Heading
To go the whole coon, verbal phr. (American). = 'To go the whole hog.'
Coon's Age, subs. phr. (American).—A
long time; 'a blue moon.'
The racoon is held to be a long-lived
animal.
b. 1780, d. 1851. Audubon, Life, I., p. 178. 'Wall, Pete, whar have you been? I hav'n't seen you this coon's age.'
Coop, subs, (thieves').—A prison.
For synonyms, see Cage.
1866. London Miscellany, 3 Mar., p. 58, col. 3. I don't think that's no little let-down for a cove as has been tip-topper in his time, and smelt the insides of all the coops in the three kingdoms.
1877. J. Greenwood, Dick Temple. You say that you have been in the coop as many times as I have.
Cooped-up, ppl., adj., phr. (old).—Imprisoned.
[From coop (q.v.),
a place of detention.] For synonyms,
see Limbo.
Cooper or Cooper up, verb
(thieves' and vagrants').—1. To
destroy; spoil; settle; or finish.
2. (thieves').—To forge.
3. (American).—To understand. For synonyms, see Twig.
Coopered, ppl. adj. (racing,
thieves', and vagrants').—Hocussed;
spoiled; ruined; e.g.,
a house is said to be coopered
when the importunity of many
tramps has caused its inmates to
cold-shoulder the whole fraternity;
a coopered horse is a
horse that has been 'got at' with
a view to prevent its running.
1851-61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 232. 'Cooper'd,' spoiled by the imprudence of some other patterer.
Coored, adj. (old).—Whipped.—D.
Haggart, Life, Glossary, p.
171 [1821].
Coot, subs. (American).—A stupid
fellow; generally 'a silly' or
'mad old coot.' Stupid as a
coot is a common English provincialism.
[The fulica altra, the
bald or common coot, like the
ostrich, is said to bury its head
when pursued, thinking none can
see it, as it cannot see itself.] For
synonyms, see Buffle-head and
Cabbage-head.
Cooter.—See Couter.
Cop, subs. (common).—A policeman.
[From cop, verb, sense 1.]
For synonyms, see Beak, sense 1,
and Copper.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, or Rogue's Lexicon, p. 124. Oh! where will be the culls of the bing . . . And all the cops and beaks so knowin', A hundred stretches hence?
1879. Punch, 3 May, p. 201, col. 1. I suppose if the Toffs took a fancy for chewing a stror or a twig, Like a tout or a hostler, or tumbled to carryin' a bludgeon as big As a crib cracker's nobby persuader, Pall Mall would be jolly soon gay With blue-blooded blokes a green cop might mistake for foot-pads on the lay.
Verb (common).—1. To seize; steal; catch; take an unfair advantage in a bet or bargain. [Cop has been associated with the root of the Latin cap-io, to seize, to snatch; also with the Gypsy kap or cop = to take; Scotch kep; and Gallic ceapan. Probably, however, its true radix is to be found in the Hebrew cop = a hand or palm. Low-class Jews employ the term, and understand it to refer to the act of snatching.]
[Cop like Chuck (q.v), is a sort of general utility verb. Thus to Cop the
