pussy," adj. = weak; effeminate; cowardly; unmanly; soft or easy eno

[Alice Faber]

Fred Shapiro wrote:
> On Wed, 17 Aug 2005, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
>
>>Actually, the overtly sexual "pussy" is solidly attested from the late
>>19th C.  Your cite does show just how pervasive it had become by 1960.
>>(When was the last time you heard a non-child refer to a "kitty" as a
>>"pussy" ?)
>
>
> My wife frequently addresses our two cats as "puddies."  It may be that
> she is consciously or subconsciously avoiding the double-entenderish
> "pussies."
>

Maybe it's just a relic of whatever cartoon that was with "I tought I
taw a putty tat".

--
 =============================================================================
Alice Faber                                    faber at haskins.yale.edu
Haskins Laboratories                           tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
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