I Love Little Pussy
Jonathan Lighter
wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Sun Mar 11 22:00:44 UTC 2012
None of the "valid" cases cited above is used without an intended pun.
Perhaps I should have added the phrase, "without intending a pun."
"Pussy" and "pussycat" as innocently affectionate terms for cats are on the
way out and have been for decades, though "pussycat," being more explicit
(in the older sense) is probably "hanging in there" a little better.
Go ahead. Ask a vet.
JL
On Sun, Mar 11, 2012 at 5:46 PM, Larry Sheldon <LarrySheldon at cox.net> wrote:
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> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Larry Sheldon <LarrySheldon at COX.NET>
> Organization: Maybe tomorrow
> Subject: Re: I Love Little Pussy
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> "Interesting" interpretation of the word at the focus here is taken to
> mean "infected, inflamed, swollen......"
>
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