charley horse

• charlie horse, charley-horse, charleyhorse

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]

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charley horse (plural charley horses)

1. (idiomatic, US) A muscle cramp, usually a strong one, in the thigh, leg, arm, or core.

   Hypernym: cramp

   • 1914, Ralph Henry Barbour, Left End Edwards‎^[1]:

     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, […]

2. (informal) A punch in the thigh.
   • 2006, Joe L. Kincheloe, The Praeger Handbook of Urban Education, volume 1, page 324:

     I knew to just keep my mouth shut about it — unless I wanted the word "dummy" to be followed by a charley horse.

• charley horse on Wikipedia.Wikipedia