Pissant.

[Dennis R. Preston]

Hence a worthless individual was also a pissant, least for us Louisvillians).

dInIs



>    "Piss ants" [ also known as "grease ants"] were common in the
>American South,
>at least before the advent of Fire Ants [ which have made life
>difficult for many of
>their cousins ]. Farmers, hunters, fishermen, etc., who frequently
>urinated outdoors,
>saw them often. They arrived in large numbers, following a trail,
>but were VERY
>tiny individuals. [ One also saw them in kitchens, where they were
>called "grease
>ants."] They were not much of a biting threat, hence TOO INSIGNIFICANT TO
>BE WORRIED ABOUT even though there were very many of them.
>
>Mark Odegard wrote:
>
>>  Following up one the 'communal peeing' thread, it occurs to me the German
>>  authors of that article might have been (?[un]consciously] echoing
>>  'pissant'.
>>
>>  Online MW gives 1947 for 'pissant', though I suspect it's older (and
>>  probably, popularized during WWII).
>>
>>  AHD4 says it's modeled on Middle English 'pismire'; there is no date, but
>>  certainly it must be older than 1947 in the sense of 'an ant'. I suspect
>>  there is some literature out there on this item.
>>
>>  Certain ants do generate formic acid, which has a urine-like odor, but I
>>  know very little about ants.
>>
>>  I've never used 'pissant'. I think I learned it from my grandfather. The
>>  sense is indeed 'insignificant', but I think '*annoyingly* insignificant' is
>>  closer. It's close to 'mickey mouse' or 'chicken s***'.
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--
Dennis R. Preston
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736