"pussy," adj. = weak; effeminate; cowardly; unmanly; soft or easy enough for women, but unbefitting a man.

[Jonathan Lighter]

George Peck has a "pussy old man" in _Peck's Bad Boy_ (1883): he's evidently "fat," not "effeminate."  See OED, "pussy," adj., (superscript) 2 < "pursy."

Some of these very old cites seem ambiguous at first, but if "pussy" (effeminate, etc.) always had the strong sexual associations it has had for forty years (or more) and was always associated chiefly with the tough-guy community, its appearance in family publications of more than a century ago is ruled out.  That's why Toomer 1923 is something of a puzzle.
"Pussyfoot" may well be an unconscious feline influence on the meaning of the word in question.

So far,. I haven't heard from anybody old enough (and tough enough) to comment on the situation before the 1960s.

I myself didn't hear the adj. (or n. meaning "coward, weakling," etc.) until ca1970.  At that point there was little doubt of its misogynistic genital origin.  The guys (exclusively) who used it were, IIRC, all military vets of the 1960-70 era.

The words largely ousted from everyday use by "pussy" were "yellow" and (esp. in my day) "chicken" (which was both adj. and n.).



JL

"Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Douglas G. Wilson"
Subject: Re: "pussy," adj. = weak; effeminate; cowardly; unmanly; soft or
easy enough for women, but unbefitting a man.
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>4. Same questions and comments go for "pussy," n., = sissy, coward,
>weakling, etc.

What is the relation of "pussy" = "wimp" to "pussyfooter" in the same sense
(popular by ca. 1920)?

Check this out:

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_Oakland Tribune_ (Oakland CA), 24 Dec. 1904: p. 37:

[referring to requirements for policemen]

<>

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-- Doug Wilson


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