tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Sep 05 06:48:13 1996
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Re: British Klingon! (Interview with Okrand)
>
> > 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.
>
> You must have missed my post on the 23rd:
>
> <<<
> Here's what Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition
> (yes, one of those absolutely huge ones) says:
>
> ---
> coo'tie, n, [Brit. World War I army slang; said to be seaman's term from
> Polynesian {kutu}, parasitic insect] a louse. [Slang.]
> ---
Ok, when I said the word was an 'Americanism', I meant it isn't in
*common* usage in Britain any more (even if it did originate here!), but
seems unique to N. America now.
qSeroHS
--
Niall Hosking
aka Kserokhs Vaene
[email protected]
[email protected]
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http://www.gla.ac.uk/Clubs/WebSoc/~884744ho
'Practise random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.'