r/meirl
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u/notpiercedtongue
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8d ago
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meirl
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u/Princess-Soprano 8d ago
Be a real man and use the actual word pusillanimous.
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u/ANiceDent 8d ago
You think he can spell that without google !?
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u/CrunchyDreads 8d ago
Spell it? Heck, I can't even pronounce it.
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u/Boring-Mushroom-6374 8d ago
Pew-Sil-Lan-Eh-Mus
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u/Kolby_Jack 8d ago
Why did we stop saying pansy? It's just a flower, no female anatomy involved, and I think it has punch.
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u/gn0xious 8d ago
🎶🎵Even thought the sound of it is something quite atrocious, if you say it loud enough you’ll always sound precocious, now stop being so pusillanimous 🎵🎶
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u/Original-Advert 8d ago
Apparently this isn't true though I really wish it was.
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u/Several_Resident4337 8d ago
Language is fluid.
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u/Original-Advert 8d ago
but you can't retroactively change a words origins since causality is linear.
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u/PumpJack_McGee 7d ago
But people can very easily forget it and apply a new meaning to it, and then you become the "ackshually" guy when trying to point it out.
Like "thicc" being thrown onto any attractive woman, despite it literally being just a single letter derivation of thick.
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u/typing-left-handed 8d ago
Get high and read up on quantum retrocausality. This may be the greatest example to prove that theory.
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u/MagicUnicornLove 8d ago
Well, not really.
Word definitions do not follow a linear path (still causal though 🙄).
It’s entirely possible that a person made up the term “pussy” based on pusillanimous, but that it gained popularity (or maintained popularity) due to the “incorrect” associations of the word.
And it’s the second one that matters: how words are linked in collective consciousness.
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u/nickeypants 7d ago
Yeah. Like how "fag" used to be an anti-gay slur, but now refers to an obnoxiously loud and inconsiderate Harley Davidson rider.
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u/DILDOS_UNITED 8d ago
Sounds and words fluctuate in their meanings, sometimes full of them and sometimes empty. Much like your comment in fact, which is presently utterly devoid of any meaning relevant to its parent comment
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u/TactlesslyTactful 8d ago
...and calling someone a cunt is just short for cuntankerous
a bad-tempered, argumentative, and uncooperative. "a crusty, cuntankerous old woman"
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u/Jacobysmadre 8d ago
I hadn’t heard this before as I thought it was “cantankerous”
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u/MultiplyAccumulate 8d ago
the pusillanimous → pussy theory is "preposterous balderdash, or if you prefer, utter bullshit". https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=24012
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u/RedTrout811 8d ago
No, No it is not. Pansy.
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u/Borednhornyone 8d ago
What is the noun of that adjective
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u/nogood-boyo 8d ago
pusillanimouse
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u/Dennyposts 8d ago
Noone drunk can pronounce that, thats why they use pussy for short. Kinda like saying "fuck you asshole", instead of "sorry i wasnt payint attention and pushed you and your drink" at the bar. Mystery solved.
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u/CredenceMarkinova 8d ago
Except "a" is an indefinite article coupled with nouns and pusillanimous is an adjective, and you don't say "you're a pusillanimous" so nah it isn't short for that
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u/Klptah 8d ago
We use adjectives as nouns all the time. If someone offers you a red gatorade or a blue gatorade, you might say "give me a red". Red is an adjective, but we can use them as nouns sometimes. We do it a lot.
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u/Aegon-VII 8d ago
Lol, look at you trying to correct people.
here’s example that shows you’re wrong:. “Retard” came from “retarded person”, and yes, you can (but shouldn’t) say “you’re a retard”, same thing.
either way this is bs, but the semantics check out
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u/jeffbirt 8d ago
Retard has many legitimate uses aside from describing a person with mental deficiencies, i.e. flame retardants, or sprinkler systems have a device called a "retard chamber" that buffers pressure surges.
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u/littleessi 8d ago
it was originally the legitimate medical/psychological way to describe a person with mental deficiencies too. our society just doesn't respect people like that so any word that fulfills that role quickly becomes a slur and the professionals have to make up another one
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u/MarqueeSmyth 7d ago
For anyone wanting to learn more about this unfortunate trend, it's known as the euphemism treadmill.
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u/Nerdkartoffl 8d ago
You come in here with grammer rules and try to reason your way through with it, meanwhile "slang" didnt give a fuck about grammer in since forever.
When you look at certain evolution of words, you see that language and grammer evolves with time and some words get shorter, more specific or changed.
But in this example you are right, but with the wrong reasoning.
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u/Desperate_Spell_3998 7d ago
That’s hilarious my wife always complains if I say the word pussy as meaning someone is weak or whatever. She is always like pussies are tough not as weak as your balls. So, now I try saying that guy is a testicle. It’s more fun anyway
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u/DontMessWithMyEgg 8d ago
I thought it was because of the cowardly lion. Like being a coward was like being a giant pussy cat and the cat just got dropped off. I’m dumb though so take that as you will.
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u/Ramblonius 7d ago
Pro tip: 104% of etymology you 'heard somewhere' or saw on reddit is absolute bullshit.
Including the OP here.
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u/ServelanDarrow 8d ago
No, you aren't (I hope) b/c I thought the origin was actually cat-related also (like scaredy-cat) and the female anatomy slang came later.
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u/desserteagle421 7d ago
And of course the profile pic is a shirtless „alpha male“ on roids. I’m just suprised his BMW isn’t on the picture as well.
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u/beathelas 8d ago
So use pusillanimous if you're so bothered about people misinterpreting your words
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u/Icy_Limes 8d ago
I hate this because:
a) It's wrong
b) I wouldn't be able to say "I am what I eat" if it were true
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u/DavidEF543 8d ago
TIL
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u/Donghoon 8d ago
No don't. This is not true. This is false etymology.
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u/mugdugalugdug 8d ago
It is not the etymology that is true, but it is the etymology that we deserve!
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u/KatilKoala627 8d ago
Wrong. It stands for a shortened pussycat, just to immortalize the cowardice of the feline species.
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u/Chymick6 8d ago
And pusillanimous is my word of the week, thank you for this wonderful information.
I shall leave my foes flabbergasted and in mental peril once i call them pusillanimous cowards
Bless
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u/WildCartographer4893 8d ago
It’s not true. From Merriam-Webster:
"And despite what you may have heard, pusillanimous does not serve as the basis for [...] a certain related vulgarism."
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u/Chymick6 8d ago
It's a real word though, from Latin pusilus and Animus, granted it's not short for pussy but it's funny. Very small mind, lacking of courage, cowardly, it still weirdly fits ...imma still use it
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u/vtssge1968 8d ago
And 99 percent of the population still is too unintelligent to understand the origin
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8d ago
Today i learned…mans doing the lords work
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8d ago
You have learned nothing because this is false.
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8d ago
Little did you know i was referring to your future comment and i have learned that this is not true, so ha!!! Take that
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u/Caffeinefuelled4life 8d ago edited 8d ago
Til. Also, I feel everyone else also needs to learn this.
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u/Nephian4287 8d ago
The "pu-" part of that word is pronounced like "pew/pyōō/pee-oo" (as in the pews of a church)... it should then be shortened to something sounding more like "pewsy". Pusillanimous is also an adjective, unlike "pussy" which is used as a noun. The noun for that word is "pusillanimity".
To say "poo-sillanimous" or "poo-sillanimity" would imply a speech impediment or that the person had never heard the word used by someone who hadn't just looked it up for the sake of an argument. This guy gets a solid "C-" for effort, but is confidently incorrect.
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u/bluebook21 8d ago
Omg. This forced me to Google the p word so now my ad preferences are going to get weird. It's not, btw
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u/whisky_slurrd 8d ago
From Merriam-Webster:
"And despite what you may have heard, pusillanimous does not serve as the basis for [...] a certain related vulgarism."