Coyote warning
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In the unlikely event that you aren't familiar with the memetic background, here's the cartoon's Wikipedia page as a start, and lots of episodes on YouTube — maybe start with this one…
And here's a page documenting the fact that
The geographic distribution of coyotes (Canis latrans) has dramatically expanded since 1900, spreading across much of North America in a period when most other mammal species have been declining.
And for those outside the range where the word is currently relevant, here are the U.S. English pronunciations as per Wiktionary:
/kəˈjoʊ.ti/, /kaɪˈ(j)oʊ.ti/, (especially Western US) /ˈkaɪ.(j)oʊt/
And the etymology, from the same source:
Borrowed from Spanish coyote, from a Nahuan language, from Proto-Nahuan *koyootl. Compare Chinook ki-o-tī.
J.W. Brewer said,
December 2, 2024 @ 5:20 pm
The opening track on the (not very commercially successful) 1984 debut album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers is titled "True Men Don't Kill Coyotes," and the vocals use that "silent e" pronunciation of /ˈkaɪ.(j)oʊt/. I remember being struck by it at the time as sounding weird/idiosyncratic, which must mean I didn't realize it was a well-attested regional variant. I must not have had prior occasion to discuss coyotes with a wide enough range of people from the Western US to have previously come across it.
The label had enough hopes for the band that they funded a video of the coyote-mentioning song, although I can't recall it actually getting much if any contemporaneous play on MTV. But the internet has of course preserved it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC3j1pNXhSU
PeterB said,
December 2, 2024 @ 5:36 pm
Thanks to my father from rural Colorado, I still say "KAIyoht" and "crick" instead of "kaiYOHtee" and "creek".
J.W. Brewer said,
December 2, 2024 @ 5:46 pm
I could have added that in those long-ago days the most likely place to hear the word "coyote" in a rock-music context was probably in the Joni Mitchell song simply titled "Coyote," which remained an AOR airplay staple in at least some places for many years after its 1977 release. She uses what I think of as the "regular" (final e is not silent) pronunciation, which I assume was the pronunciation she had learned as a girl in Saskatchewan.
Green's Dictionary of Slang has attestations for the "smuggler of humans w/o visas etc. across the Mexico-U.S. border" sense of "coyote" back to the 1920's, although I don't know how well-known it was outside the immediate borderland region back when Wile E. Coyote made his debut.
Charles in Toronto said,
December 2, 2024 @ 6:32 pm
Jeremy Toback, "You Make Me Feel"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqq8_A50MFk
Listen to the second verse from 1:22 where he sings "with the coyotes and the falling stars" and also pronounces "coyotes" as only 2 syllables. I think that's the first time I'd ever heard it said that way.
Pamela said,
December 2, 2024 @ 7:26 pm
I think my town is looking for a sheriff. We need this guy.
Julian said,
December 2, 2024 @ 7:49 pm
Takes me back. Love those travelling shots of roadrunner running along the road, where the middle distance background repeats itself every two seconds. ..
Victor Mair said,
December 2, 2024 @ 8:50 pm
If this meme has a deep history, it goes all the way back to the Coyote (Trickster) in Native American storytelling and lore.
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Coyote is a mythological character common to many cultures of the Indigenous peoples of North America, based on the coyote (Canis latrans) animal. This character is usually male and is generally anthropomorphic, although he may have some coyote-like physical features such as fur, pointed ears, yellow eyes, a tail and blunt claws. The myths and legends which include Coyote vary widely from culture to culture.
(Wikipedia)
=====
Elliot McIntire said,
December 3, 2024 @ 12:55 am
Growing up in the Southern California desert in the 1950s-60s I always heard it pronounced Kai-oat. The human smugglers along the Mexican border, however, were Koi-o-tays. (Pardon the spelling, not a linguist, just married to one)
Philip Taylor said,
December 3, 2024 @ 3:54 am
I don't believe I have ever spoken the word "coyote" but in my mind I pronounce it /kɔɪˈəʊt i// (thus differing primarily in the first vowel from the <Am.E> pronounciations listed above). The LPD prints /kɔɪ ˈəʊt i/, but the linked audio sounds far more like /kwi ˈəʊt i/ which seems completely wrong to me.
David Morris said,
December 3, 2024 @ 5:07 am
It's been 40+ years since I've watched Road Runner and heard the theme song and we don't otherwise encounter coyotes in Australia. I would have pronounced the first syllable of coyote to rhyme with 'boy', but I've just discovered that it's sung to rhyme with 'buy'.
J.W. Brewer said,
December 3, 2024 @ 7:58 am
Pace Prof. Mair, while one can perhaps make a reasonably plausible argument that (in the traditional folklore of the Looney Tunes people) the Roadrunner is a version of the Trickster archetype, Wile E. Coyote is not the least bit Tricksteresque. I don't think you can even claim him as a would-be Trickster who keeps failing at the role due to incompetence and/or misfortune.
Jerry Packard said,
December 3, 2024 @ 8:25 am
We see coyotes in our back yard on occasion (SW Fla), but only see Wile E. Coyote when our grandkids come to visit. BTW, I’ve never in my life seen a roadrunner.
Victor Mair said,
December 3, 2024 @ 8:53 am
Is a Wily Coyote not a trickster?
cameron said,
December 3, 2024 @ 8:59 am
Wile E. Coyote is no mere trickster, he's a super genious
KeithB said,
December 3, 2024 @ 9:03 am
Living in Albuquerque, we see roadrunners all the time. They have adapted well to urban environments, still lots of lizards to eat. They are fun to watch.
"Is a Wily Coyote not a trickster?"
Wile E. Coyote is not a trickster because he keeps losing.
Seth said,
December 3, 2024 @ 9:53 am
Does it qualify as being a trickster to keep tricking yourself?
By the way, coyotes can actually run faster than roadrunners. Sadly, the whole premise of the cartoon is wrong.
RfP said,
December 3, 2024 @ 1:51 pm
I’ve been musing over the Wikipedia entry for Trickster (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickster).
And I can’t help but wonder who’s the real trickster in these cartoons.
Could it actually be a certain smirking avian transient?
Seth said,
December 3, 2024 @ 2:15 pm
@RfP – I don't think so. Many of the gags are the coyote having things go wrong for some reason or another, often self-inflicted. But he's clearly some sort of schemer, just very bad at it. The roadrunner never seems to do anything sophisticated or construct anything or try to set a trap – at most RR will startle the coyote, but that's about it.
J.W. Brewer said,
December 3, 2024 @ 2:32 pm
I think Professor Mair could add value here as a Sinologist because it seems like Wile E. Coyote ought to echo or allude to some character in the Taoist wisdom literature. Maybe a story attributed to Chuang-Tzu? The harder and harder the protagonist tries by conscious effort and will and focus and rational planning to achieve his concrete goal, the worse off he becomes as things misfire and backfire. Only by learning to let go of his conscious intention and ambition can he put himself in harmony with the Way and actually be satisfied.