You may love or hate Val Kilmer’s performance in the 1993 production of the Tombstone film – most love it. Some even criticized him for misquoting his script. It brought confusion to the huckleberry meaning of Doc Holliday’s famous turn of phrase.
So what does “I’m your huckleberry” mean? It became a debated question among Val Kilmer’s fans and critics of the film. They have different interpretations of this idiom. It is also unclear where the idea came from. Some credit it to Mark Twain for Huckleberry Finn. Here is an attempt to find the ultimate meaning of the famous American quote.
The quotes from Tombstone are many and pithy, and are very tattoo friendly.
Scene From The Film
It was a late day when the Earp brothers stood talking to each other in front of the Oriental. The Southern air was only starting to get heated up when an intoxicated Johnny Ringo appeared on the scene. He stood there on the sidewalk of Allen Street with glaring eyes and arms on his pocket as if ready to make the kill. The drunken man was looking for trouble. He gawked at the two other men to fight him, but they refused. Disgusted at this blatant rejection, Ringo screams out loud. "Wretched slugs!" he taunted. "Don't any of you have the guts to play for blood?" Then comes Doc Holliday's dramatic entrance. You can hear Val Kilmer's masculine voice speaking off-scene as the two brothers slowly walk away from the mad man. Acknowledging Ringo's impetus, he utters the phrase calmly, "I'm your huckleberry." When Ringo turns to see him, he gives away a sly smile saying, "That's just my game". The two men begin to face each other for the duel when Ringo's good old friend comes into the scene to take him out of trouble. It's a pretty exciting scene from the 1993 historical action film Tombstone. But, what's even more interesting is the meaning of that turn of phrase.
Figurative Speech
So, you ask. What does “I’m your huckleberry” or “I’ll be your huckleberry” mean? Well, it basically means you’re up to do something for someone. In other words, you’re in for the game or the task at hand. For Doc Holliday, he meant that he was ready to fight the taunting Johnny Ringo.
The huckleberry is a small, round wild berry that grows mainly in the southeast of the United States. It resembles the blueberry in color and shape. Because of its size, people use the word figuratively to describe something that is of little importance.
It wasn’t the genius of the Tombstone filmmakers that made the peculiar expression famous. They were only being faithful to the original manuscript from Walter Noble Burns in 1929. Mark Twain even used it as an inspiration for naming Huckleberry Finn. The real Doc Holliday may have actually been saying those words in his lifetime.
Huckleberry was quite a fashionable word in the nineteenth century. People use it to express sweet and gentle affection. Gambling circles also draw on the huckleberry to describe something small. The huckleberry meaning in Doc’s statement spells trouble for Johnny Ringo. It would be funny to think of Mark Twain’s idea in the Tombstone film.
Some cool merch
If you’re really into the movie, you can even get t-shirts and shot glasses with the famous quote!
Picking Huckleberries
The literal huckleberry meaning may also come from the way of picking huckleberries. Harvesting these berries comes pretty easy. You can strip them off the bush in one fell swoop. To say I’m your huckleberry is also like saying pick me or choose me.
This huckleberry meaning fits well with Finn’s character in Mark Twain’s novel. He is Tom Sawyer’s faithful companion and trusty sidekick. The author also used huckleberry in an article published in 1880 to describe a milking cow. The story came out even before The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin was published.
Huckleberry Finn already appeared in Mark Twain’s first novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He described Sawyer as being a little bit jealous of the little Huck Finn. It sounds amusing to hear Doc Holliday speaking that idiom to Johnny Ringo in the Tombstone film. It was indeed a pretty clever way to pick on the crackbrain.
It’s not entirely implausible that the idiom takes its meaning from picking huckleberries. Doc Holliday comes from Georgia, where plenty of huckleberries grow. Several states in the US grow different species of huckleberries.
Not a “Huckle Bearer”
It seems that fans had been questioning Val Kilmer’s portrayal of Doc Holliday in the Tombstone film. They say they heard him say huckle bearer, but the script clearly wrote huckleberry in their dialogue. The book also reads the same. The actor said huckleberry, and he played the part pretty well.
But, what is a huckle bearer anyway? Well, it is a slang term for the handles of coffins. Hence, the pallbearer is often referred to as a huckle bearer. A pallbearer is someone who helps carry the coffin at a funeral. There goes the people’s confusion about the movie script.
It’s also reasonable to say that Doc Holliday may have been misquoted in those scripts. Calling himself a huckle bearer is not far from his gunman image. It’s a likely idiom that one may use in that situation. But the literal huckleberry meaning is a more appropriate response to Ringo’s prodding.
The madcap in the film was asking, “Don’t any of you have the guts to play for blood?” It was only fitting that Doc Holliday would tell him, “I’m your huckleberry. It’s just my game.” He was only telling Ringo, “Yes, I have the guts to play for blood. Pick me. I’m the man you’re looking for.”
Although, the turn of phrase could also imply Doc Holliday as Johnny Ringo’s huckle bearer. He was a skilled gunman in his time. He could have effortlessly sent the nutcase to his grave in that duel. But all printed literature points to the huckleberry phrase.
Nobody really knows what Doc Holliday spoke that time but Doc himself. All printed work made about the Southern lawman were mere fictional adaptations of his life story.
Other famous Doc Holliday quotes
Doc Holliday says some other cool things in the movie as well. For example, when one of the cowboys in the movie threatens to shoot and kill Doc, he says “You’re a daisy if you do.” Or, when faced with another life and death situation and his adversary says he must be seeing double so won’t be able to shoot straight, he says “I’ve got two guns – one for each of you.“
Watch Val Kilmer say “I’m your huckleberry” to Johnny Ringo
What Do You Think?
Go ahead and let us know if you think we’re wrong about the origins or meaning of “I’m your huckleberry”!
Have you checked out Tombstone Quotes on the Tombstone Movie Facebook Page?
The Tombstone 1993 Movie has become a tremendous favorite of so many people throughout the world, even! Who loves it? For example:
- Fans of Westerns
- People who love the Old Wild West
- Those who love the Town of Tombstone Arizona
Why do you love the Tombstone film? Maybe because it had such a well-chosen, excellent Cast of Actors! Maybe because of such a well-done, creative script, that had some basis in fact. We’re sure you must have your own reasons. You can include that in your comments below, too! We’d love to hear from you.
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The movie, Tombstone, just seems to be very historically accurate, as can/ could be & brings to light that the ok. Shoot out was really only a small part of that whole story, long before & long after the shoot out !! Also, the very intriguing parts that are still argued today, such as how Johnny Ringo actually died ?? But, the film may have gotten it right, at least it is a very believable option of Ringo’s demise ?!!
At this far remove we’ll never know for sure, but I’m with you on the Johnny Ringo part. It does make for a believable story!
The handle on a casket was called a huckle. The person assigned to that handle was called a bearer. The movie line says “I’m your hucklebearer” not “I’m your huckleberry”. We call hucklebearers pallbearers now.
Larry, thanks for your comment. Actually, this has been shown to be a false etymology or popular etymology of the phrase. It sounds believable and is fun to pass on, but the facts don’t bear this out.
Pallbearers are very close personal relationships to the deceased. There is no way Doc said I’m Your Hucklebearer to Ringo for that reason alone. Also, his use of You’re No Daisy (being great at what you do) further proves he had no respect for Ringo, and it’s a closer kind of attitude to the phrase I’m Your Huckleberry.
Val Kilmer’s Autobiography is titled “I’m Your Huckleberry” – this clinches what he said.
One of my favorites. I was PISSED when Val didn’t win Oscar and I mean PISSED…. but just watched this 10x, and after watching this movie probably over 10 times….it appears he does say, I’m your “Huckle Bearer”
which actually makes more sense….
He clearly said
” Huckleberry ” !!!!
It’s actually huckle bearer but nice tattoo
Thanks for your input Brian. Again, I don’t think the facts support your opinion.
Could it be a double entendre? -ee endings were used commonly as slang in the 1800’s. Could it be “I’m your huckleberry (huckle bearee).” “I’ll be your huckle bearee (huckleberry).”
“I’m the man for the job…. to carry you to the grave.”
It would be fitting of Holliday’s intellect.
Hey Daniel, thanks for your opinion. I haven’t heard that point of view before. I won’t say it’s impossible, but the actual huckleberry line is supported by historically sourced quotes.
Val Kilmer was great in his healthy days. He knew how to show his talent. He will be known for long time to come as Our Cool Huckleberry. Thank you Larry for your interesting view.
Best anyone’s been able to tell, a casket handle was never called “huckle” and “huckle bearer” never existed until appearing on a message board in the late 1990’s.
No evidence of either has ever been found in any old text, dictionary, etc.
That doesn’t stop the myth from keeping on going and going like the Energizer Bunny, though.
True Eddie. Once enough people get an idea like this in their head, facts don’t matter – it sounds plausible, so they’ll share it.
There is a lot of wisdom in this reply, Admin. It is applicable universally in the 2020’s.
I love this quote! I always think of it when I’m feeling down. It’s so true.
Reading more about Tom and Huck, seems Huck changes his ways from their being wild but were best friends in their wild and bad adventures.
I see it as Doc saying we had fun in our wild ways but I changed, hence showing the badge, and that friendship is over.
The excellent Western series “Yancy Derringer” ran for only one season, 1958. I watched it as a boy. Recently I rewatched it, and at the very end of the first episode the hero Yancy (Jock Mahoney) agrees to an outrageous proposal by uttering those immortal words, “I’m your huckleberry!”
The phrase, “I’m your huckleberry” was in regular use by at least 1872. If you search older publications you’ll find it fairly often in last quarter of the 19th century. For example: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119556171/im-your-huckleberry/
I believe Doc Holliday knew He himself,was probably Dying. So, in a braver age of Chivalry, He figure What the Hell….
Huckleberries are found in quite a wide range outside the southeastern United States. In fact, it’s the state fruit of Idaho. I picked some in Montana last year. Native Americans along the west coast regularly harvested them. New England has their own varieties. (And the word huckleberry itself is an American version of the English word hurtleberry.)
In all the westerns, there are 2 guys itching for a chance to shoot the other dead. Ringo drank enough to think he was ready for the kill, but Doc, & his little smile of confidence & just a touch of his crazy edge for always taking a chance to see if he would die by a gun instead of his lethal cough, claimed he’d win & take him to his burial with his “Im your huckleberry!” At the last moment Ringo realized he was afraid Doc was right & he wasn’t fast enough. Doc was elated he was still the best one & gloated to dying Ringo that he wasn’t the bright daisy he thought he was bc he got shot dead.Doc wasn’t about to die before he had to.
Just as a ‘late to the party’ bit of trivia, the same phrase “I’m your huckleberry” is used (with the meaning ‘I’m your man’ or — humorously — ‘I’m your pigeon’) in the 1958 pilot episode for the old Jock Mahoney TV series ‘Yancy Derringer,’ available on Amazon Prime. On a more personal note, I lived in SW Virginia for a decade from the early ’70s to ’80s, and heard the expression used a number of times by locals there long before its popularization in ‘Tombstone.’
He says Huckle bearer not huckleberry…. He’s telling Ringo he’ll carry his coffin. He clearly says huckle bearer both times.