# How Did We Get From Pussy (cat) to Pussy (vag)? How Did Beaver Enter The Mix? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 21, 2022, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993 "2022-09-21T16:28:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/21 "2022-09-22T17:55:55Z")
In German, a somehow obsolete word fur vulva is Bär (bear), definitely an allusion to fur like beaver. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/22 "2022-09-22T18:08:42Z")
Twat rhymes with cat? ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/23 "2022-09-22T18:27:28Z")
Yes. Merriam-Webster’s pronunciation of twat > ˈtwät, British usually ˈtwat \ ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/24 "2022-09-22T18:30:17Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > As for other languages, I believe _la chatte_ and _le minou_ are French slang for a woman’s genitals. Correct, although _le minou_ is a little bit cutesy in my opinion. It’s also a euphemism for cunnilingus (and similarly cutesy). I’m very partial to _la chatte_, however. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/25 "2022-09-22T18:39:54Z")
Regarding beaver fur or pelts, the commerce and trade for these pelts helped open up North America, both Canada and the US. Fortunes were made, lives were lost, it was like a gold rush. But their value was not as a fur to make clothing out of but the inner short, insulating fur that kept the beaver alive in the cold winter made excellent felt for making hats. Felt hats, Top hats, everybody wore a hat in those days and the fur from a beaver made the best ones. If you look at historical pictures from that era you will see that every one is wearing a hat. To be without a hat is to show your poverty. Beaver felt for hats, that was all the rage. I now return you to your soft porn discussion of pussy. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/26 "2022-09-22T18:40:57Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > And then there was probably the time The euphamism occured waaaaaaaaaaaay before that. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/27 "2022-09-22T19:27:29Z")
But did the British traditionally use pussy? I thought fanny was the slang term. Fanny Hill = mound of venus = mons veneris ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/28 "2022-09-22T19:33:08Z")
I can confirm this is true (if necessary I can find a cite). It was covered extensively on the local news. One of the big old colleges in Pennsylvania was Beaver College. It was actually my second choice when I applied. With the birth of the modern internet, they felt they should change the name. It has been Arcadia University for the past few years. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/29 "2022-09-22T19:44:46Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > I had heard that it came from pusillanimous, but the above matches what etymonline says Yes and no. If you call someone “a pussy” **that** comes from pusillanimous. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/30 "2022-09-22T19:47:51Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > But did the British traditionally use pussy? I thought fanny was the slang term. > > Fanny Hill = mound of venus = mons veneris I think the rhyming slang origin is wrong, considering the broad use of furry euphemisms in multiple languages. I was merely commenting on the post questioning the rhyming of twat with cat. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/31 "2022-09-22T20:07:24Z")
I’ve never heard it pronounced that way. I’ve always heard it said to rhyme with cot. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/32 "2022-09-22T20:29:56Z")
The odd thing about “fanny” is that in spite of its vulgar connotation, it was commonly used either as a diminutive of Francis or directly as a girl’s name right up until the middle of the last century. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/33 "2022-09-22T20:41:42Z")
In Germany, Fanny was popular even longer: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jl1Zfz-Widc/hqdefault.jpg "The Chase - Fanny Chmelar") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl1Zfz-Widc) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/34 "2022-09-22T20:46:38Z")
I used your post just as a jumping off point for the unlikelihood of pussy emerging from rhyming slang just because it was the last to reference it. That etymology is also refuted by “pussy” being a common and acceptable [nickname](https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=pussy) for a young girl even before the vulgar application, one that I’ve seen used well into the 20th century. > [pussy (n.1)](https://www.etymonline.com/word/pussy#etymonline_v_2916) > > “cat,” by 1690s, a diminutive of [puss](https://www.etymonline.com/word/puss?ref=etymonline_crossreference#etymonline_v_2914) (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), and applied childishly to anything soft and furry. To play pussy was World War II RAF slang for “take advantage of cloud cover, jumping from cloud to cloud to shadow a potential victim or avoid recognition.” > > [pussy (n.2)](https://www.etymonline.com/word/pussy#etymonline_v_2917) > > slang for “female pudenda,” by 1879, but probably older; perhaps from Old Norse puss “pocket, pouch” (compare Low German puse “vulva”), or perhaps instead from the cat word (see [pussy](https://www.etymonline.com/word/pussy?ref=etymonline_crossreference#etymonline_v_2916) (n.1)) on the notion of “soft, warm, furry thing;” compare 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] > > And songs such as “Puss in a Corner” (1690, attributed to D’Urfey) clearly play on the double sense of the word for ribald effect. But the absence of pussy in Grose and other early slang works argues against the vaginal sense being generally known before late 19c., as does its frequent use as a term of endearment in mainstream literature, as in: > > > “What do you think, pussy?” said her father to Eva. [Harriet Beecher Stowe, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” 1852] > > **Pussy-whipped** “hen-pecked” is attested by 1956 (Middle English had cunt-beaten “impotent,” in reference to a man, mid-15c.). ---
**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 22, 2022, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/35 "2022-09-22T20:49:37Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > The odd thing about “fanny” is that in spite of its vulgar connotation, it was commonly used either as a diminutive of Francis or directly as a girl’s name right up until the middle of the last century. Are Fannys any worse than Dicks (which also used to be common)? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/36 "2022-09-22T21:22:00Z")
A dimintive of Richard of course, as well as a name in its own right. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/37 "2022-09-23T01:13:12Z")
I always assumed “fanny” became common in English because of the notoriety of _Fanny Hill_ although it also had a non-euphimistic use as a name. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/38 "2022-09-23T10:58:25Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > A dimintive of Richard of course, as well as a name in its own right. I once met a man called Richard Little. I thought that was a bit too cutesy, Especially as he thought it funny to introduce himself Bond style: Little, Dick Little. He did show his passport and he was indeed Richard Little. I refused to believe when he said he grew up with two other Richards though: Tiny and Small. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/39 "2022-09-23T16:03:00Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > But did the British traditionally use pussy? I thought fanny was the slang term. In olden times, ‘coney’ (meaning rabbit, and as a sort of slightly less vulgar-seeming corruption of the pre-existing ‘cunny’) Also of note to this thread; the Oxford Concise definition of ‘Muff’ is (from memory): ‘A woman’s fur or other covering, into which both hands are thrust, to keep them warm’ 😜 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993/40 "2022-09-23T18:07:26Z")
[muff (n.)](https://www.etymonline.com/word/muff#etymonline_v_19217) > 1590s, “covering into which both hands may be thrust to keep them warm,” from Dutch mof “a muff,” shortened from Middle Dutch moffel “mitten, muff,” from French moufle “mitten,” from Old French mofle “thick glove, large mitten, handcuffs” (9c.), from Medieval Latin muffula “a muff,” a word of unknown origin. > > > The muff was introduced into France toward the close of the sixteenth century, and soon after into England. It was used by both men and women, and in the seventeenth century was often an essential part of the dress of a man of fashion; but it is now exclusively an article of female apparel. [Century Dictionary] > > Meaning “vulva and pubic hair” is from 1690s; muff-diver “one who performs cunnilingus” is from 1935. Pick out any random single syllable word and the odds are surprisingly good that it has a secondary sexual usage in slang. Human minds are a cesspool. That’s why aliens don’t visit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-we-get-from-pussy-cat-to-pussy-vag-how-did-beaver-enter-the-mix/971993.md?page=3)