slow elk

n. stolen cattle butchered for food. Subjects: English, Animals, Insects, & Birds, Food & Drink

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Citations: 1931 Paul Jensen American Speech (Dec.) “Desert Rats’ Word-List from Eastern Idaho” vol. 7, no. 2, p. 120: A slow elk is the cattle rustler’s (cattle thief’s) term for a calf. 1938-39 Lexicon of Trade Jargon “Cow Punchers’ Slang and Jargon” (in Utah, Texas, Ore., S.D., Colo., Ariz., Mont.) p. 17: Slow elk. Beef butchered without owners’ consent. 1943 William MacLeod Raine Chicago Daily Tribune (Nov. 14) “Courage Stout” p. 22: Some were homesteaders, decent enough citizens, even if they might at times under the pressure of hunger eat slow elk. That’s what they called rustled beef. 1979 A.A. Dornfeld @ Ill. Chicago Tribune (May 20) “Tow and tell with Capt. Pete” p. 41: Someone else mentioned an unprincipled captain back in the lean ’30s who was said to have sent a task force armed with shotguns ashore at rural stretches on dark nights to hunt “slow elk.” If successful, the men returned bowed under the weight of beef steaks and roasts. 1989 Edward Hoagland New York Times (May 7) “Edward Abbey: Standing Tough In The Desert” p. 7-44: The potluck stew was from two “slow elk,” as he liked to call beef cattle poached from particularly greedy entrepreneurs on the public’s wildlands.

Posted 28 Jun 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend