"coony" adj. = sly, cunning, 1910

[Darla Wells]

Growing up, my stepmother from East Texas used to get really angry because
the family nicknamed her Coonie as a child because she loved eating raccoon.
Darla Wells

2010/2/3 Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "coony" adj. = sly, cunning, 1910
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> That's my guess, especially now that I see several dozen GB hits for "sly
> old coon."
>
> JL
>
> On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 9:25 PM, DanG <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
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> > Poster:       DanG <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: "coony" adj. = sly, cunning, 1910
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >
> > >---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> > >Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > >Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > >Subject:      Re: "coony" adj. = sly, cunning, 1910
> >
> >
> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > >HDAS has _coony_, "sly," from 1899.
> > >
> >  >JL
> > >
> > >
> > >On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 8:21 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> > >
> > >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > >> -----------------------
> > >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > >> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > >> Subject:      Re: "coony" adj. = sly, cunning, 1910
> > >>
> > >>
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >>
> > >> Alison, apology accepted.  But as to bald like a raccoon, I have that
> > >> on the best authority -- the OED's definition of "coony a.", under
> > >> "coon, n."  ... Oops, perhaps they're wrong -- they've spelt it
> > "racoon"!
> > >>  :-)
> > >>
> > >> Joel
> > >>
> > >> At 2/3/2010 07:02 PM, Alison Murie wrote:
> > >> >>~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > >> >>' "bald" like a raccoon??'  Coons ain't bald.  Far from it.
>  'Possums
> > >> >>look bald, but aren't.   Perhaps the meaning of "coony" is really
> > >> >>cunning, which would be more appropriate altogether.
> > >> >>AM
> > >> >~~~~~~~~~~
> > >> >Ooops.  Somehow I missed para 2 in Joel's post.  I'm sorting through
> a
> > >> >mountain of backlogged mail.  I was away from my desk for ten days
> > >> >getting a bad hip replaced & being whipped into a semblance of normal
> > >> >functioning by a crew of therapists.  Medicare is wonderful.  (Only
> it
> > >> >didn't get me to read my mail more carefully.)
> > >> >AM
> > >>
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