I Love Little Pussy

[George Thompson]

Meanwhile, to the question of the moment:
I use "pussy" and "pussycat" when addressing my cat.  I don't say to a
friend "I have a new pussy at home", but wouldn't have said that even when
a little kid with a pure mind.  I might say to someone "Dolly is a sweet
pussy" but would be more likely to say "a sweet kitty" or "a sweet cat", I
think.  (Dahlia is my new kitten, successor to my sweet buddy Panurge, who
I miss still.)
I do recall some years ago saying to a passer-by who seemed intimidated by
a neighbor's barking dog "He's just a pussycat".

On the other hand, I may also be the last person around who has an icebox
in his kitchen.

GAT

On Sat, Mar 10, 2012 at 6:00 PM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:

> Jim and George Thompson, I believe, are the only remaining people on the
> list who have the settings to have responses to go directly to them
> rather than the list.
>
> As for "pussy", the joke had been used quite effectively on Are You
> Being Served. You need to talk to women more, Jon.
>
>    VS-)
>
> On 3/10/2012 5:21 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
>> As so often seems to happen, this mistakenly went to Jim only:
>>
>> It's been many years since I heard a living person refer to a cat as a
>> "pussy." Or even as a "pussycat."
>>
>> JL
>>
>>
> ------------------------------**------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much since then.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org