THE CAT'S PAJAMAS XLVI

(Not from the book by Tad Tuleja)

COOTIES

BOOBY-TRAP

BASKET CASE

 

These words are WWI slang terms that have stayed in the language. Their meanings today do not reflect the staggering violence of the war that spawned them.

 

COOTIES, a term now associated with kids' teasing each other on playgrounds, was a nickname for body or head lice. It first appeared in trenches' slang in 1915 - apparently derived from the coot, a species of waterfowl supposedly known for being infected with lice and other parasites. The living conditions on the front line were filthy, and it was the rare soldier who did not suffer from infection.

 

BOOBY-TRAP had been used since the mid-19th century to refer to a harmless prank or practical joke. It was taken up by the troops to describe an explosive device deliberately disguised as a harmless object. Called "one of the dirtiest tricks of war, the enemy left slow-burning fuses in booby-traps [that could] blow a man to bits or blind him for life if he touched a harmless looking stick, or opened the lid of a box, or stumbled over an old boot."

 

BASKET CASE - While it tends to be used in a fairly lighthearted way today (usually describing someone who constantly makes stupid mistakes or crumbles under pressure), the original basket case is a gruesome reminder of just how bloody the War became. In its original context, basket case was a soldier who had been so badly injured that he had to be carried from the battlefield in a barrow or basket, usually with the implication that he had lost all four of his limbs (and would roll off a standard stretcher).