This is a picture of Mrs. Casey's hallway I decorated. I found this really neat Civil War slang handout from the U.S. Department of Interior site with different slangs they used during that time period.
This went right along with the Civil War unit were finishing up last week. I thought this would be a great way to integrate writing and even art into our Alabama history studies. We had already discussed how people and soldiers communicated with their families during that time period. We talked about how soldiers obtained postage and paper, what they wrote in their letters, their common misspellings due to lack of education, and even where they composed some of their letters. We then viewed some actual Civil War soldiers' letters via PowerPoint. The students composed letters to their families that included: heading, greeting, body, closing, and signature. They had to use at least five slang words in their letters as well. Then we folded, crinkled, and dyed the letters by dipping them in tea. After our letters dried, we shared the letters in class. The fourth grade students' absolutely LOVED it all, especially reading their letters aloud because the slang makes the letters sound really neat (or silly to fourth graders)!
civil WAR SLANG:
CHIEF
COOK AND BOTTLE WASHER--person able to do many things
BREAD
BASKET--stomach
GREENBACKS--money
GRAYBACKS--lice
or Southern Soldiers
ARKANSAS
TOOTHPICK--a large knife
PEPPERBOX--pistol
FIT
TO BE TIED--angry
HORSE
SENSE--on the ball or being smart
HUNKEY
DOREY--great! fabulous!
GREENHORN,
BUGGER, SKUNK--officers
SNUG
AS A BUG--cozy or comfortable
SAWBONES--surgeons
SKEDADDLE--scatter
or run
HORNETS--bullets
POSSUM--a
pal, friend, or buddy
FIT
AS A FIDDLE--healthy or in great shape
UPPITY--conceited
SCARCE
AS HEN’S TEETH--rare or scarce
HARD
CASE--tough
BLUFF--cheater
JAILBIRD--criminal
or prisoner
HARD
KNOCKS--beaten up
BEEN
THROUGH THE MILL--done a lot
PLAYED
OUT--worn out
TOEING
THE MARK--doing the job
FRESH FISH--—raw/new
recruits
WHIPPED--beaten
GRAB A
ROOT--potato or have dinner
