A lon=
g time ago a boy was born breech-backward that ended up with a miss-shaped =
head. Doctor looked at the infant and said he was just odd. His parents wer=
e struggling to come up with a name and remembered what the doctor said, so=
they wrote down “Odd”. The clerk shared his name with the nurs=
es, and they all got a great big giggle out of it. The said, "What an&=
nbsp;Odd baby."
=
=
Growing=
up was hard for Odd. Teachers looked at him as Odd, kids rejected his for =
being Odd, and he got bullied a lot. He finally graduated from school and t=
ook on "Odd jobs". He finally found an Old Maid that =
put up with his Odd ways and Odd speech and got married. =
Years later he was looking back at things and gave his wi=
fe an odd request. He wasn’t sure why his parents had given him that name, =
but it had caused him problems all his life and he never liked it. He asked=
, "Honey, out of respect for my parents I never changed my name, but w=
hen my day comes and you bury me, just don’t put anything other than the ye=
ar I was born and the year I die on my headstone."
His wife agreed and they went about their lives for severa=
l more years before the man finally passed away. The wife honored his reque=
st and had a headstone with only the birth and death years carved on it pla=
ced on his grave.
But to this day everyo=
ne knows who is buried there, even if they never knew the man. People who v=
isit the cemetery look at the blank headstone and say, "Isn’t that Odd=
?".
~~ANSWERS to “Cowboy Ling=
o” Quiz
Ambush at the Store – Scales =
of grocers because they were always “lying in weight.”
Barking Irons – Pistols.
Crowbar Hotel – Jail.
Dusted &#=
8211; Thrown from a horse.
Eagle – A gold ten-dollar coin.
Fish or Cut Bait – Do it or quit talking about it.
G=
rab the Apple&nbs=
p;– Taking hold of the saddle horn to avoid falling off (no self-resp=
ecting cowboy wanted to be caught doing this).
Hell Rouser=
s – Sp=
urs.
Iron Horse – Railroad train.
Jump the Bro=
om – G=
et married.
Keep Company – To court.
Lunkhead – A hor=
se (or person) of inferior breed or appearance.
Mouthpiece=
– A l=
awyer.
Night Hawk – While cowboys slept on a cattle drive, one s=
tayed up all night standing guard.
Owl Hoot Trail – The outlaw w=
ay of life.
Prairie Oysters – Fried or roasted calves’ tes=
ticles.
Quincy – An indoor toilet. Not just a “J=
ohn” (privy, outhouse), but a John “Quincy”.
Ride a Shank’s Mare – To walk or be set afoot.
Sixes =
And Sevens &=
#8211; To be in a state of disorder and confusion.
Three W=
ays from Sunday&n=
bsp;– Moving quickly; high-tailing it out of there.
Unshucked&nb=
sp;– Cowboy talk for naked, often of a gun that’s out of the ho=
lster.
Vamoose – To disappear or leave quickly.
Wearing the Bustle Wrong – Referring to a pregnant woman.
Yello=
w Belly R=
11; A coward.
Zitted – Past tense of zip or flew. “Th=
e bullets zitted about in every direction.”
~~=
Dr. Bob Griffin
“Abhoring all my sin, adoring only Him&#=
8221;
bob@grif.=
net www.grif.net