Hold That Nasty Language
By Jack Joseph Smith
By Jack Joseph Smith
Original Scan
AI Interpretation
The speaker denies telling lies, invokes a football coach and ex wives, and warns about work, war, and people claiming superiority. Rusty's advice to mind one's business leads to a ranch warning and a demand that the Judge stick to facts.
The speaker connects lies with foulness and beleagurement of the brain, then asks about qualifications for a head hunter. These claims belong to the poem's speaker and do not establish the author's marriages or conduct.
A swaggering speaker insists 'I don't tell lies', calls 'my football coach' and 'my ex wives' as witnesses, and warns that 'Ya' get caught in one; the're on a run', trading sayings such as 'Stay off my ranch; not my first rodeo' and 'Stick to the facts Judge'.
The monologue is built from one-line assertions and cowboy idioms, treating lying as both a social trap and 'the beleagurement of the brain'. It ends on a wry jab rather than a resolution, and its claims belong to the speaker.