Grease-us—a play on the name of Croesus
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Eighteenth Century mariners called the petrel (a large sea bird) "Mother Cary's chicken."
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crack-loo—a form of gambling in which coins are tossed high into the air with the object having one's coin land nearest a crack in the floor
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The Menger Hotel was (and still is) a San Antonio landmark. Built in 1859 near the Alamo, its guests have included Robert E. Lee, U. S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, and Sarah Bernhardt.
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suaderos—O. Henry uses this term in several stories. He probably meant "sudaderos," which are saddle blankets or pads. The term is also sometimes used to refer to pads that prevent the stirrup straps from rubbing the rider's leg. O. Henry undoubtedly picked up the word during his stay on South Texas ranches, but he probably never saw the word written, and "suaderos" was what he came up with many years later when writing. This annotator is grateful to Michael K. DeWitt of Oklahoma State University for explaining this reference.
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