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

[Jonathan Lighter]

According to Toonpedia (supplemented by my recollection of other, forgotten sources), Tweety debuted in the 1942 animated short, "A Tale of Two Kitties," during which he uttered his signature line, "I tawt I taw a puddy tat !" [ http://www.toonopedia.com/tweety.htm ]

"Mel Blanc recorded a hit song "I Taut I Taw a Puddy-Tat" (words and music by Alan Livingston, Billy May and Warren Foster) in 1950." [http://www.everwonder.com/david/tweety/bio.html ].

I recall the first words of the song as, "I taut I taw a puddy-tat, / A-tweeping up on me !"
That would have been eight years after Tweety's first appearance.

JL


"Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Baker, John"
Subject: Re: pussy," adj. = weak; effeminate; cowardly; unmanly; soft or
easy eno
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Off-topic, but I've been wondering about this for years: Some years
ago, I read in a novel that the line "I tawt I taw a puddie tat" is from
a poem that goes something like "I tawt I taw a puddie tat A-creepin' up
the 'tairs." Presumably the poem would have predated Tweetie Bird, whom
the novel did not mention. Is there any basis for this?

John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Wilson Gray
Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2005 4:31 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: pussy," adj. = weak; effeminate; cowardly; unmanly; soft or
easy eno

We also call our cats "puddies" or "puddie tats." In my case, I
extracted the term from Tweetie Bird's catchphrase, "I tawt I taw a
puddie tat!"



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