Just back from Left Coast Crime, Reno, Nevada, and feeling of a Western turn of mind. As a result, I departed from my usual references for historical slang and turned to a wonderfully readable (and well-researched) book on my shelves: Saloons of the Old West by Richard Erdoes.
The title should give you a clue right there that Tangle Leg probably doesn't involve tripping over one's trouser cuffs!
What do you think it is?
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Tangle Leg appears in the chapter "The Stuff They Drank." That pretty much gives the game away! Tangle Leg is "made of tobacco, molasses, red peppers, and raw alcohol. It tied the imbiber's feet up in knots."
Oh yum... NOT!
I found independent verification in American English by Gilbert Milligan Tucker (1921), which defines it as "intoxicating liquor."
Somehow, I think the combination of ingredients would do more than intoxicate!
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| Too much Tangle Leg could lead to this! (By N. Currier (Firm) - Library of CongressCatalog: http://lccn.loc.gov/91796265Image download: http://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/ppmsca/32700/32719v.jpgOriginal url: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/91796265/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66408867) |
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