this post was submitted on 08 May 2025
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Low Effort Memes

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[–] [email protected] 42 points 6 days ago (3 children)

That word existing isn't proof of that.

Also, ask a random selection of people who call other pussies what they mean by it. I can guarantee you that the mayority is referring to the body part. Which makes this stupid.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I generally mean it as someone scared to go the fucking speed limit in the left lane.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

The left lane is for passing. If you're passing you're using it correctly regardless of how fast you are going.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

They aren't, that's why they're pussies.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I'm just sick of people mistaking it for a "fast lane". It's not, it's for passing. You pass and you get back into the travel lane. Unless you live in Connecticut which has a plague of left exits but that's a different issue

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago

It's not the passing lane if there is three lanes here in Michigan, by law or custom.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago (2 children)

That word existing isn't proof of that.

It IS a rather odd coincidence, then.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

It is a coincidence, but it's an interesting one.

Pusillanimis comes from the Latin pusillus.

Pussy comes from Germanic puss, as in cat; both the insulting sense of the word and the slang for vagina

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago

My understanding is Germanic Puss (as in cat) comes from the sound a cat makes when hissing, and over time "Pussy" means someone who is scared/angry

Thus the term "Scaredy-cat" as well.

My understanding is calling someone a pussy is literally just a more vulgar version of scaredy-cat, not a woman's vagina.

And calling someone a cat as a derogatory term way predates it as a term for vagina.

It's why we have words like "catty", in the 1600s "Puss" was a term for (primarily a woman) who was acting very sour / mean (like a cat)

Pussy as a term for a vagina came way after, when "Puss" started to become a term of endearment (and now we cringe at someone calling their SO "Kitten"), and then further on to become sexual in meaning.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago

I'm not an ethymologist, but I remember looking around when this last came up, and while there weren't really any fully authoritative sources, the consensus seemed to be that the insult referred to the body part, and the existence of an old-timey word that sounded similar was a fun coincidence.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I never thought of the body part when calling someone a pussy. Anecdotal, but still.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 6 days ago

I was always thought about it was cats because they're scared and shit. But holy fuck, never fuck with a cat that hates your guts and wants nothing to do with you.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Hmh. I have never called someone a pussy, but when people do, I ususually do think of the body part. Based on this, I postulate that we are polar opposites.

Also, what do you think of? Dicks? If so, same.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago (1 children)

My earliest assumptions when hearing them as a kid was that pussy was related to cats, and dick to Richards.

By my tweens, I had realized that dick was referring to penis when most people used it, but if was another year or two before I learned that pussy referred to female genitals.

See, pussy wasn't actually the common term for labia around here. The most common was actually cooter, with "bottom" being for the younger set. Tush, rear, or backside was for the butt.

So, pussy was only used for wimps, and my assumption was that it was synonymous with scaredy cat, and maybe even derived from that. The first time someone asked if I wanted to see their pussy, I genuinely thought they had a pet cat. Imagine my surprise when I said yes, got very happy, and she pulled down her panties.

A conversation ensued eventually. I sure as hell wasn't objecting, so I tabled the whole slang thing and enjoyed the mutual exchange of genital access on a visual and tactile level.

But I did ask why she called it that. She said it was because grown up women look like they have a cat between their legs because it's very hairy down there. I though she might be pulling my leg, so I asked my mom. After she stopped laughing, she admitted that she didn't know for sure why it was called that, but she had heard the same explanation when she was a girl.

A friend of mine, after I told him that story, related to me that when he first saw a naked girl, he went to his dad and said he finally knew why they called it pussy. When asked why that was, he responded that it looks like a cat's backside when girls are bent over. Which, I kinda get.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Dude you’re really killing it on Lemmy with over the top and nutty takes full of insight, but I hadn’t seen you around before; you’re a new arrival from Reddit perhaps?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago

Lol, nah, I left reddit in 23 during the protests. I appreciate the complement all the same :)

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago (1 children)

If you're asking if I think of a penis when calling someone a dick, then no.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago

No, just, like, in general. Anyway, this is surprisingly a lot more divisive than I thought.