# what does P.U. stand for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 20, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-p-u-stand-for/183077 "2003-06-20T03:10:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gutterhippo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gutterhippo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gutterhippo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-p-u-stand-for/183077/1 "2003-06-20T03:10:58Z")
What is the origin of saying “P.U.” when there is a foul smell in the air? Is it an acronym for something? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-p-u-stand-for/183077/2 "2003-06-20T03:12:34Z")
Nothing really. It mimics a sound. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-p-u-stand-for/183077/3 "2003-06-20T03:53:35Z")
Great question **gutterhippo**! I think it must go deeper than that, **Reeder** ; what sound would it be mimicking? I think this is one for Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-p-u-stand-for/183077/4 "2003-06-20T03:55:38Z")
Look up phew. P.U. is an exaggeration of phew. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-p-u-stand-for/183077/5 "2003-06-20T04:08:40Z")
Phew is pronouced _fyoo_, so wouldn’t a contraction of that be “FU” or “Fee-yoo?” I think there must be another source. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-p-u-stand-for/183077/6 "2003-06-20T04:17:31Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s a word, not a pair of initials, and there are several spellings. The Oxford English Dictionary has an entry for “phew,” defined as “a vocal gesture expressing impatience, disgust, discomfort, or weariness.” About the origin, it says “Representing the action of puffing or blowing away with the lips.” The earliest quotation there has the spelling “pheut” and is dated 1604. Other spellings given are phu, phew-ew, pfew, and phugh. Another entry contains the further spellings pho and phoo, and the definition is “An exclamation expressing contemptuous rejection or making light of anything.” From [here.](http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/9/messages/480.html) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-p-u-stand-for/183077/7 "2003-06-20T10:50:48Z")
A childen’s chant that I recall: “P.U. spells phew, and that’s you.” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-p-u-stand-for/183077/8 "2003-06-20T11:27:49Z")
This web page traces it back to Sanskrit: [http://hinduwebsite.com/general/sanskrit\_english.htm](http://hinduwebsite.com/general/sanskrit_english.htm) This one makes not of the PIE root \*\*pu[/], meaning “rot, stink” [http://www.etymonline.com/p11etym.htm](http://www.etymonline.com/p11etym.htm) This appears to be a very ancient word. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-p-u-stand-for/183077/9 "2003-06-20T11:29:09Z")
:smack: Make that \*_pu_. :o ---
**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:** [June 20, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-p-u-stand-for/183077/10 "2003-06-20T13:04:36Z")
Old pre-adolescent joke: Confucious say: Man who fart in church sit in own pew. ---
**Author:** ![Ardrine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@Ardrine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ardrine)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-p-u-stand-for/183077/11 "2003-06-20T13:52:14Z")
Pepe le Peu, the cartoon skunk, is presumably a variation on the same word. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-p-u-stand-for/183077/12 "2003-06-20T14:09:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gutterhippo \* > \*\*What is the origin of saying “P.U.” when there is a foul smell in the air? Is it an acronym for something? \*\* It comes from “Purdue University” and is based on the delicious “aromas” that waft over Lafayette and West Lafayette, sometimes on a daily basis. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-p-u-stand-for/183077/13 "2003-06-20T14:11:48Z")
Pungently Unpleasant. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-p-u-stand-for/183077/14 "2003-06-20T15:10:54Z")
In common usage, “phew” morphs into “pew,” as demonstrated by the jokes mentioned by CookingWithGas and Ardine (though interestingly, my dictionary doesn’t list this meaning for “pew”). Saying “pew” in an exaggerated fashion is essentially the same as saying “P U.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-p-u-stand-for/183077/15 "2003-06-20T17:06:16Z")
perhpaps an abbreviation for those who couldn’t spell “pungent”