"as lousy as a coot"

[Baker, John]

        The earliest of these sources is Edward Peacock, A Glossary of
Words Used in the Wapentakes of Manley and Corringham, Lincolnshire 68
(1877).  The glossary defines "coot" as a water-hen and mentions this
proverbial phrase.  OED cites some other proverbial phrases for coots
(as bald as a coot, as stupid as a coot), but not this one.

        It seems extremely likely that "cootie" is a transferred sense
of "coot," through the proverbial phrase.


John Baker



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From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Stephen Goranson
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 8:06 AM
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Subject: "as lousy as a coot"

Google Books gives 22 hits for "as lousy as a coot" up to "1916."

Stephen Goranson
http://www.duke.edu/~goranson

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