# Does anyone use the word "buffalo" any more? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 28, 2017, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930 "2017-08-28T12:25:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/1 "2017-08-28T12:25:09Z")
In the context of “to bully.” I’ve till now only heard it used in the saying “[Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo),” but last night noticed it being used in [an episode of _The Rockford Files_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0688026/) where someone said that someone else “wouldn’t buffalo” (as in, would not be intimidated.) So apparently in 1979 it was assumed that the term would be familiar to the audience. But as far as I know, the term is pretty much extinct today. Any thoughts on when/where it might have been in regular use? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/2 "2017-08-28T12:42:10Z")
Those badass buffalo girls goin round the outside… ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/3 "2017-08-28T13:50:42Z")
Google ngram for “buffaloed” (to distinguish the verb): > **[Google Books Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=buffaloed&year_start=1800&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cbuffaloed%3B%2Cc0)** > > Google Books Ngram Viewer It looks like it was non-existent (or spelled differently?) prior to 1900. Usage has declined a little since the mid-20th centry, but it does not appear to be obsolete. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/4 "2017-08-28T14:13:25Z")
Nm ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/5 "2017-08-28T14:38:24Z")
Seems old fashioned. I’d know what it meant but I haven’t heard it in a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/6 "2017-08-28T14:45:55Z")
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/7 "2017-08-28T15:07:03Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. Ya know that’s even hotlinked in the OP, right? Anyhow, like the OP, that’s the only manner in which I’ve ever heard the word used, as an example of a sentence with the most repeated words in it (and which essentially can be extended indefinitately.) I’ve never really like that sentence because “buffalo” as a verb just sounds weird to me. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/8 "2017-08-28T15:10:08Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’ve never really like that sentence because “buffalo” as a verb just sounds weird to me. So you’re saying that sentence doesn’t parse muster? ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/9 "2017-08-28T15:19:22Z")
I have never heard of this. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/10 "2017-08-28T15:26:33Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > I have never heard of this. Yeah, it’s a verb that means to confuse or deceive, but apparently it also can mean to intimidate, as in the Rockford Files usage. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/11 "2017-08-28T15:59:35Z")
I’d not heard of the usage before learning of that weird sentence. And while I tend to speak with a lower vocabulary, I used to read the dictionary for fun, and aced the vocab test they use to test your knowledge at psychiatrists–knowing every word. Point is, if I’d have encountered it, I’d’ve remembered what it meant. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/12 "2017-08-28T16:26:01Z")
I didn’t before, but I will now! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/13 "2017-08-28T16:41:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, it’s a verb that means to confuse or deceive, but apparently it also can mean to intimidate, as in the Rockford Files usage. Something combining both, like using bullshit to intimidate. Just guessing but maybe it arises from the nature of buffalo to run right through anything in their way. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/14 "2017-08-28T18:11:29Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Ya know that’s even hotlinked in the OP, right? Anyhow, like the OP, that’s the only manner in which I’ve ever heard the word used, as an example of a sentence with the most repeated words in it (and which essentially can be extended indefinitately.) I’ve never really like that sentence because “buffalo” as a verb just sounds weird to me. I guess the sarcastic tone didn’t come thru. Also, the sentence is a favorite of mine because I was born in Buffalo, N.Y. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/15 "2017-08-28T19:11:07Z")
I just saw some buffalo on Saturday. I couldn’t tell if they were buffaloing anyone though. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/16 "2017-08-28T19:22:51Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > …I used to read the dictionary for fun, and aced the vocab test they use to test your knowledge at psychiatrists–knowing every word… I didn’t realize that psychiatric tests were graded. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/17 "2017-08-28T19:25:10Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I guess the sarcastic tone didn’t come thru. Also, the sentence is a favorite of mine because I was born in Buffalo, N.Y. As a completely off-topic comment, I don’t know what it is about you guys, but for a city your size, I seem to meet a disproportionate amount of you; your denizens are everywhere. I even married one of them. (And dated another one in college.) Or maybe I just like Buffalonians and are naturally drawn to them. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/18 "2017-08-28T19:44:09Z")
So psychiatrists evaluate the patient’s sanity now by measuring their vocabulary? ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/19 "2017-08-28T21:14:42Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I didn’t realize that psychiatric tests were graded. > [@Senegoid](#): > > So psychiatrists evaluate the patient’s sanity now by measuring their vocabulary? Vocabulary tests are typically part of IQ tests or similar. So yes, they’re graded. Nothing to do with sanity (although if you give really oddball definitions that might prompt additional tests). ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930/20 "2017-08-28T23:14:45Z")
> [@JR\_Brown](#): > > Vocabulary tests are typically part of IQ tests or similar. I’m familiar with IQ tests, but I didn’t know they were used in a psychiatric setting. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-use-the-word-buffalo-any-more/794930.md?page=2)