To be in cahoots with someone is to be plotting with him or her, but the resultant scheme is unlikely to lead to anything cruel or deadly. The word cahoots itself, obviously, cannot be taken seriously; and neither, frankly, can the plotters.
You and your accomplices might have a grand plan to corner the market in paper clips, but the implications of being in cahoots are that you'll do it so incompetently that the bottom lines of the other paper clip distributers will barely wobble.
Villains who are in cahoots are stupid, buffoonish - and probably obvious.
Hmm...
It occurs to me that, given the current state of world affairs, it is no surprise at all that the phrase is in my mind.
Thing Not To Be Today: in cahoots. There are two theories about the origin of this word. It might come from the French cahute, which means cabin, or it might comes from the French cohort, which in English has been used as a slang word for accomplice.
I rather fancy the cahute origin, as it has the right kind of rustic feel to it.
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