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. C. S. 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 FINISH’D COON. |
TO GO THE WHOLE COON, verbal phr. (American).—‘To go the whole hog.’
