What are 'cootees'??

Question

I think it is an American slang word. Often heard it referred to in movies - havent got a clue what it is?

Answer 1

it is American slang generally used by children. it intimates that you "catch" an undesirable trait by touching another classmate, or peer, ie, Jack has cooties, ewwwwww.
or
eight year old boys all know that girls have cooties. (When they're 16 apparently it doesn't matter!!)

the English use "lurgy" the same way. I believe he has the dreaded lurgy!

Answer 2

Sometimes refers to lice. But most of the time, it is something that children accuse each other of having. For instance, a little boy might say "Ewww! Girls have cooties!!!" It mostly happens in elementary school.

The Cooties is an organization related to the Veteran's of Foreign War (VFW).

And there is a "Cooties" game that is made for small children. You use dice and plastic "cootie" parts to construct your cootie before your opponent does.

:) I love that game. Cooties are so cute!

Answer 3

It's a common slang word with American kids--originally, it referred to lice. But now, it doesn't really have a literal translation. Boys will say, "Girls have cooties" and girls will say "Boys have cooties." It's used by kids (like my brother, who's 11 years old) when they want to express how "gross" the other gender is.

Answer 4

This term started when European sailors reached the Pacific Ocean in the 1500'S. Cooties are an actual bug that would bite and leave liitle red bumps on sailors bodies, when they reach shore these bugs jumped on to them from the sand.

Answer 5

WW I slang for body lice...also a child term for somebody they want to pick on or make fun of..."girls got cooties."

Answer 6

Cooties are tiny imaginary bugs; it's usually an elementary-school thing to say that members of the opposite sex have cooties. It can also refer to other imaginary situations, and occasionally an adult will tease another one this way in reference to this childhood behavior.

Answer 7

Cooties are supposed to be little bugs or an infection. I used this one all the time as a kid, generally referring to boys, i.e. "Ew! You've got cooties!" It's a playful teasing among children here. We even had a "cootie shot" which was someone using their finger to draw on your skin. "Circle, circle, dot, dot, now you have the cooties shot. Circle, circle, square, square, now you've got it everywhere. Circle, circle, knife, knife, now you have it all your life."

Pretty silly I guess...

Answer 8

Cooties are germs, bugs..etc.

Here's an example "Boys have cooties"

Answer 9

Tiny, invisible bugs that all 11 year old girls have. These bugs are practically fatal to any 11 year old boy who has to stand or sit next to these "infected" girls. They go away when the girls reach about 14.

Answer 10

It's a lice. Cootie Lice to be exact.