cocum n.
1. advantage, luck, resource.
, | Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. | |
(con. 1840s–50s) London Labour and London Poor I 259/2: That’s my cokum (advantage). | ||
, , | Sl. Dict. | |
Sydney Sl. Dict. (2 edn) 2: Cocum - Shrewdness, ability, luck. |
2. knowledge, cunning; thus do the cocum, fight cocum, being cunning, artful, usu. in illegal contexts.
Era (London) 7 Sept. 11/4: The youth who is surnamed Adam, in consequence of the depth of his cocum. | ||
Man of Pleasure’s Illus. Pocket-book n.p.: [I]f you do the coakham, and tumble to the slum, you may fake the duck in rumbo style. | ||
Vulgar Tongue 9: cocum [...] To fight cocum, to be wary. | ||
Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn) 119: ‘To fight cocum,’ to be wily and cautious. | ||
gloss. in Occurence Book of York River Lockup in (1999) 36: I have got the yacks so do not come to fight cocum. | ||
Sl. Dict. 124: Cocum shrewdness, ability, luck; “Jack’s got COCUM, he’s safe to get on, he is,” ? viz., he starts under favourable circumstances; “to fight COCUM” is to be wily and cautious. | ||
Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack 37: It was necessary to use a little judgment, and instead of attempting to fight them it would be far better to ‘fight cocum’. | ||
Queenslander (Brisbane) 10 Mar. 21/1: We have the ‘cokum’ to appreciate the selectors’ usefulness. | ||
Newcastle Courant 9 Sept. 6/5: With the aid of his friends and his own ‘cocum,’ he made his peace with his mistress. | ||
Sydney Sl. Dict. (2 edn) 2: Cocum - Cunning and sly. To Fight Cocum - To be wary. | ||
Aus. Sl. Dict. [as 1882]. | ||
Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 16 Nov. 1/1: [T]he success he attains is solely attributable to the bit of ‘kokum’. | ||
Williamstown Chron. (Vic.) 26 Nov. 2/3: Mr Badman showed some ‘kokum’ when he decided to leave the Stardrift horse in the care of Bob. |
3. sense.
Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 6/1: Very few honest people entered this house, as it was a well known resort of the Leeds ‘cross’ [...] and that it was bad ‘cocum’ to go there. | ||
Cumberland Mercury (NSW) 8 Oct. 6/6: Nobbs showed his usual ‘kokum’ in leaving the chair before the ‘fun’ began on Saturday. | ||
Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 28 Nov. 1/1: It proves them as not having sufficient cokum not to know when they are making first-class omadhauns of themselves. | ||
Guardian 6 Mar. 🌐 Common cokum [...] meant Tessa Jowell telling her husband long ago that ‘I have to comply with these ministerial code provisions – is there anything I need to know?’. |
4. (also kokum) deceit, entrapment (through pretending to sympathy/kindness); thus give someone kokum, to deceive.
Portland Guardian 27 Oct. 2/7: Is the old fellow going to surprise us, and is it all ‘cokum’ about his leg? Spare my days, he gallops — yes, gallops. | ||
Sl., Jargon and Cant I 528/1: Kokum (Australian prison), sham kindness. | in Barrère & Leland||
Materials for a Dict. of Aus. Sl. [unpub. ms.] 92: KOKUM-KID-TAFFY: leading or coaxing on, giving him kokum. |
5. (S.Afr. Und., also chochem) a thief, usu. an intelligent one.
Crime in S. Afr. 106: A ‘chochem’ is a thief or crook who considers the risks involved in a robbery. |
In phrases
to act in an artful, cunning manner; to deceive.
Magistrate’s Assistant (3rd edn) 445: play cocum To be cunning, wary, or sly. | ||
Referee 26 Apr. 1/2: The best show [...] unless a lot of the pulling-up division were playing cokum – was that of Ptolemy [F&H]. |