[Ads-l] pissant, OED n. 2 1930, n. 3 1935, and adj. 1952 antedated

[Jonathan Lighter]

1862-63  Pvt. James Snell, 82nd Illinois Vols., in Bell Irvin Wiley _The
Life of Billy Yank_ (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1952) 27:
Soldier...Leslie...Nickname...Piss-ant.

HDAS III could have scooped OED with Dos Passos, but it was not to be.

JL

On Sat, Nov 19, 2022 at 3:45 AM James Eric Lawson <jel at nventure.com> wrote:

> OEDO 'pissant', modified Mar. 2022:
>
> Noun sense 2, "Chiefly Australian. In similative and comparative
> phrases. *drunk as a pissant*: extremely drunk. *game as a pissant*:
> very brave or courageous." Attested from 1930.
>
> 1925 J. Dos Passos _Manhattan Transfer_ 250 "Fellers lets trow dis guy
> out. . . . He aint one o de boys. . . . Dunno how he got in here. He's
> drunk as a pissant.”
>
>
> https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.32106012931710&view=1up&seq=260&q1=drunk%20as%20a%20pissant
>
>
> Noun sense 3, "depreciative. An insignificant, contemptible, or
> irritating person." Attested from 1935.
>
> 1867  _The Evansville Daily Journal_ (Newspapers+) 3 May (An Account of
> a Democratic Preliminary Caucus.) 2 This gentleman, with that graceful
> dignity so characteristic of the man, hesitatingly answered, but
> remembering that bastile story about piss-ant's oaths, &c., and the gift
> of a red-headed Yankee scalp, &c., he declined.
>
> https://www.newspapers.com/image/320717975/?terms=pissant&match=1
>
> 1883  _The Crete Democrat_ (Newspapers+) 16 Aug (The Opposition.) 4 The
> pissant of the Friendville _Telegraph_, or in other words, Eddie P. M.
> Ass, didn't stand fire long in his discussion with the _Vidette_ man.
>
> https://www.newspapers.com/image/672493371/?terms=pissant&match=1
>
>
> Adj., "depreciative. (In attributive use.) Insignificant, worthless,
> petty; contemptible." Attested from 1952.
>
> 1892  _Lincoln Beacon_ (Newspapers+) 10 Mar 4 The originator of the
> above report was probably some pissant Republican from Lincoln county
> (and we have lots of them), who thought to create distrust and possibly
> suspicion and dissension in the Populist camp up here.
>
> https://www.newspapers.com/image/476915239/?terms=pissant&match=1
>
> --
> James Eric Lawson
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


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