Wait a minute wait a minute... Pussy?

[ThatZanyFatball]

So perusing JKR's twix feed and reading her post about Gladwell when I come across the word "pusillanimous." And, unlike many of the very admirable women here, I'm sure, I found myself thinking, "what the hell does that mean?"

So I dutifully highlighted the word and selected define (as I trust thousands of other inquisitive people did) and I cam across this definition:

showing a lack of courage or determination;

Origin: late Middle English: from ecclesiastical Latin pusillanimis (translating Greek oligopsukhos ), from pusillus ‘very small’ + animus ‘mind’,

Now I believe the word "puss" started to be used slightly later, and referred to any "soft and furry" so hence how one thing led to another.

But am I crazy or does that mean that these two words, even though they sound the same, may have different origins which means that our modern use of the word "pussy" in regards to scared or cowardly (like Gladwell) is just a modern version of pusillanimous, and doesn't necessarily have the misogynistic undertones if it was derived from "puss"

Language nerds am I way off base here?

Oh an Jo I totally see what you did there and yeah, Gladwell is a pussy.

You are reading far too much into this.
Pun intended.

I think you’re off base - afaik ‘pussy’ for cowardly is simply from ‘pussy cat’.

I thought pussy, in the non-vaginal sense, was a synonym for "fraidy-cat"

Yes, exactly. It’s dissing cats, not women.

I’m sure I’ve come across a poem or story using the phrase ‘pusillanimous puss-cat’ but I don’t think there’s an etymological link.

It’s simply derived from the Latin ‘pusillis’, diminutive of pullus "young animal’. Have you ever heard a young chicken referred to as a ‘pullet’? This is why. The second part of the word, ‘animus’, refers to the soul and spirit - that which gives us life, or animation.

So no. Nothing to do with pussies.

I have also heard that pussy (coward) is etymologically different to pussy (cat or vulva), the first deriving from pusillanimous and the second from pullus.

It makes sense to me because of how I first heard the word. I learned the word pusillanimous as a child. My father, who learned Latin in a different European country, pronounces it in his accent: pooss-ih-lahn-ih-moos. I was quite surprised to hear the English pronunciation of pews-ih-lan-ih-muss.

Not that it actually makes any difference. Usage has shifted a word for a wonderful, warm body part of women into an insulting word for a man.

Sarah Vine has used it today in her Daily Mail column. It must have been due an airing.

I always get it confused with parsimonious, not that I use either word in everyday conversation, they are only words that I read in article's, books etc.
I always thought pussy in reference to fraidy cats and other things was an Americanism.

[Ponders the somewhat different subject matter and tone of discourse here vs typical trans subreddit]

Interesting OP and a helpful reminder than “pussy” relates to cat/scaredy cat not misogyny- although I doubt everyone that uses it knows that. Just like when women call each other “bitch” in a non-offensive way I don’t think they’re meaning anything to do with female dogs. Sometimes the meaning of words evolves from their origins to almost mean the opposite as well, like bitch where it’s reclaimed and used in an empowering way.

Thanks so much for that nugget about pullets. MN FWR delivers again.