Thread: help with an expression

I would be very grateful if someone could help me with this phrase: "in the West, men bucked big and there was plenty of work". My problem is with that verbal expression "bucked big". Thank you very much.

I have no idea of what “bucked big” means. “big” is an adjective and there is nothing here for it to amplify.

It might make some sense if it was worded thusly –

“In the west men bucked big logs and there was plenty of work”. Bucking logs is the act of cutting logs (trees that have been cut down or have fallen down) into smaller sections.

Another option might be –

“In the west men bucked big horses and there was plenty of work”. To buck a horse is to ride an untamed horse and get that horse used to being ridden by a human.

In addition, you might want to reconsider this sentence – “My problem is with that verbal expression “bucked big”. The word “verbal” is unneeded and incorrect. You presented this in a written, not in a verbal (spoken) form.

Originally Posted by maira

I would be very grateful if someone could help me with this phrase: "in the West, men bucked big and there was plenty of work". My problem is with that verbal expression "bucked big". Thank you very much.

What about "earned a lot of money"?

Nadia – I don’t think the phrase in question has much to do with earning money. The meaning of “buck” is to oppose or resist. There are some notable exceptions – an American dollar is called a buck, a male deer is called a buck, and the English use the word buck for a component of a cleaning solution. My sense is that there is a noun after the word “big”. There is another meaning for bucked and it seems to be that a person is feeling bad about something – but even this meaning has to do with the original meaning, to oppose or resist.

Originally Posted by Teksch

I have no idea of what “bucked big” means. “big” is an adjective and there is nothing here for it to amplify.

It might make some sense if it was worded thusly –

“In the west men bucked big logs and there was plenty of work”. Bucking logs is the act of cutting logs (trees that have been cut down or have fallen down) into smaller sections.

Another option might be –

“In the west men bucked big horses and there was plenty of work”. To buck a horse is to ride an untamed horse and get that horse used to being ridden by a human.

In addition, you might want to reconsider this sentence – “My problem is with that verbal expression “bucked big”. The word “verbal” is unneeded and incorrect. You presented this in a written, not in a verbal (spoken) form.

Thank you very much, Teksch. Those were exactly my doubts. And you are right about "verbal". My mistake, from the spanish word. I wanted to stand out that bucked was a verb, because of the strangeness of it being next to the adjective. I am not a very good writer in English.
My question now is: could "bucked big" mean that they were great riders?

Thanks again.

I suppose that “they bucked big” could mean either they were proficient at bucking (though bucking is what the horse does and busting is what the rider does) or that they had more than sufficient employment in riding horses. The latter case is covered in the rest of the sentence “…and there was plenty of work.”

Actually, the sentence could have a number of meanings. You would have to read more of the text to get the meaning from the context.

I see it is a difficult one. Thank you very much, anyway, the distinction between bucking and busting did help me.

And thanks to Nadia, too!

this is good question as buck is a strange word, i dont think you would have to use an equivalent to it but.