revenuer
The federal agent out to bust illegal stills and tax-dodging liquor.
Also called revenue man, revenue agent.
Updated September 24, 2026
revenuer pronunciation
/REV-uh-noo-er/
Meaning
A revenuer is the government man hunting moonshiners. In mountain and rural Southern talk that meant Internal Revenue agents, marshals, and later Prohibition officers crashing stills in the hollers. Folklore paints them as the enemy of every jar of untaxed whiskey. The word still turns up in stories even when the chase has mostly gone to ATF paperwork.
How folks use it
- “Granddaddy said you could smell a revenuer before you seen him.”
- “They dumped the mash and ran when the revenuers hit the ridge.”
Origin and etymology
From revenue plus -er: someone who collects or enforces liquor taxes. OED evidence starts in the 1870s. After the Civil War, federal whiskey taxes put Internal Revenue agents deep into the Mountain South, and the name stuck. West Virginia and Georgia mountain histories use it for the whole cast of liquor-law enforcers, tax men and Prohibition agents alike.
Frequently asked questions
Are revenuers still around?
The old mountain raid stories are mostly history and folklore. Liquor tax and illegal-still enforcement still exists, but folks rarely call the agents revenuers anymore.