mice and Men
by John Steinbeck
bindle: bundle
bindle stiff: someone who travels with all their possessions in a bundle
booby-hatch: mental hospital
brush-line: where small trees and brushes begin to grow on the side of a hill
buckinπ grain: loading grain sacks in a wagon
bum steer: false information
bunk house: communal shed
burlap ticking, tick: thick canvas covers on bedding
canned: sacked
cat-house: brothel, whore house
crack: sex
euchre: American card game
flapper: mouth
flop: sex
goo-goos: "good government" people who want to reform things
greybacks: lice
harne: piece of wood or metal in horse collar
hoose-gow: prison
jail-bait: a woman who will get a man into trouble
jerkline: rope connecting the leading horse or mule with the brake, held by the driver
kewpie-doll: a plaster doll with a round happy face
lynched: hanged by a mob before trial
mules: backless high heeled shoes
mules: work animal, horse and donkey mix
on the county: dependant on social security
pants rabbits: lice
pendula: the plural of pendulum
pulp magazine: cheap sensational magazine
punk: unreliable, no-good young person
roll your hoop: go and play childrenπs games
rummy: card game
San Quentin: top security prison
skinner: driver of teams of horses and mules
slough: throw off
stable buck: man employed to look after horses and mules
Stetson: wide-brimmed cowboy hat
stiffs: tramps, hoboes
swamper: cleaning person
tart: a woman of loose morals
thrashing machine: a machine that separates the grain from the hay
Weed: a town in Northern California
wheeler's butt: the backside of the leading horse
whing-ding: an outing, a good time