Fashionable Words: Cahoots

[Sometimes words die out of fashion. But sometimes those words are good words, words with a certain appeal that can't be denied forever. Those words should be brought back into fashion, used frequently and used often. These are those words.]


Word:

Cahoots


Definition:  verb / noun

1.)  go cahoots:  To share equally; become partners

2.)  in cahoots:  In partnership; in conspiracy with one another


Origin:

America likes to take delightful European things and bastardize them somehow, like Wonder Bread and microwaveable cheese product. This is why America can't have nice things.

Le sigh.

In the case of cahoots, the word first appeared in 1829. While the exact origin is unknown, the word was born as an Americanism of one of two similar--although much more debonair--French words cahute or cohorte.

Cahute is a 12th century French word that means a cabin or hut. (Think: Two people sharing a hut, possibly eating French bread and some aged Roquefort. And wine. Always wine.)

America is still trying to figure out how to bastardize Roquefort.

Some believe cahoots evolved from cohorte, the French word that also created the English cohort, meaning "companions." Except the modern English cohort has shady undertones in nefarious behavior. Indeed, you might be in cahoots with your cohort.

In turn, the French cohorte evolved from Latin. A cohort was one of ten divisions of a legion in the Roman army, usually made of 300 to 600 men. You definitely could not fit that many men in a cahute.

What I'm really trying to say is that Americans made up a word and no one has an idea how it came about--but let's assume it's fancy and French.

'Mericuh!


Most obscure UrbanDictionary.com definition of 'cahoots':

6.)  The sound an owl makes when it sneezes.

I beg to differ with the upstanding people at UrbanDictionary. Here's video of an owl who clearly needs some Allergra.



Not going to lie--I'm a little disappointed an owl sneeze sounds so dainty.


Used in a sentence:

"Sven and his cohort, Bjorn, were in cahoots to eat all the Cheez Whiz while the other campers slept in the cahute."


Why you should use 'cahoots' in your everyday life:

It's the illegitimate lovechild of a Parisian brasserie and an American dumpster fire.


Word Awesomeness Scale (1-to-5):

Four.

It loses a point for being the name of a British boy band.