bad for the coo

adjective

Harmful to the weaker party in a conflict or collision.

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Meanings

adjectivebad for the coo (not comparable)
  1. datedhumorousnot comparableHarmful to the weaker party in a conflict or collision.

    "Boys, you must "make it bad for the coo."

    1893, Metal Worker, Plumber and Steam Fitter, page 49
    2 more examples

    Had the comet which traversed them been of any respectable weight he would have made havoc among them and bouleversed their motions. But it was a case of locomotive and cow, and it was "very bad for the coo."

    1872, The Gentleman's Magazine (part 1, page 691)

    "The accident: well, you remember all about that. An ordinary Central and Suburban passenger train, non-stop at Knight's Cross, ran past the signal and crashed into a crowded electric train that was just beginning to move out. […] For the first time on an English railway there was a good stand-up smash between a heavy steam-engine and a train of light cars, and it was 'bad for the coo.'"

    1914, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “The Knight’s Cross Signal Problem”, in Max Carrados

Origin

From a remark attributed to railway engineer George Stephenson, said to have been asked what would happen if one of the new steam locomotives ran into a cow, and to have replied that it would be "bad for the coo" (Scots for cow).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

bad for the coo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bad%20for%20the%20coo

MLA

“bad for the coo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bad%20for%20the%20coo. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bad for the coo,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bad%20for%20the%20coo.

Source: bad for the coo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.