Bill And Coo: An Old Expression That's For The (Love)Birds

Zuzu and Boris bill and coo in an extra-comfy corner of their cozy cage.

You've probably seen your budgies do it a million times: put their beaks together affectionately and chirp softly, as if whispering sweet nothings. But I bet you didn't know that the act has a name. It's called "billing and cooing."

According to Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary, the first usage of "bill and coo" dates to 1816. Today's equivalent is the much less charming "canoodle," a word so inane and devoid of romance that it sounds like it were invented by Chef Boyardee.

Karloff and Chaney bill and coo during a late-night cage liner cleaning.

Examples of "bill and coo" usage in literature include:

"She has shown a disposition to bill and coo from the first."

- "Lessons in Life, For All Who Will Read Them" by T. S. Arthur, 1851

"I'm no duenna, whose business it is to watch lovers billing and cooing."

- "The Man Who Laughs" by Victor Hugo, 1869

Princess and Clooney were billing and cooing, until interrupted by a paparazzo.

"Elderly people came to stay for pleasant recreation and quiet enjoyment; younger people to 'bill and coo' and dance."

- "The Falls of Niagara and Other Famous Cataracts" by George W. Holley, 1882

"I say, Anna, there's not going to be any billing and cooing or anything of that sort."

- "Aladdin of London" by Sir Max Pemberton, 1907

"They had no other occupation than to bill and coo all day long."

- "The Surprises of Life" by Georges Clemenceau, 1920

The budgie at left looks like a fifth wheel, while the two at right bill and coo.

And here's a funny, classic wordplay example of usage of the expression in film:

"Aw, if we could find a little bungalow... Of course, I know we could find one, but maybe the people wouldn't get out. But if we could find a nice, little, empty bungalow just for me and you — where we could bill and coo — no, we could bull and cow."

- Groucho Marx (to Margaret Dumont) in "The Coconuts," 1929

An odd duck and an old bird billing, cooing and sapping — I mean sipping.
(Photo courtesy of Dr. Macro)