You may have heard the term, “Old Coot,” or “Crazy Old Coot.”  How did coots get such a bad rep anyway?  A coot is a common water bird that often migrates with ducks.  It’s not tasty.  Hunters don’t like them.  It’s rather awkward in the water and has a beady red eye. It doesn’t fly much but when it does decide to get airborne it runs across the water making a lot of noise before finally taking off.  So how this rather harmless bird became cross-threaded with an euphemism for a tottering, eccentric, old man is a mystery to Kongo.   Continue reading “Old Coots, Crazy Old Coots, and Monkeys”