antedating of "pussy," applied to a spiteful or unpredictable woman.

[Jonathan Lighter]

(OED, 1583)

1557-65 Bodleian Ms. Ashmole 48, qtd. in _Mod. Lang. Notes (1919) 347   Adew, my pretty pussy, / Yow pynche me very nere.

Conceivably this is an endearment, but the literary and historical context suggests that cats in 16th-17th C. literature were far more often regarded as spiteful and unpredictable creatures, prone to hiss, spit, and scratch,  than as cutesy ittoo fuwwy kittens.

How do I know?  I plowed through hundreds of cat-related "puss / pussy" cites in EEBO and esp. ECCO to find out.  The change becomes noticeable during the 18th C. A memorable kind word about cats (which I seem unable to find again) from the less sentimental period was "protectors of our health and cheese."  Or words very similar.

JL


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