“despite what you may have heard, pusillanimous does not serve as the basis for pussyfoot, pussycat, or a certain related vulgarism.” - Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Social media is a misinformation engine
Social media yes absolutely is, but so is the Internet in general. There’s always been conspiracy and other whacko websites. Social media just brings the misinformation to you, instead of previously, you had to seek out that kind of content.
Well, it may not have been the basis in the past…
Dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive. They explain how language has been used in the past. They do not regulate the intention of a speaker in the future.
Prescriptively, “literally” and “figuratively” are antonyms. Descriptively, they have been used synonymously.
Having learned this “pusillanimous” meaning, you are now capable of comprehending the intent of someone employing it, much as I am capable of recognizing that “literally” no longer reliably describes the concept of literality.
I guarantee you that nobody is thinking of “pusillanimous” when they call someone a pussy.
“pussy” as in coward and “pussy” as in vagina are both references to cats. pussycats. we call cowards pussies because cats scare easily. we call vaginas pussies because they are soft and delicate (not actually, but that’s how we want to treat them)
this doesn’t have to be a misogyny thing, and anti-misogyny thing, or an anti-anti-misogyny thing. everyone just fucking chill out about this word, ffs
The etymology is not relevant.
When I called someone a pussy, I did not mean cat. I did not mean pusillanimous. I meant vagina.
My usage of “pussy” as an insult came from misogyny, so I don’t use it as an insult anymore.
I could have easily said that I actually meant something else, but I choose to own my mistakes and try to be better.
good job bud! you get a gold star for respecting women ⭐
jokes aside live your life but I still say it. I’m not gonna stop saying it. If someone accused me of misogyny for it I’d laugh in their face and call them something a lot worse.
And you think that makes you cool? You think you’re a tough guy because you don’t care if you’re hurting someone else?
Nobody can force you to care about other people. I hope that some day you decide to for yourself.
I have no concern with being cool or uncool because the only opinion that has bearing on my self worth is my own. Anyway, I’d laugh because being offended by the word is just… baseless? People can be offended by anything, reasonable or not, and it’s each individuals responsibility to cope with that. It’s not like I’m dropping N bombs or calling them a whore. I’m comparing them to a fucking cat. Cowardice is an unacceptable trait in adults and tolerating it does far more harm to the coward in question than calling them out on it does.
Christ. You are going to need to be surgically detached if you ever decide to get off your high horse. I get that you used to be misogynistic or an asshole or something, so now you’re extra sensitive about it, projecting maybe, whatever. This is another one of those things where it’s YOUR responsibility to cope with it, not mine.
I say what I mean and I get my point across. Do I actively want to offend people? No, of course not. But it’s not nearly at the top of my list of concerns. If it hurts someone’s feelings, they are free to talk to me about it. If they make sense, I’ll adjust my behavior and apologize. Something along the lines of “when I was a piece of shit I used that word in a piece of shit way” does not sway me. I’m not you bro. I’m not malicious. I’m a straight-talker, and people value that.
If you care about being a straight talker, then call someone a coward. You are not getting your point across well by using “pussy” and meaning “cat, because cats are cowardly”.
Language is an imperfect way of communicating thoughts, and works by mutual understanding on which words are used for which thoughts. The usage is subtle and constantly changing.
Misogynists use “pussy” in a hurtful way, and so there’s a mutual understanding that someone who says “pussy” might be a misogynist.
Most people don’t want to be confused for being a misogynist, so someone might assume that you’re unaware and tell you that you sound misogynistic. If you “laugh in their face and call them something much worse,” that’s fucked up.
You’re still free to use it, sure, but don’t pretend that it’s effective communication. You’re making a conscious choice that you care more about using a specific word than about communicating your thoughts.
“Most people.” Come on now. You should be able to tell by now that I’m not “most people” and I don’t want to be. Most people are hyper sensitive to others’ perception of them. They anxiously squirm around to reshape themselves into something that pleases everyone around them. I told you already that the only opinion that has bearing on my self-worth is my own. If someone mistakes me for something that I’m not, it’s exactly that: a mistake. And it’s their problem, not mine. I don’t want to be around people who’d make such a dire judgement based on such a minuscule perceived infraction. I’m happy to repel that type of person.
And about it not being effective communication? I’m not buying it. You call someone a pussy, it stings 10% more than coward does, and that gets your point across loud and clear. I feel like you’re trying to tell me that if someone is acting cowardly I should gently, politely facts-and-logic them out of an emotional conundrum. No, you give them a zap and it flips a switch in their brain. This type of jolting speech is what actually works to alter behavior in the moment.
Good people are still gonna use bad slang. Obvious we disagree where the line is for both of those things but this one point stands regardless. It’s one of those things that always has been and always will be. Make your peace with it. Focus on changing people’s actual opinions instead of focusing on signals, counter-signals, counter-counter-signals. It’s such a god damn waste of time.
Oh wow, yeah you are a big tough guy! I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was talking to a PC. I’ll go back to tending my shop.
> See anything you like?Grow the fuck up, dweeb, you’re just like the other boys.
Good people will use bad slang, yes. But good people have empathy and don’t want to hurt other people. Good people will change their behavior if they’re hurting people, even if unintentionally.
Being a good person requires effort. If you’re not willing to put in the effort, you don’t get to be a good person.
You are too much of a coward to face your own flaws.
You are too weak to consider your impact on others.
You are so concerned with being a “man” that you aren’t being human.You’re far from unique in that, though.
Men are socialized to be uncaring “tough guys,” and everyone loses because of it. If you actually want to be different, you need to stop buying into that crap.
I’ve always meant coward, don’t even know where vagina would come from in such an instance
Etymologically, it seems like there are theories surrounding where it comes from.
The ones I’m familiar with are ‘poesje’, a Dutch word meaning ‘little cat’. The other is the Old English word ‘pus’ meaning ‘pocket’.
I’m far more inclined to believe ‘poesje’ is the origin, with ‘pus’ being an incorrect association due to common modern usage of the word ‘pussy’ in place of ‘vagina’.
Idk who convinced this guy that it’s short for pusillanimous. Sounds like someone trolled the fuck out of him. Anyone with a strong understanding of English (and language, really - what I’m about to say is just human nature) understands that languages follow the path of least resistance. It, logically, does not make sense that pusillanimous (a word totally unused in the average English speakers vernacular) would be where pussy comes from. Unless your inner idea of English speakers 3 centuries ago is some fucked up Shakespeare-an parody.
You’re probably right about pussy (vagina) originally meaning pocket but I don’t think it does anymore. People now euphemistically refer to vaginas as a “kitty” or sometimes they even use a cat emoji.
People believing that pussy (coward) is a reference to vaginas AND people who think it’s short for pusillanimous are people who let their politics color their perception of the world. Men who hate women, women who hate men, and men who hate that women hate men. It’s conspiratorial thinking all around.
That word existing isn’t proof of that.
Also, ask a random selection of people who call other pussies what they mean by it. I can guarantee you that the mayority is referring to the body part. Which makes this stupid.
I never thought of the body part when calling someone a pussy. Anecdotal, but still.
I was always thought about it was cats because they’re scared and shit. But holy fuck, never fuck with a cat that hates your guts and wants nothing to do with you.
Hmh. I have never called someone a pussy, but when people do, I ususually do think of the body part. Based on this, I postulate that we are polar opposites.
Also, what do you think of? Dicks? If so, same.
My earliest assumptions when hearing them as a kid was that pussy was related to cats, and dick to Richards.
By my tweens, I had realized that dick was referring to penis when most people used it, but if was another year or two before I learned that pussy referred to female genitals.
See, pussy wasn’t actually the common term for labia around here. The most common was actually cooter, with “bottom” being for the younger set. Tush, rear, or backside was for the butt.
So, pussy was only used for wimps, and my assumption was that it was synonymous with scaredy cat, and maybe even derived from that. The first time someone asked if I wanted to see their pussy, I genuinely thought they had a pet cat. Imagine my surprise when I said yes, got very happy, and she pulled down her panties.
A conversation ensued eventually. I sure as hell wasn’t objecting, so I tabled the whole slang thing and enjoyed the mutual exchange of genital access on a visual and tactile level.
But I did ask why she called it that. She said it was because grown up women look like they have a cat between their legs because it’s very hairy down there. I though she might be pulling my leg, so I asked my mom. After she stopped laughing, she admitted that she didn’t know for sure why it was called that, but she had heard the same explanation when she was a girl.
A friend of mine, after I told him that story, related to me that when he first saw a naked girl, he went to his dad and said he finally knew why they called it pussy. When asked why that was, he responded that it looks like a cat’s backside when girls are bent over. Which, I kinda get.
Dude you’re really killing it on Lemmy with over the top and nutty takes full of insight, but I hadn’t seen you around before; you’re a new arrival from Reddit perhaps?
Lol, nah, I left reddit in 23 during the protests. I appreciate the complement all the same :)
If you’re asking if I think of a penis when calling someone a dick, then no.
No, just, like, in general. Anyway, this is surprisingly a lot more divisive than I thought.
You think when people call someone a “pussy” as a pejorative they are calling them a vagina? Like literally? That’s ludicrous.
Almost like calling someone a dick.
Curses and insults often include sexual characteristics and actions. And also bodily fluids, animals, diseases and blasphemy
But like, when calling someone a dick, you think of a penis?
Arguably they are a scaredy cat
Not literally, figuratively.
That word existing isn’t proof of that.
It IS a rather odd coincidence, then.
It is a coincidence, but it’s an interesting one.
Pusillanimis comes from the Latin pusillus.
Pussy comes from Germanic puss, as in cat; both the insulting sense of the word and the slang for vagina
My understanding is Germanic Puss (as in cat) comes from the sound a cat makes when hissing, and over time “Pussy” means someone who is scared/angry
Thus the term “Scaredy-cat” as well.
My understanding is calling someone a pussy is literally just a more vulgar version of scaredy-cat, not a woman’s vagina.
And calling someone a cat as a derogatory term way predates it as a term for vagina.
It’s why we have words like “catty”, in the 1600s “Puss” was a term for (primarily a woman) who was acting very sour / mean (like a cat)
Pussy as a term for a vagina came way after, when “Puss” started to become a term of endearment (and now we cringe at someone calling their SO “Kitten”), and then further on to become sexual in meaning.
I’m not an ethymologist, but I remember looking around when this last came up, and while there weren’t really any fully authoritative sources, the consensus seemed to be that the insult referred to the body part, and the existence of an old-timey word that sounded similar was a fun coincidence.
I generally mean it as someone scared to go the fucking speed limit in the left lane.
The left lane is for passing. If you’re passing you’re using it correctly regardless of how fast you are going.
They aren’t, that’s why they’re pussies.
I’m just sick of people mistaking it for a “fast lane”. It’s not, it’s for passing. You pass and you get back into the travel lane. Unless you live in Connecticut which has a plague of left exits but that’s a different issue
It’s not the passing lane if there is three lanes here in Michigan, by law or custom.
Pffffff idiot. Everyone knows the slang is “pusy”.
Pusi
The Latin roots of this derisive adjective are pusillus, meaning “very small” (and related to pusus, meaning “boy”) and animus, which means “spirit”
… so a fuckboi, but even more cowardly.
Only some kinda sissy would post something like this
I heard that’s from sisyphean, keep pushing that boulder, sissies!
This is a nice one
Pip pip!
This guy seems like a vagina.
Except that if you actually check the etymology of both words, you would find that one does not derive from the other.
Then it would sound like “pyoosy”, look at the phonetics. I’ve never used that pronunciation. Have I been saying it wrong all this time?
TIL
Stop being unsure of yourself pyoosy
There’s words that do that. Rare, yeah, but sometimes.
Then say “poo-zee” and write “puzy”
