3. (common).—Ale or stout after spirits and water. Sometimes called
‘putting the beggar on the gentleman’; also damper (q.v.).
1821. P. Egan, Tom and Jerry (ed. 1890), p. 76. Many persons ... in
order to allay the heat or thirst arising from the pernicious use
of such quantities of ardent spirits, frequently take a glass of
porter, which is termed a cooler, ‘a damper,’ etc.
Cool-Kick, subs. (Eton College).—When a behind (q.v.) or ‘back’ gets a
kick with no one up to him.
Cool-Lady, subs. (old).—A female follower of the camp who sells
brandy.—Grose [1785].
Cool-Nantz, subs. (old).—Brandy. For synonyms, see Drinks.
Cool one’s Coppers, verbal phr. (popular).—To allay the morning’s
thirst after a night of drink. Cf., Hot-coppers and Dry as a lime
basket.
1861. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. iii. We were playing Van
John in Blake’s rooms till three last night, and he gave us
devilled bones and mulled port. A fellow can’t enjoy his breakfast
after that without something to cool his coppers.
1870. Sportsman, 17 Dec. ‘A Chapel Meeting.’ Bring me a mouthful,
George, shouted a grasping Typo one day to his chum, who, at the
trough in the furthest corner of the room, was cooling his coppers
with cold water.
Coon, subs. (American).—1. A man. [Coon, a curtailment of ‘racoon’
(Procyon lotor), is thought to be of Indian origin (Algonquin,
aroughcun, the scratcher), though some trace it to the French raton.
The contraction dates from about 1840, when the racoon was used as a
kind of political totem.]
1860. Punch, vol. XXXIX., p. 227. ‘The Baby in the House.’ I sign
him, said the Curate Howe, O’er Samuel Burbott George Bethune, Then
baby kicked up such a row As terrified that reverend coon.
2. (American).—A nigger, e.g., a coons’ bawdy house = a house where
none are kept but girls of colour.
Gone coon, subs. phr. (American).—One in a serious or hopeless
difficulty. A Scots equivalent is gone corbie, i.e., a dead crow. Cf.,
Gone goose. [The explanation generally given is that during the
American War a spy dressed in racoon skins ensconced himself in a tree.
An English rifleman (the nationalities are reversible) levelled his
piece at him, whereupon the American exclaimed: ‘Don’t shoot, I’ll come
down. I know I am a gone coon.’]
1845. Mr. Giddings, in Congress (quoted in De Vere). Besides the
acquisition of Canada, which is put down on all sides as a gone
coon.
1857. Dickens, Lying Awake, in Reprinted Pieces, p. 192. I must
think of something else as I lie awake; or, like that sagacious
animal in the United States who recognised the colonel who was such
a dead shot, I am a gone coon.
1864. Derby Day, p. 51. We shan’t get to your advice till the
crack’s hocussed and done for, and we’re all ruined as safe as
coons.
1867. London Herald, 23 March, p. 221, col. 3. ‘We’re safe to nab
him; safe as houses. He’s a gone coon, sir.’
1883. Calverley, Fly Leaves, p. 83. ‘On the Brink.’ She stood so
calm, so like a ghost, Betwixt me and that magic moon. That I
already was almost A finished coon.
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.