Both you faithful readers of this blog know that I often wonder about various things. A couple of months ago, an announcer was interviewing a football player prior to one of the playoff games and the player said, “this is not my first rodeo.” I’d heard the phrase before and I know that “This ain’t my first rodeo” is pretty much telling a person that you’re more prepared for a given situation, and maybe even that it doesn’t offer much of a challenge.
I did some checking and it appears that the phrase can be traced back to the movie Mommie Dearest, in which a character says, “This ain’t my first time at the rodeo.” But what made me wonder is why the term “rodeo?” Why use rodeo to tell someone that you’r not a novice to a situation, that you have experience or that you are competent? I’d venture to say most people have never even been to a rodeo. Why didn’t the football player just say, “This ain’t my first football game (or playoff game?)”
I’ve also heard the term, “My last rodeo.” That’s usually used when someone is in the latter stage of their career, or about to finish something. Why not just say “my retirement?”
I remember Hearing Peyton Manning saying something like, “this might be my last rodeo, so it sure has been a pleasure” after he won a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos. Why didn’t he just say this might be my last game?
Besides not my first rodeo, and my last rodeo, I’ve heard that been to the rodeo, that means something like been exposed to conmen or hucksters, or being experienced. And I’ve often heard the phrase straight out of the shoot, which means something done immediately, or from the beginning. That phrase is taken from the rodeo terminology — a bucking bronco, or bull is kept in a narrow pen, called the chute, until it is released.
Anyhow, my question hasn’t been answered — how did the word rodeo become part of American slang, especially in parts of the US where “rodeo” is almost a foreign term…
Rodeos have been part of cowboy culture in America for centuries — they were very popular where I grew up, but Claire had never been to a rodeo before we were married.
Maybe I’ll just never know….. I’ve heard the phrase that the opera isn’t over ’till the fat lady sings. Where I grew up, it was more like, the rodeo ain’t over till the bull riders ride.
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