Every sport has its own lingo, but rodeo has a language all its own. Whether you’re new to rodeo or just enjoy a good jab behind the chutes, we’ve come up with a list of our favorite rodeo slang and rodeo phrases that you may or may not be familiar with.

So please enjoy, our never complete, sometimes slightly inaccurate or exaggerated, but always in good fun dictionary of cowboy slang.

#

2-Jump Chump [too juhmp chuhmp]

noun

A roughie who can’t make it past the second jump before being flung, shot off, launched, etc., and firmly hitting the ground, well before the eight-second whistle. 

8 Second Whistle [eyt sek-uhnd hwis-uh l]

noun

The thing that is supposed to only count to eight seconds before it goes off, but takes an impossible amount of time to hear when you’re strapped to the back of a bucking animal. 

A

Arm Jerker [ahrm jurk-er]

noun

He’s a rank one, boys. Make sure you stay ahead of him!

B

Bear Down [bair doun]

verb

Settle in, get that faraway look in your eyes, make your mean face and nod you head, cowboy – it’s going to be a fight to make the eight-second whistle.

Be 90 [bee nahyn-tee]

verb

Go big or go home, leave it all on the line, let it all hang out, go for it, just go ahead and be awesome.

Box [boks]

noun

The back corner of the timed event side of the arena where the rider must back his or her horse into before nodding for their calf/steer. Also, what some roughstock competitors call the bucking chute.

Break The Barrier [breyk th uh bar-ee-er]

verb 

In the timed events, participants are required to give the calf or steer a head start. If they leave the box too soon, they’ll break the thin cotton string holding the long end of the barrier rope together and receive a 10-second penalty. 

See also: heartbreak, agony, and “I would have won if I hadn’t.” 

Bulldogging [boo l dawg-ging]

noun

What you call steer wrestling if you were born before 1995.

Bullfighter [boo l fahy-ter]

noun

Just don’t call them clowns and you’ll be good.

C

Can Chaser [kan chey-ser]

noun

What you call a barrel racer if you think you’re funny or have a death wish.

Cape ‘Em [keyp em]

verb

A freestyle bullfighting move where a bullfighter throws a fake and then extends his arm to touch the back of the bull in what is a throwback to the old-school bullfighting days in Spain.

Counterfeit [koun-ter-fit]

adjective

A dirty bucking horse that will try anything to get you bucked off. Also used to describe the move your rotten rope horse throws at you right when you stand up in the stirrup and become easy to buck off.

See also: dirty, evil, most likely has some sort of pony bloodlines, janky.

Cowboy Poker [kou-boi poh-ker]

noun

An insane game played where the participants play poker in the arena when a bull is let loose. The last person still sitting at the table wins. Bet you’ve never sweat so much over a card game until you play this one.

Cowboy Pokers [kou-boi poh-kers]

noun

A bull with a big set of mean-looking horns.

D

Dink [dingk]

noun

A bull or a bronc that doesn’t have any buck or just runs around the arena.

Don’t Risk It, Rope the Brisket [dohnt risk it, rohp the bris-kit]

verb

No, we’re not talking about what you’re picking up for dinner. This term means roping your team roping steer really low around the neck, a sure shot on the heading side but a definite wild spin for your heeler. 

Duck Spinner [duhk spin-er]

noun

You’ll be 83 points all day on him. He’s just out there and around to the right, just a real nice bull. A bull you want to draw: solid with a predictable pattern. 

See also: Spur Bait

F

Fined Up [fahyn d uhp]

verb

When you don’t pay your fees and you’re not allowed to ride until you do – don’t be a chump.

See also: blacklisted, ineligible

G

Get to the Fence [get tuh the fens]

verb

What bullfighters will yell at you if you buck off and lay in the middle of the arena like a fat panda.

Get a Holt [get ey hohlt]

verb

Instead of describing this, let the 2016 world champion Zeke Thurston teach you how. 

Unlock this video, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In

Hanging in the D’s [hang-ing in the dees]

verb

You ain't going to win anything there, cowboy, you better let loose and spur a few licks.

He Ain’t Hooky [hee eynt hoo k-ee]

lie

What contractors tell you to make you feel better, but 99.99 percent of the time they’re lying.

Heel Crow [heel kroh – alt: Caah CAAAH!]

verb

When you make a wicked heel shot and all your buddies start cawing like a crow from the box. 

H

Hoolihan [hoo-li-han]

verb

When a steer wrestler gets down on a steer and they both flip end over end, but not that fancy loop cow punchers can throw to catch horses (Houlihan). This is a RODEO dictionary, not a RANCH dictionary ol ‘ son. 

I

Ineligible [in-el-i-juh-buhl]

adjective

What the entry lady tells you that you are when you haven’t been paying your fees, not what Tuf Cooper is now that he’s married to Tiff. 

See also: Fined Up

K

Kick, Kick, Kick, Look, Ride! [kik, kik, kik, loo k, rahyd]

verb

If you have to ask, you’ve never been to a barrel jackpot. Pro Tip: Bring earplugs if you ever go. 

See also: Lift And Reach – saddle bronc riding’s version of this phrase.

L

Let It Lay, Make It Pay [let it ley, meyk it pey]

verb

Giving that sick heel shot some time to marinate before you pull your slack and get your dallies. 

Let ‘r Buck [let ‘r buhk]

verb

The slogan for the Pendleton Roundup but also something you can yell at the latch man to open the gate. 

See also: Let ‘r Rip, Tater Chip, Outside Boys

Let ‘r Rip, Tater Chip [let ‘r rip, tey-ter chip]

verb

Ya’ll keep coming up with crazy things to yell at gate latch pullers so we’ll keep adding them to our list. 

See also: Let ‘r Buck, Outside Boys

Lift And Reach [lift and reech]

verb

What your buddies are always hollering at you to do from the back of the bucking chutes. 

See also: Kick, Kick, Kick, Look, Ride! – barrel racing’s version of this phrase (sorry boys, but it's the same thing).

M

Mark Out [mahrk out]

verb

Get those spurs in the neck on that first jump out or you won’t get a check.

Muley Mashing [myoo-lee mashing]

verb 

Just ‘cuz that bull doesn’t have horns, doesn’t mean he won’t pound you into the ground. 

Antonym: Cowboy Pokers

N

Nanny Slammer [nan-ee slam-er]

noun

What you call goat tiers, again, if you have a death wish.

O

Outside Boys [out-sahyd bois]

verb

The phrase made famous by the movie "Eight Seconds" about the late Lane Frost. Also the phrase every young cowboy wanting to ride roughstock has to say at least once in his lifetime. 

See also: Let ‘r Buck, Let ‘r Rip, Tater Chip 

Punchy [puhn-chee]

noun

A REAL cowboy.

R

Rank [rangk]

noun

The best of the best. Ornery, wild, a real bucker, boys. 

Ring Of Fire/Fear [ring uhv fahyuh r/feer]

noun

Competitors stand within circles that are drawn in the dirt in the arena, and then all you-know-what breaks loose when a bull is turned out into said arena. Last person still standing in their “ring” is the winner – but maybe not the smartest person in the world.

Rodeo Clown [roh-hee-oh kloun]

noun

NOT A BULLFIGHTER. Ya’ll…STOP. That joke he just told was pretty funny though…

Roughstock [ruhf stok]

noun

The events of bull riding, saddle bronc riding and bareback riding. 

See Also: Roughie, a cowboy who makes his living eight-seconds at a time.

Spur Bait [spur beyt]

noun

A horse or bull that goes out there and bucks like he’s just begging to be spurred. See also: Duck Spinner.

Stuffing [stuhf-ing]

verb

The act of flanking and gathering your goat’s legs while in the air, landing with them already crossed and ready to tie—not what your granny makes for Thanksgiving dinner. Also the talk of the great goat tying debate of stuffing versus gathering. Which side of the debate do you fall on?

T

Throw A Fake [throh a feyk]

verb

A freestyle bullfighting move where a bullfighter will trick a bull into thinking he’s going to step one way but then doesn’t go that way.

Turn and burn [turn and burn]

verb

What you hope to do at the barrel race to get that money. 

Antonym: crash and burn. 

W

Weekend Warrior [week-end wawr-ee-er]

noun

A cowboy, but like…with a job. So he’s going to need to draw up on Saturday or Sunday. Okay, entry lady?

Wild Ride [wahyld rahyd]

noun

A costumed—and often alcohol-induced—side competition at some rodeos. See professional cowboys let it hang loose in animal suits, dresses, and other creative costumes as they compete for fun, and dare we say it, glory. 

Y

YEAH! [yai]

verb

No, it’s not just a line from an Usher song, it means you got out good on the barrier so you better jump that steer or sling your rope and you’ll be in the money.

You Ain’t No Cowboy [yoo eynt noh kou-boi]

Adjective – we think, but we’re honestly not that sure

Why don’t you go ahead and ask Dale Brisby about this one, but if you have to ask, you ain’t no cowboy.

You Were Robbed [yoo wur rob-d]

verb

When you make a perfect heel shot, pull your slack up, dally, and POOF some invisible robber pulled your rope right off those feet. Sorry, man, we don’t know what to tell you either besides “you were robbed.”