meaning - How does "pussy" come to mean "coward"?


The word pussy is often used to mean "coward".



This guy is a pussy.



and I am wondering why. How are woman's genitals related to being a "coward"?



Answer



There is no relation between a woman's genitals and a coward. The meaning of "coward" comes from something else.


Many people think that "pussy" is an diminutive of pusillanimous



pusillanimous


showing a lack of courage or determination; timid.



but a wikipedia article suggests that "pussy" is used as an alternate spelling of an obsolete English word "pursy".



The word pussy can also be used in a derogatory sense to refer to a male who is not considered sufficiently masculine (see Gender role). When used in this sense, it carries the implication of being easily fatigued, weak or cowardly.



According to OED, pussy actually comes from the word puss, a well-used name for cats at that time. It was first used to mean cat.



"cat," 1726, diminutive of puss (n.1), also used of a rabbit (1715). As a term of endearment for a girl or woman, from 1580s (also used of effeminate men). Pussy willow is from 1869, on notion of "soft and furry." To play pussy was World War II RAF slang for "to take advantage of cloud cover, jumping from cloud to cloud to shadow a potential victim or avoid recognition."



Later in the 19th century, it was used as a slang for "female pudenda"



slang for "female pudenda," 1879, but probably older; perhaps from Old Norse puss "pocket, pouch" (cf. Low German puse "vulva"), but perhaps instead from the cat word (see pussy (n.1)) on notion of "soft, warm, furry thing;" cf. French le chat, which also has a double meaning, feline and genital. Earlier uses are difficult to distinguish from pussy (n.1), e.g.: The word pussie is now used of a woman [Philip Stubbes, "The Anatomie of Abuses," 1583] But the use of pussy as a term of endearment argues against the vaginal sense being generally known before late 19c., e.g.: "What do you think, pussy?" said her father to Eva. [Harriet Beecher Stowe, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," 1852] Pussy-whipped first attested 1956.



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