quote:

cootie, n.2

Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈkuːti/ , U.S. /ˈkudi/

Etymology: Apparently < coot n.1 + (A name originally given vaguely or generically to various swimming and diving birds.) -y suffix 1 (‘having the qualities of’ or ‘full of’ that which is denoted by the n), in allusion to the bird's reputation for being heavily infested with parasites; compare as lousy as a coot at coot n.1

Probably < coot n.3 + -y suffix 6. (Used to form pet names and familiar diminutives)

It has alternatively been suggested that this word, coot n.3, and cooty adj. might all ultimately reflect a borrowing of either Maori kutu or its cognate Malay kutu louse (or a related word in another Austronesian language), but there is nothing in the early uses of any of these three words to make such an origin seem likely. However, use of coot in the meaning ‘louse’ in the unpublished diary of J. H. Eagleston, who traded between Fiji and Manila in the 1830s, probably does show an isolated borrowing from Malay. For various later borrowed forms of Maori kutu in New Zealand English (some of them probably influenced by familiarity with coot n.3 and cootie n.2) see Dict. N.Z. Eng. at kutu.

1. A body louse. Later also: a head louse. Cf. cooty adj.

1917 A. G. Empey From Fire Step ii. 24 ‘Does the straw bother you, mate? It's worked through my uniform and I can't sleep.’ In a sleepy voice he answered, ‘That ain't straw, them's cooties.’

1918 E. M. Roberts Flying Fighter 106, I made the acquaintance of a new sport while with the battery. A saucer serves for an arena. Into this one puts a kootie and a flea.

1962 R. B. Fuller Epic Poem on Industrialization 41 The Publicitor's cheap brand of lacquer Only stuck to some cooties and fleas.

1995 M. L. Settle Choices i. vii. 91 She cain't go over to the hospital like that. Her hair is full of cooties.

2002 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 13 July 37 It [sc. linen] comes home from the flea market, has to be laundered immediately in case of cooties and is then tossed directly into the ironing basket.


2. orig. and chiefly U.S. A contagious germ; esp. (chiefly Children's slang) an imaginary germ said to have infected a person of the opposite sex or someone considered socially undesirable. Usually in pl. Quots. 1951 and 1955 may be transitional from sense 1, prob. referring to lice with which an undesirable person is said to be infected.

[1951 E. Estes Ginger Pye i. 3 All the boys and girls in Grade Five said Addie Egan had cooties and she really did not have cooties at all.

1955 N.Y. Times 14 June 59/2 His friend..lost his job as window-pole monitor after having written on the blackboard that ‘Mr. Corey [his teacher] has cooties.’]

1967 B. Cleary Mitch & Amy iii. 51 Quit breathing on it... We don't want any of your cooties in the pudding.

1972 G. Lucas et al. Amer. Graffiti (film script) 25 Steve. I want to dance now, not at Christmas. (He takes her arm, which she pulls away.[/i]) Laurie[/i]. Get your cooties off me.

1994 Lang. in Society 23 421 Chasing games, where the person caught and touched got cooties..revolve around the unfortunate girls labeled as ‘cootie queens’.

2012 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 17 Mar. b1 There are a few mental hurdles that car owners need to clear besides generalized fear of strangers and whatever cooties they leave on the steering wheel.

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Cooties is a fictional childhood disease used in the United States of America, Canada, and Australia as a rejection term and an infection tag game (such as Humans vs. Zombies). It is similar to the British dreaded lurgi, and to terms used in the Nordic countries, in Italy, and in New Zealand.

Other cultures

In the United Kingdom children have the rejection term and infection tag game, the dreaded lurgi, and in Italy "the peste".[1] Cooties are known in Denmark as "pigelus" (literally "girl lice"), and "drengelus" ("boy lice") and in Norway as "jentelus" ("girl lice") and "guttelus" ("boy lice"). In Sweden and Finland, it usually refers to girls, where they are known as "tjejbaciller"[12] (literally "girl bacilli") and "tyttöbakteeri" ("girl bacteria").