"What did "kid" mean in the Old West?" Topic
7 Posts
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Action Log
05 Dec 2015 2:52 p.m. PST
by Editor in Chief Bill
- Changed title from "What did "kid" mean in theold West?" to "What did "kid" mean in the Old West?"
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| Grelber | 05 Dec 2015 2:10 p.m. PST |
OK, at oh-dark-hundred this morning, I watched the movie "Stagecoach," with John Wayne as the Ringo Kid. It struck me that 'kid' certainly included people who were older than the folks we'd include now, but in Ringo's case, it also seemed to be something of a title. Grelber |
| coryfromMissoula | 05 Dec 2015 2:31 p.m. PST |
Essentially the same thing as today, taken from the name of a young goat. On a job crew it could be applied to anyone young and inexperienced. |
| Dynaman8789 | 05 Dec 2015 2:47 p.m. PST |
His (John Wayne's character) name almost certainly was a take on "Billy the Kid". I believe he got the title since he had a baby face or was young. |
| LostPict | 05 Dec 2015 4:18 p.m. PST |
I was reading about Billy the Kid (Endless Ride) recently (who was known as Kid Antrim for most of his criminal career) and the author named about 20 contemporaneous "Kid"s. It was apparently just a nickname with not much more meaning than "shorty", "slim", "fats", etc. |
Richard Brooks  | 05 Dec 2015 7:50 p.m. PST |
According to the movie Ringo was given the nickname kid by his older brother when he was a youngster. |
| Old Wolfman | 07 Dec 2015 8:26 a.m. PST |
And his actual name was Henry. |
 mmitchell | 29 Dec 2015 6:25 a.m. PST |
LostPict is basically right. It was just a nickname, usually given to someone who looked younger than they were or had a baby face. You know how guys are -- sometimes they get called a nickname that sticks, even after it no longer applies. Calling the new guy "kid" eventually becomes a bit ironic after he gets (technically) too old for the name. It's just a guy thing that probably hasn't changed much for hundreds of years. |
| DJCoaltrain | 11 Mar 2016 9:13 p.m. PST |
Just as most Texans were called Tex. Of all the generic nicknames, I'd nominate "Stinky" as the worst. |
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