It’s used to insult men by comparing them with a female body part. Unless he was talking about in in the feline sense, which, given what we know about Trump, is about a .001% chance. It’s stupid and, yeah, pretty offensive, but I’m sure all the hubbub over it will only make people who hate Trump hate him more, and people who love Trump love him more.
ETA: And looking at the video, it’s clear he knows it’s bad - he fake-scolds the (woman) who called it out, then draws more attention to it.
On two different occasions I’ve heard elderly, doddering women refer to their pet cats as their pussies. Try keeping a straight face when your friend’s granny tells you about her sick pussy.
I don’t believe this is chance. I think this is due to the Norman/Anglo-Saxon distinction. At the time the Normans were upper class and their French words became the polite words. It’s much like Anglo-Saxon-based words apply to the animals while Norman-based words apply to the meats consumed. Cow v. beef, pig v. pork, sheep v. lamb.
Definitely vulgar, but worse than that (in my mind) is that it’s sexist. He’s referring to his opponent as part of a woman’s anatomy. Why is that an insult unless you consider women somehow inferior? It’s like insulting someone by calling them ‘gay.’ Not just vulgar, but ignorant.
Thank you Mrs. Slocombe.
Oh, like in teabagging.
Yes, there was some news coverage about that a while ago, when it was being used by right-wing Tea Party types, until they were told that it was a slang term for certain sexual activities.
I’m 50 years old and any use of the word for anything other than a cat has always been considered vulgar. Had I called someone in school a pussy, I would have been given detention.
The FCC regulates “indecent material” between 6am and 10pm. You might have heard the word outside of that time.
On vacation in the Caribbean we drove past a new tequila bar called Dirty Sanchez. My gf thought it was cute. I did a double take looking at her.
She had never heard the term. As soon as we had wifi, I searched and the first six or so hits were obscene.
In polite company I would considered its usage this way as a vulgarity/mild obscenity.
I hesitate to use the term ‘obscene’ because to me that means X-Rated, i.e. pornographic and although close, it isn’t quite being used that way. If Trump had said, “You stink worse than Rosie O’Donnell’s pussy!” that would absolutely be obscene. Here it’s being used as a harsh epithet for wimp. But, it is being used that way by directly correlating a man to (having) female genitalia, so like I said it’s pretty close. And totally offensive to women in general. Remember though that it was never one of Carlin’s seven (or +3) words in either form.
Wuss is definitely childishly unoffensive let alone not obscene. This site references its origin to 1982’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High (first thing I thought of too…)
I recall that years ago Saturday Night Live blipped the word in their “p*****whipped” sketch. (Actually, they substituted the sound of a cat screeching.) I don’t know if they allow it now.
Here’s how TBBT handled it:
I didn’t contrast shit with poop or crap.
Poop isn’t really vulgar, though. It’s euphemistic and often humorous. Even my mother would say poop.
I remember not too long ago, Col. Ralph Peters (retired) called Obama “a pussy” on Fox News Channel. He was suspended for it.
Yes, that’s what I mean. “Poop” is the G-rated version of “crap,” which is the PG-rated version of “shit.”
If “cunt” is a cuss word, I can’t see why “pussy” wouldn’t be, although they’re not precisely synonymous. In America, a pussy is a man lacking in traditionally masculine virtues, while a cunt is a duplicitous woman. (Might be the other way around in the UK.)
No. The word even appears in children’s nursery rhymes and in the common names of plants such as the pussywillow. So, it is not obscene unless used in a way in which it is intended to make an obscene reference. Just as dick and balls and ass and many other such words are not obscene unless the user wishes them to be interpreted that way.
Note that the OP’s question was “Is ‘pussy’ obscene when used in that manner?” (italics mine)
I’d imagine “Pussy” is one of those 2 way words George Carlin spoke about in his “Seven Words” monologue. You know, you can catch a ball on television, but you can’t play with your balls. It’s possible to talk your way around it if you’re not Mrs. Slocumbe.
Ninja’ed