"coony" adj. = sly, cunning, 1910

[Darla Wells]

Coon-ass was what they were using when I was a kid in NW Louisiana--my
stepmom would always call me that when she was angry. It had connotations of
mixed race the way it was used there too. There wasn't too much
differentiation between Creole and Cajun then. That was in the 60's. "Coon"
was an insulting term for a black person.

2010/2/4 Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at bellsouth.net>

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at BELLSOUTH.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "coony" adj. = sly, cunning, 1910
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I lived in E Texas, near Beaumont, for a few years in the early 1950s.
> "Coonie" was what all people from Louisiana were called....short for
> "coon-ass", I believe.
>
> Bill Palmer
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Darla Wells" <lethe9 at GMAIL.COM>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 10:24 PM
> Subject: Re: "coony" adj. = sly, cunning, 1910
>
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail
> > header -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Darla Wells <lethe9 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: "coony" adj. = sly, cunning, 1910
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > 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>
> >
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >> -----------------------
> >> 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:
> >>
> >> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >> > -----------------------
> >> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> > 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
> >> > -----------------------
> >> > >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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> >> truth."
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> >
> >
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If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible
warning. -Catherine Aird

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