buffalo, v. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (original) (raw)
buffalo v.
[the size and strength of the animal]
(US) to overawe, to frighten, to confuse, to pressurize, to threaten.
| 1878–9 | ![[US]](https://greensdictofslang.com/static/img/flags/us.png) |
Tough Trip Through Paradise (1977) 40: Here you are letting this sidewinder buffalo you out of the chance to make a lot of good old Queen Vic’s money. |
|---|---|---|
| 1907 | |
C.E. Mulford Bar-20 ix: Jest because they buffaloed yu over to Las Vegas yu needn’t think they’s dangerous. |
| 1911 | |
NY Tribune 17 Dec. 5/3: He’d got together a gang that couldn’t be beat for devilment. They had the whole countery plumb buffaloed. |
| 1927 | |
W.R. Morse ‘Stanford Expressions’ in AS II:6 275: _buffalo_—get under control, hypnotize. |
| 1950 | |
J.T. Farrell ‘Milly and the Porker’ in Amer. Dream Girl (1950) 197: Mac’s told everybody in the company how he’s always been able to buffalo you. |
| 1959 | |
A. Zugsmith Beat Generation 59: For this one time, we’ll have another Arthur Garrett to buffalo the fuzz. |
| 1961 | |
G.L. Coon Meanwhile, Back at the Front (1962) 20: You don’t think you’re going to buffalo these crooks with that hand, do you? |
| 1970 | |
in P.R. Runkel Law Unto Themselves 248: Guzynski had to be pistol-whipped [...] if he wasn’t to become a Steelkit mutineer to buffalo all captains. |
| 1987 | |
J. Ciardi Good Words 53: Buffalo v. Also to be buffaloed; he has me buffaloed, I’ve got him buffaloed. |
| 1991 | |
B. Hamper Rivethead (1992) 136: Tryin’ to buffalo a fellow linemate into buying some stupid $15 membership into his gritty boys’ club. |
| 2001 | |
A. Schulman 23rd Precinct 88: ‘The captain, he’s not one of the guys. He buffaloes people, he bullies people’. |
| 2011 | |
‘Jack Tunney’ Cutman [ebook] I’d already seen him [...] whale the tar out of three German sailors that thought they was gonna buffalo an old man. |