Cooters and Pump Knots

[rdsun...@aluxpo.att.com]

Since I haven't seen anyone take a try at these, I'll contribute my
two cents.

Jerry Bennett asks:
> Where did the word "cooter" come from? Down here it means a
> soft shelled lake turtle and is supposed to be very good
> eatin'. Anyone know the derivation of the word?

Cooter is sometimes a nickname. It is usually given to someone who
is a harmless simple person. It probably comes from word "coot". I don't
know how the word was used but this is one definition. People who are
nicknamed Cooter need not send nasty mail to me, it is ONLY given to
people we truly love and care for. :)

Frieda Davison asks:
> Since we are into origins of words, I realized that when I was just now
> writing about Daddy's bump on the head I was very tempted to type:
> "pump knot". Anyone know where that comes from? It is a term I heard
> all the time as I grew up in the Appalachian Mountains.

I had to smile when I saw this. Anyone who has used a hand pump to pump
water probably smiled too. When you are sent out to the pump to fetch
a bucket of water, you usually pump until it is almost full and then
push the handle down one stroke at a time and wait until the water
stops to find out what it will take to fill the bucket without overfilling
it. When you have it full, the pump handle is in the down position and will
spring up when let loose. If you aren't careful or if some other poor soul
(perhaps a brother or sister) isn't paying attention when you let it
loose, it can give you or them quite a lump. Any lump, especially on the
head, is known as a knot, hence a "pump knot".

Bob Dietzel k...@alux4.att.com
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Researching DIETZEL WOLFE HUEY ROBINSON MYERS/MEYERS BOOZER/BU"SS BEATTY
STERE GRENOBLE JOHNSTON PASKEVICH DURST SHOPE LONG MAUREY TREIBELS in central
PA and DIETZEL BU"SS DENZ GO"TZELMAN ENGEL MOSTHOFEN KOLB ESCHELWERK
GEHRHARD RITTENAUR ERLENWEIN in the Baden-Wu"rttemberg region of
Germany especially Oedheim, Hagenbach, Kockendorf and Altdorf bei Marlach.

[Martin R. Davis]

Jerry Bennett asks:
> Where did the word "cooter" come from? Down here it means a
> soft shelled lake turtle and is supposed to be very good
> eatin'. Anyone know the derivation of the word?

The *Dictionary of American Regional English* (DARE) says of the
origin: "[Afr, akin to Bambara, Malinke *kuta* turtle; also Central
Afr *nkudu*; cf DA]" (DA=Mathews, *Dictionary of Americanisms*).
It lists the meaning as:
1) A freshwater turtle of the genus....
2) A box turtle
3) =gopher turtle
4) in phr *drunk as a cooter*: Very drunk.
5) A lazy, indolent person
6) A louse [Prob var of *cootie*....
7) A small child

This definition is followed by the verb, *cooter*, and 8 compound
words (cooter-backed....cooter wampee).

Two volumes (A-C, D-H) of DARE have been published. Look for them
in any large, and some small, libraries.

But we digress....

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