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You are here: Home / Language / Where does the phrase “one horse town” come from and What does it mean?

Where does the phrase “one horse town” come from and What does it mean?

June 10, 2020 by Karen Hill

The phrase “one horse town” is American; we use the expression disparagingly to designate a town of such limited resources, so sleepy and dole-so, that one horse might be able to do all its necessary transportation.

The usage first reported (1855) credits the expression to New Orleans, but as it was reported a few years later as far north as Boston, a place notably reluctant to accept new terms, it is more than likely that it had come into wide popular use quite a long while before it appeared in print.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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