cootie

Where does the word "cootie" come from? It comes from Malay kutu, and was adopted directly into English (1917).

Cootie’s story begins in Malay: kutu meant “louse.” A very old word: linguists reconstruct *kutu 'louse' for Proto-Austronesian, and it survives from Taiwan to Hawaii. It reached English by 1917 as cootie. Trench slang of World War I for body lice, probably from Malay kutu or a related Philippine word picked up by soldiers, though the OED doubts the link; the 'Cootie' board game (1949) and playground 'cooties' followed. Today, cootie means a body louse; (playground slang) an imaginary contagion.

1. Stage 1 · Malay · medieval kutu "louse", a very old word: linguists reconstruct *kutu 'louse' for Proto-Austronesian, and it survives from Taiwan to Hawaii.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1917 cootie "body louse", trench slang of World War I for body lice, probably from Malay kutu or a related Philippine word picked up by soldiers, though the OED doubts the link; the 'Cootie' board game (1949) and playground 'cooties' followed.