tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Sep 03 16:09:21 1996
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Re: British Klingon! (Interview with Okrand)
- From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: British Klingon! (Interview with Okrand)
- Date: Tue, 3 Sep 1996 19:10:17 -0400 ()
- Priority: NORMAL
On Fri, 23 Aug 1996 07:24:58 -0700 Niall Hosking
<[email protected]> wrote:
> > > 8. Cricket, please. DaH ghew yIQuj.
> > > Play bug now (Klingon has no word for cricket the game; "ghew"
> > > can mean "bug, "cootie" or "insect").
> >
> > (1) What is a cootie? This is not a word we know of in England.
>
> I believe it's an "Americanism" for "bug" or "insect" :)
I don't think anyone gave a good explanation of this. I believe that a
"Cootie" began as a board game where attaining certain goals in the
game won the player parts of a plastic bug. Whoever built the first
complete bug won. Meanwhile, a lot of kids just played with these
brightly colored, six legged, two eyed, antennaed bugs with a long,
curling tongue-like projection from the front.
The bugs were ugly and kids started using the term to refer to any bug
or germ-like undesirable imaginary disease associated with kiddingly
undesirable types, like girls, for instance. If you were a boy and you
let a girl touch you, you might "get cooties". This was (in giggling
fashion) something that you, of course didn't want to happen, so you'd
go to any lengths to avoid it.
The idea expanded to include "cootie shots" which was usually some
painful gesture (a pinch) which would somehow insulate you so that you
would not "get cooties" if some hazardous necessity caused you to
actually come in contact with... girls.
When boys became guys, they kinda forgot all about cooties...
Then again, my Encyclopedic Oxford Dictionary (a rather Brittish tome)
defines cootie: n. sl. a body louse. [perh. f. Malay kutu, a biting
parasite].
Which came first, I dare not venture, but it seems that you can't blame
America for creating the word Cootie.
> qSeroHS {Scot}'e'
charghwI'