I dont give a good cahoot

Posted by ESC on March 11, 2005

In Reply to: I dont give a good cahoot posted by joefish on March 11, 2005

: Where did this come from, and what does it really mean?

: My mom used to say this all the time.

: Staple singers Respect yourself also use the phrase

: "Aint nobody gonna give a good cahoot"

: is a good cahoot better than a regular cahoot? Or a bad cahoot?

: Im soooo confused!!

I want to sing like Mavis Staples in my next life. But anyway.

Cahoot -- Something trifling. I don't give a cahoot.

Then there is "in cahoots." Cahoot, in this case meaning, "partnership or connivance."

From "Dictionary of American Regional English," Volume 1 by Frederic G. Cassidy (1985, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., and London, England).

I don't give a good cahoot is by way of emphasis. Plus, it is a substitute for "I don't give a good G*d damn." The Staple Singers can't be cussing.

• Cahoot ESC 11/March/05