cootie etymology?

[Jonathan Lighter]

 Oops.  Shoulda read this thread first.

JL

On Thu, Oct 4, 2012 at 7:24 AM, Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM>
> Subject:      Re: cootie etymology?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Yes, I wasn't originally going to mention etymology at all, and then in
> the video room I was asked, and I realized I had forgotten the long
> discussion we had about it here, and I just threw out the Malay thing.
> Whoops.
>
> Jesse Sheidlower
> OED
>
> On Thu, Oct 04, 2012 at 09:35:27AM +0000, Stephen Goranson wrote:
> > In a video at OED Appeal Jesse Sheidlower said of cootie: "It comes from
> a Malay word referring to an insect." That is what OED gives.
> >
> > On this list there was considerable discussion of the etymology of
> cooties. If I recall correctly, little support was offered for the Malay
> proposal.
> >
> > More support was expressed for a different etymology. Here, for
> instance, was Jonathan  Lighter:
> >
> > Re: "as lousy as a coot"
> > Thu, 9 Jul 2009 11:57:09 -040
> >
> > What I think happened:
> >
> > "lousy as a coot" > "cooty" (adj.) = "lousy, as is a coot" >  "coot"
> > (back-formation)and "cootie" (through mishearing and in other cases as a
> > diminutive).
> >
> > JL
> >
> > ***
> > Also noted at Language Hat:
> > Update (July 2009). It looks as if the true etymology is less exotic
> [than Malay]; it's simply an extension of coot (there was a proverbial
> phrase "as lousy as a coot"). See these American Dialect Society listserv
> postings:...
> >
> > Stephen Goranson
> > www.duke.edu/~goranson
> >
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