Coast is Clear. Originally a smugglers’ phrase relative to coastguards.
Coat of Arms. During the days of chivalry, when a knight was completely encased in armour and the vizor of his helmet was drawn over his face, his sole mode of distinction was by the embroidered design of his armorial bearings on a sleeveless coat that he wore in the lists at tournaments. In warfare the coat was dispensed with, but he was known to his comrades by another device on the crest of his helmet.
Cobbler. An American drink of spirits, beer, sugar, and spice, said to have been first concocted by a Western shoemaker.
Coblentz. From the Latin name, Confluentia, being situated at the confluence of the Rivers Rhine and Moselle.
Cockade. From the party badge originally displayed on a cocked hat. See “[Knocked into a Cocked Hat].”
Cockade State. Maryland, from the brilliant cockades worn by the brave Old Maryland Regiment during the War of Independence.
Cockney. From “Cockayne,” a Fools’ Paradise, where there is nothing but eating and drinking, described in a satiric poem of the thirteenth century. The word was clearly derived from coquere, to cook, and had reference to London, where the conduits on occasion ran with wine, and good living fell to the lot of men generally.
Cock-penny. A penny levied by the master on each of the boys for allowing the brutal sport of cock-throwing in school on Shrove Tuesday formerly. The master himself found the bird.
Cocktail. Tradition has it that one of Montezuma’s nobles sent a draught of a new beverage concocted by him from the cactus plant to the Emperor by his daughter Xochitl. The Aztec monarch smiled, tasted it, gulped it down with a relish, and, it is said, afterwards married the girl; thenceforward this drink became the native tipple, and for centuries it bore the softened name of Octel. The corruption of Octel into Cocktail by the soldiers of the American Army when, under General Scott, they invaded Mexico, about sixty years ago, was easy.
Coger. A slang term derived from the members of the celebrated Cogers’ Club in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street. They styled themselves “Cogers” from the Latin cogito, to think deeply.