coof Sc.
(k{obar}f)
[Only modern Sc.: the form corresponds to an earlier côf, which might be identical with ME. cofe, now cove, slang for ‘a fellow’; but the words show little agreement in sense. Identity with Sc. coffe, also cofe, coif ‘merchant, hawker’, has also been suggested, but here the phonology presents difficulty.]
A dull spiritless fellow; one somewhat obtuse in sense and sensibility.
| 1724 Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 27 Let coofs their cash be clinking. 1795 Burns For a' that iii, Tho' hundreds worship at his word, He's but a coof for a' that. 1858 Mrs. Oliphant Laird of Norlaw II. 18 Do you think I'm heeding what a coof's ancestors were, when I ken I'm worth twa o' him? |