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

[Baker, John]

        Thanks.  I expect that the reference was to that song, even
though I'm reasonably confident that the novel called it a poem. The
imprecise match in wording is probably just my memory.

John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2005 6:12 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: pussy," adj. = weak; effeminate; cowardly; unmanly; soft or
easy eno

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
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Baker, John"
Subject: Re: pussy," adj. = weak; effeminate; cowardly; unmanly; soft or
easy eno
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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