wussy (1977)

[Mark A. Mandel]

Someone asked:
>
> Isn't this verb "wuss out" and not just "wuss"?
>

Bill Mullins replied:
    >>>>>
 I suppose the cites listed are in fact "wuss out".  I've heard (and
used) "wuss" as a verb, but it was just easier to search for "wuss out"
than separating the nouns from verbs when searching for "wuss" only.
 <<<<<

There are a whole lot of particle verbs that are losing their particles. I
think I have mentioned this here before, without any kind of real study.
        hang out        -->     hang
        pissed off      -->     pissed (resulting in trans-Atlantic confusion)
        wiped out       -->     wiped

(Hmm, those last two came to mind in the adjectival past participle form,
as describing a person.)

-- Mark A. Mandel
[This text prepared with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.]