Where does the phrase "cocky" come from?

Question

could it be from the the word "peacock" as a peacock could be used as a metaphor for someone who shows off and likes attention...........

Answer 1

sorry but how about

cocky want a cracker

cockatoo speak for - food

Answer 2

c**k (n1.)   O.E. cocc, O.Fr. coq, O.N. kokkr, all of echoic origin. O.E. cocc was a nickname for "one who strutted like a c**k," thus a common term in the Middle Ages for a pert boy, used of scullions, apprentices, servants, etc. A common personal name till c.1500, it was affixed to Christian names as a pet diminutive, cf. Wilcox, Hitchcock, etc.

Cocky "arrogantly pert" (1768) originally meant "lecherous" (16c.); modern sense of "vain" is 18c.

The **** refers to the first 4 letters your word - the censor edits it out!

Answer 3

From the pose of a rooster, if you well observe a c**k (gamecock or peakcock) they tend to be so self assured, self confident, with their heads up high, kind of "cocky", there.

Answer 4

I would guess it comes from the English translation for the  Spanish for someone like that: El Rey de Galleno.. or King of ROOSTERS... and a rooster is called a c**k.. so someone acting like a King of Roosters could be called "Cocky".

Answer 5

It's not a phrase, it's a word.

cocky, meaning arrogant, overconfident (especially young man) comes from c**k: to raise, make erect or ready. A rooster, male genitals, cocking a gun.

cocky, meaning a cockatoo (especially sulphur crested cockatoo) comes from Australian slang, the habit of shortening a word and then sticking a y on the end.

cocky, meaning a land holder: cow cocky etc, is Australain idiom, taken from cockatoo.

Answer 6

I think it actually comes from Cockerel - the way they strut around the hens with a "I'm the boss" attitude

Answer 7

Cocky means boldly self-confident. It stems from the rooster's (or c**k's) perceived confidence as it walks, with a puffed out chest and a look as if it "owns the place."