Hootnanny (1918)

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM
Sun Mar 6 16:51:17 UTC 2005


Great quote, Doug, but in my survey of one million AEF sources I never found an ex. of this particular meaning.  It's may well be local or ad hoc.

Can anybody beat OED's 1917 "cootie" ("coot" would count), or cast light on its sugg. derivation from Malay "kutu"?

JL

"Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Douglas G. Wilson"
Subject: Hootnanny (1918)
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Here "hootnanny" means "louse", apparently. Perhaps this is a
specialization of the usual early sense
"whatchamacallit"/"doohickey"/"thingamajig".

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_Evening State Journal and Lincoln Daily News_, Lincoln NE, 14 Feb. 1918:
p. 2, col. 4:

[by "Bugs" Baer, from New York]

<without hootnannies. A hootnanny is what the soldiers call a cootie.>>

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-- Doug Wilson

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