charley horse

See also: charleyhorse

English

Alternative forms

charlie horse, charley-horse, charleyhorse

Etymology

The term may date back to American slang of the 1880s, and is possibly from the pitcher Charlie "Old Hoss" Radbourn, who is said to have suffered from cramps.[1]

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Noun

charley horse (plural charley horses)

(idiomatic, US) A muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg.
- 1914, Ralph Henry Barbour, Left End Edwards‎:
  Of course there had been plenty of bruises—one mild case of charley-horse, several dislocated or sprained fingers, a wrenched ankle or two and any number of cuts and scrapes, […]

Translations

a muscle cramp, usually in the thigh or leg

Chinese:
Cantonese: 抽筋 (cau¹ gan¹)
Mandarin: 抽筋 (zh) (chōujīn)
Esperanto: krurkramfo, gambkramfo
Finnish: jalkakramppi, suonenveto (fi)
French: jambe de bois (fr) f, béquille (fr) f
Icelandic: harðsperrur (is) n pl, þreytukrampi m
Japanese: こむら返り (komuragaeri)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: lårhøne f
Swedish: lårkaka c

References

Michael Quinion (1996–2023), “Charley horse”, in World Wide Words.