# Etymology: If I call someone a "pussy"... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347 "2012-09-10T22:56:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/1 "2012-09-10T22:56:46Z")
…am I comparing them to a cat or a vagina? ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/2 "2012-09-10T23:01:39Z")
You mean, when did the word take on the meaning of ‘vagina’ and when did it take on the meaning of the word ‘cat or kitten’? According to [http://www.etymonline.com](http://www.etymonline.com) the former meaning came into usage around 1879 for the female anatomy and around 1583 for the female herself. And the latter meaning goes back to 1726 and is derived from the 1580’s usage for a female or effeminate man. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/3 "2012-09-10T23:03:06Z")
How interesting. I’d always assumed that the sense intended was the vag, but from the sound of that, it’s the latter meaning (etymologically speaking). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/4 "2012-09-11T00:07:43Z")
Actually, you mean someone (usually a male) is weak and spineless. While it probably derives from “vagina,” the word has taken on a meaning independent of the origin (much like “orientation” rarely has anything to do with “east.”). ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/5 "2012-09-11T00:14:28Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Actually, you mean someone (usually a male) is weak and spineless. While it probably derives from “vagina,” the word has taken on a meaning independent of the origin (much like “orientation” rarely has anything to do with “east.”). Agreed. To me it just means “super wimp”. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/6 "2012-09-11T00:23:02Z")
I think there is no question of that meaning. **Malleus, Incus, Stapes!** is asking what they are being compared to when being called a pussy in that sense, just as when calling someone an “ass” you might be comparing them to a donkey or a posterior. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/7 "2012-09-11T00:30:34Z")
Gagundathar’s analysis says that “pussy” meant either “woman” or “effeminate male” long before it took on meanings that were anatomical (300 years later) or feline (200 years later). So it sounds like calling someone a pussy is the correct usage of the term, without any interpretation/comparison necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/8 "2012-09-11T00:49:45Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Gagundathar’s analysis says that “pussy” meant either “woman” or “effeminate male” long before it took on meanings that were anatomical (300 years later) or feline (200 years later). So it sounds like calling someone a pussy is the correct usage of the term, without any interpretation/comparison necessary. But still sexist, since it’s still insulting a man for being like a woman! …humans seem to be good at that. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/9 "2012-09-11T00:50:59Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Actually, you mean someone (usually a male) is weak and spineless. While it probably derives from “vagina,” the word has taken on a meaning independent of the origin (much like “orientation” rarely has anything to do with “east.”). Which seems kinda silly because a vagina can take some serious pounding 😃 ---
**Author:** ![al27052](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@al27052](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/al27052)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/10 "2012-09-11T01:26:38Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > Which seems kinda silly because a vagina can take some serious pounding 😃 Indeed ROFL I always think of it as someone who is unwilling to take risks, though. not really as someone who can’t handle adversity or pain. Given the fact that men tend to be more willing to take risks, I’d say it makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/11 "2012-09-11T02:08:50Z")
Click [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3U0udLH974) for pussy. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/12 "2012-09-11T03:06:10Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Gagundathar’s analysis says that “pussy” meant either “woman” or “effeminate male” long before it took on meanings that were anatomical (300 years later) or feline (200 years later). So it sounds like calling someone a pussy is the correct usage of the term, without any interpretation/comparison necessary. No, also according to the [Online Etymological Dictionary](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=pussy&searchmode=none), “puss” for cat goes back to the 1520s, earlier than “pussy” is used, in the 1580s, for _woman_ (and possibly also for effeminate man at that time, but it looks as though the lexicographer is speculating here) and much earlier than it is recorded as being used for _vagina_ (1879). I think the usage the OP is asking about is most likely comparing a cowardly man to a cat. Cats tend to run away if confronted aggressively by humans. Even though “pussy” has long been used to mean a woman (though not so much these days, probably because the vagina meaning has become well known), I don’t think “pussy” said of a coward is so much saying that he is feminine as that he is cowardly and skittish like a cat. When used of a woman, by contrast, “pussy” is usually a positive term of endearment (as the _Etymology Dictionary_ notes): it is saying that she is warm and affectionate like a cat, or that the speaker wants to stroke and pet her as they would a cat. They are not saying that when they use the word of a man, however. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/13 "2012-09-11T19:12:45Z")
Used in the OPs context, I always assumed that it was short for being ‘Pussy Whipped’, ie. under the thumb of the significant other. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/14 "2012-09-11T19:24:21Z")
I’ve always wondered if there’s any connection to [pusillanimous](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pusillanimous), which is derived from the Latin _pusus_, which actually means “boy.” ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/15 "2012-09-11T19:30:51Z")
Yeah, I always assumed the word pussy was derived from pusillanimous and then took on the second meaning of vagina. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/16 "2012-09-11T19:33:02Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > I think there is no question of that meaning. **Malleus, Incus, Stapes!** is asking what they are being compared to when being called a pussy in that sense, just as when calling someone an “ass” you might be comparing them to a donkey or a posterior. I think that’s an excellent parallel. You can call someone a **pussycat** , and that’s not necessarily a bad thing (nor does it necessarily have any sexual connotations). You’re saying they’re [“not at all threatening”](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pussycat) or [“weak, compliant, or amiable”](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pussycat) or [“an endearing or gentle person”](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pussycat). “He’s just a big pussycat” means you don’t have to be scared of him. “Pussy” _can_ be short for “pussycat” in this sense—though of course it can also have a very different meaning. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/17 "2012-09-11T19:33:06Z")
Whenever I’ve been called a pussy, I’ve been fortunate to have the presence of mind to retort, “You are what you eat, dick.” ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/18 "2012-09-11T20:19:55Z")
> [@cantara](#): > > Used in the OPs context, I always assumed that it was short for being ‘Pussy Whipped’, ie. under the thumb of the significant other. Nope. PW is short for _pussy whipped_, which is completely different than calling someone a pussy. The more socially acceptable term for \*pussy \*would be \*wuss \*(rhymes with _puss_) or sometimes wussy, and the term for \*pussy whipped \*would be _henpecked_. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/19 "2012-09-11T20:58:48Z")
> [@black\_rabbit](#): > > I’ve always wondered if there’s any connection to [pusillanimous](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pusillanimous), which is derived from the Latin _pusus_, which actually means “boy.” > [@madmonk28](#): > > Yeah, I always assumed the word pussy was derived from pusillanimous and then took on the second meaning of vagina. Except that the first vowel in _pusillanimous_ is pronounced quite differently from that in _pussy_. Also, although I haven’t looked it up, I would lay odds that _pusillanimous_ is not nearly such an old word as _pussy_ (which as noted, goes back to the 16th century). And, again, what is cowardly about a vagina? (on the other hand, they are furry, and people like to pet them.) ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347/20 "2012-09-12T01:26:52Z")
> [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](#): > > But still sexist, since it’s still insulting a man for being like a woman! …humans seem to be good at that. More specifically, it’s a man lacking traditionally masculine qualities. It’s not sexist, since there are equivalent terms for women lacking traditionally womanly virtues. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-if-i-call-someone-a-pussy/634347.md?page=2)