Vocabulary in The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

“Buttonholed” is an expression that refers to taking hold of the front of a listener’s coat so that the listener can’t get away. It implies that the speaker is long-winded and boring. The narrator is about to make his escape from Simon Wheeler, but isn’t out the door yet.

Consumption is a lay term for tuberculosis, an infectious disease of the lungs that was extremely common—and deadly—throughout human history. In 1882, German physician and microbiologist Robert Koch discovered that the disease was caused by a type of bacteria that could be spread from person to person.

In context, “nag” is slang for a horse, especially a race horse, and has connotations of being old, inferior, or worthless. Calling Smiley’s mare “the fifteen-minute nag” indicates that she needs fifteen minutes to run only a quarter mile.

A straddle bug is an insect with long legs, similar to a beetle.

“Curiousest” means most curious, another example of Twain’s approximating in writing Wheeler’s spoken language. The remainder of Wheeler’s narrative about Jim Smiley is written in vernacular style, which often adds to the humor in the story.

A flume is a artificial waterway sometimes used to transport materials. “Warn’t,” meaning “wasn’t,” is an example of Twain’s vernacular style in the story. “Vernacular” refers to the everyday spoken language of people in a particular locality or of a particular culture or social class. The striking contrast between Simon Wheeler’s speech and the narrator’s contributes to the humorous contrasts between their characters.

As the words are used here, “transcendent” means above or beyond the range of normal human limits or experience, and “finesse” is defined as subtle skill, expertise, or artistry. The narrator is poking fun at Wheeler for holding the “heroes” in his story in such high regard.

A reminiscence is an enjoyable recollection of past events. The narrator’s expectations regarding his meeting with Simon Wheeler foreshadows the narrator’s subsequent experiences in the story.

The verb “to conjecture” means to suppose or suspect that something is true.

The verb "button-holed" refers to the action of taking a listener by his coat-lapel so that he can't get away. Use of the term here suggests that Wheeler is a non-stop talker and also a terrible bore.

A "fifteen-minute nag" means the mare could run a quarter-mile course in fifteen minutes.

The adjective “garrulous” means excessively talkative and long winded, especially when speaking about uninteresting subjects.