4

So, it's that time of year, and every once in a while I'll hear the Grinch's tune on the radio. One line that has always confused me is the line

You're a crooked jerky jockey, and you drive a crooked hoss!

Given the phrase "Jockey", I'm inclined to believe that "Hoss" is a purposeful mispronunciation of "Horse" in order to keep the flow of the song, but I've never heard of a horse being "Driven" only "Ridden". Is Hoss an archaic slang term for something else? A type of automobile maybe?

Improve this question
2
  • 2
    You can certainly drive a horse, though as you would drive cattle, deer, or mules, and not as you would drive a car, a golf ball, or a public debate.
    – choster
    Nov 22, 2016 at 15:17
  • 1
    @choster You can drive a horse to water, and he's more likely to drink if you put salt in his hay.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Nov 22, 2016 at 15:32

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
6

hoss [OXD]

nonstandard spelling of horse, used to represent dialect or informal speech

drive [OXD]

4.2 Force (someone) to work to an excessive extent.

Improve this answer
1
  • "Drive" is also used to refer to "encouraging" a team of horses pulling a wagon, even when the "work" is nowhere near "excessive".
    – Hot Licks
    Dec 20, 2018 at 12:59
4

“Hoss” certainly means “horse” here.

The same simplification of /rs/ to /s/ has occurred in a number of other words (often in informal or dialectal forms): cuss for curse, apparently the verb bust for burst, and American English ass for arse (the form arse seems to have pretty much gone extinct in American English).

Improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.