When something stinks, and you say “P U”, what are you really saying? Is it an acronym?
that’s a good question. i am a technical writer, and if forced to write it, i would spell it ‘pee-yew’ i guess. but it’s so universal in north america it must mean something.
the only things that http://www.m-w.com has as PU abbreviations are PickUp (as in truck) or plutonium. i’m all curious now.
in UK we dont say P U.or do you mean pew? like for a nasty smell? in which case P U isnt really correct.
It stands for “phew!”, with emphasis. I was there when it changed to “P U”.
maybe it means piss you.
It’s just an exxagerated pronunciation of the exclamation “pew!” It’s not PU.
yep that’s what i reckon.
That’s what I meant, with one x and two g, and phew is in the dictionary but pew ain’t.
Actually, Webster’s Unabridged has:
I think it comes from the French expression “Pu!” which comes from the verb ‘puer’ (= ‘to stink’)
All right then. That’s it. I was using http://www.dictionary.com, since it is online.