Coots with youngsters

[Hans Deventer]

Pictures by Hannie and the last one by me.

[Doug Kitchen]

Pictures by Hannie and the last one by me.


So are these photos of "coots"? I've used the expression "old coot" many times (and more often about myself now) and never knew where it came from. I presume that the expression derived from this bird?

Doug

[Judy Hamilton]

Hans

my rendition of "Coots" besides you ole" Coot! refers to a person with lice..louses..the little tiny bug type of louses

i am not making a great amount of sense here, sleepy , please overlook???

And Hannie these are just adorable coots!! and great photos

Judy

[Hans Deventer]

So are these photos of "coots"? I've used the expression "old coot" many times (and more often about myself now) and never knew where it came from. I presume that the expression derived from this bird?

Doug

Doug, my dictionary says "coot" for the Dutch word for this bird. Then I checked Google for pictures of the bird with that name and it showed the same bird. So I took it as a proper word. I don't know the expression.

You may also want to check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coot

[Judy Hamilton]

Idiom Meaning Example
old coot an old man, geezer That old coot, as you call him, is a person with feelings.

and this explains (hopefully explains) the word cooties

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-coo2.htm

this does not in any manner detract from your awesome photos!!


Judy

[Doug Kitchen]

Doug, my dictionary says "coot" for the Dutch word for this bird. Then I checked Google for pictures of the bird with that name and it showed the same bird. So I took it as a proper word. I don't know the expression.

You may also want to check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coot

Hans,

I agree that you identified the bird correctly. I had never heard of them, in spite of the fact that they are all over the Americas and Europe. "You learn something new every day" Thanks for the great pictures.

On the old TV series the Walton's, the grandmother used to call the grandfather, "you old coot". I think I can see from your pictures why this bird might have been associated with old age. The beak is a little mis-shapen.

Like Judy, I have heard the expression "cooties" to describe someone who had bugs. In fact, I remember boys taunting girls with that expression during recess (I ,of course, never used such a term ;) ).

Doug

[Joanne Vergin]

Interesting feet for water fowl.

[Jill Mickelson]

My husband used to shoot these birds when he was young! I'd never heard of Coots before. He had never seen the little ones..... they look like they've been painted! Thanks for the very interesting education about Coots! These pictures are AWESOME!!!!!

[Hans Deventer]

My husband used to shoot these birds when he was young! I'd never heard of Coots before. He had never seen the little ones..... they look like they've been painted!

Yes indeed. I'd say they look terrible, but I guess the mother coot would differ with me :basic03

[BobHunt]

I remember the old terminology for someone who had bugs, they had cooties! Also maybe this is where the saying came from: "five after one!" LOL