You’ll notice that cats are on there but not an emblem of cowardice the way “pussy” is. The history of that word isn’t easy to trace in full, but there doesn’t seem to be any evidence at all to support your claim that the sense of weakling comes straight from the sense of cat.
Instead, some centuries ago the word pussy started to be used as a term of endearment for women. From there it looks like it got applied to effeminate men, I imagine the same way you occasionally see sweetheart used as a put down; and when you look at more recentdictionaries the implication of effeminate is still often listed right beside timid.
Whether the application to the female genitalia is from the same origin or somewhere else is harder to say, though it’s hard to suppose people wouldn’t have connected them. In any case, though, its use as an insult looks to have been plainly gendered from the beginning, and we can please stop inventing other explanations.
I was thinking a message expressing gratitude might be more appropriate for a card. Something along the lines of “You Make Me Weak in the Knees, Valentine.”
‘Pussy’ has a history of being used as a slur for weak, as it has also been used as a term of endearment. Words get slippery, they morph.
If you read ‘vagina’ every time you see the word ‘pussy’ then perhaps consider that it says more about your own thought processes than that of others, and the automatic attribution of sexism to such things is projectionism, and doesn’t reflect well.
How about instead, in the case of what trump repeated, we read “effeminate” when he said “pussy,” because in that context, that’s clearly the sexist connotation that its users meant?
I didn’t say I did. I said that examination of the history shows it came to mean coward via effeminacy. You’d said it came from a “shorter form of scaredy-cat” because “make a sudden short, sharp move or noise and a cat will bolt”, and I thought that as a question of fact, I should point out this is made up against the evidence.
I’m happy with that, and I’ll add;
How about instead, in the case of what Trump’s supporter said, we read “weak” when she said “pussy,” because in that context, that’s clearly the wimpish connotation that she meant? I’m sure they both had different connotations in mind. Others have already added a third.
Perhaps you’re right in its original origins.
That is completely beside the point though.
Words’ meanings change drastically, despite their origins.
Should we stop using the word ‘nice’ because of its origins? Or is calling female children ‘wench’ now ok because of its origins?
I’m not sure it entirely is – Daedalus and Mindysan both asked you to consider how the meanings might be related, and you then claimed they never were. Myself, I just thought that since it was being argued, it would be helpful to make clear your ungendered derivation was a mistake.
But yes, words change in meanings, “nice” has become fine and “wench” has become otherwise. And if you want my opinion, I try to avoid the insult “pussy” not because of its etymology, but because today it is so often taken as a slur on effeminacy or a figurative comparison to female genitalia, as reactions to it show.
I see your point. By all means don’t use it as an insult, nor berate those who do. The vast majority of people, I’d wager, have not looked up definitions and use it in their own context, some of which is genitalioid (just made that up) and some of which isn’t.
Don’t use internet post reactions as a barometer for definitions nor common usage. The internet is a huge amplifier for problems that often aren’t.
Now wait a cotton-pickin’ minute. I know more than a few women who have no problem being called wenches, and among my friends the word has never been pejorative. There’s jokes about it - for example “a Lady is the dependent of a Lord, but a wench carries a blade.”
It’s fine with me whatever people use. I’m not here to police their language. People are free to be complete arseholes if they like. I just tend to not associate with them.
Others are yet free to say “whatever dude. Try some more denigrating words on me, they just keep bouncing off.” and keep walking.
I believe it’s the current internet policing and shaming of thoughts and language that have enabled people like Trump.
The more offended people become, the more the right pushes back in the other direction.
Also;
I’ve known one or two vulgar cats.
Again, I said nothing about free speech, that’s just you flailing away at your straw man again. And then, you just found a way to continue disagreeing with me while actually agreeing with me.
Yeah yeah, keep telling the afflicted how they should feel about a lifetime’s worth of being afflicted.
Funny you should say you tend not to associate with “arseholes” when you yourself keep acting like one.
