Note 196 — Chapter XIV · KERESAN MYTHS
Reading edition
A wild, ugly-looking man, or animal, that frightens bad boys; hence any terrible-looking person who frightens others is “el coco.” It is in general use in Spanish literature, “meterle el coco a una persona” (Espinosa, in Journal of American Folk-Lore, Vols. XXIII and XXIX).