What is the origin of that is a curly question idiom?

Answer 1

Cowboys in the American Southwest used the word "curly" as a means of showing that something was tough or difficult. Like a lot of cowboy slang, it had a rough and raw origin. Pubic hairs are curly and short. If you grab a man by his pubic hairs, you'll have his most sensitive body parts, and can basically lead him wherever you want to. A cowboy would say "you've got me by the short and curlies!" and mean "you have me in a situation where I can't do anything but agree." From there, the term branched out and changed a little, until they used the one word "curly" to mean anything tough. "He's an old, curly bull," meant that the man was rough and hard.