Why is it acceptable behavior to say the phrase "pussy cat"?

Question

What does a cat have to do with a part of the female body anyway? Who started saying the phrase or why did anyone connect the two together?

I didn't know yahoo would star out the P word even when I'm not talking about a perverted topic

Answer 1

P***Y, meaning cat, is a direct relation of the earlier "puss", also meaning a cat and used as such since the early 16th century. It is found in a number of Teutonic languages, ie Dutch poes, Low German puus or puus-katte, Swedish dialect pus or katte-pus, Norwegian puse or puus; there are also the Lithuanian puz or puiz, and the Irish and Gaelic pus. In all cases it seems to be a call-word for a cat and no other etymology has been suggested. Puss gained a 'y' suffix in the early 18th century, giving pussy, which tends to be used as a straight noun rather than a call-name. Both words are still found today, although pussy is perhaps the more common.

The use of p***y to mean vagina is also linked to puss, although in this case the chronological developments may have been reversed. P***y was used to mean a young woman as early as 1583 and the visualisation of a young woman as a sex object, and thus reduced to her vagina, is first cited in the Victorian pornzine, The Pearl around 1880: "Her legs are wide open showing the red lips and clitoris of her pussey."

Puss, on the other hand, does not appear until 1902, when it is included in Farmer and Henley's major dictionary, the 7-volume Slang and Its Analogues. That said F&H themselves give a 1664 citation: "Aeneas, here’s a Health to thee, To Pusse and to good company. And he that will not do, as I do, Proclaims himself no friend to Dido." This comes from the playwright Charles Cotton's "Scarronides" but there is no intermediary mention until they use it in their own work. Scarronides, incidentally, also gives the earliest cited use of "**** about": to messa round, although once again there is a huge gap until its reappearance, in James Joyce's Ulysses, pub. 1922.

Answer 2

I've spent some time living in the Middle East, and I can say with certainty that if you let a big burp rip after a meal (or any other time), it would be considered just as rude as it is in the U.S. Also, there's actually *a lot* more social contact than in the U.S. Platonic same-sex friends often walk hand-in-hand, it is more common to greet someone of the same sex with a kiss on the cheek, and people tend to sit and stand so close to each other, again same-sex, that when *you* are the foreigner it can be very uncomfortable. I often found myself backing off and getting into a sort of dance with the other person following me around the room, probably trying to figure out why I have a habit of stepping backwards. It's only prohibited to *eat* with the left hand, for the hygeine issue, which is connected to religious considerations. Christians, Jews, and other non-Muslims in those countries do not necessarily follow these norms. What *can* be considered very rude, although that is changing, are male/female public displays of affection. One way that locals spot foreigners, other than the way they dress, is if they are all over each other in public view. When I was there in the '80's, even a husband and wife holding hands while walking was enough to raise eyebrows. And if they weren't married, and someone cared to make an issue of it, they were toast. Forget about kissing or hugging in public, or in some families, even in a house not your own. I've read that a lot of other countries in other parts of the world have similar standards, as well. Also, I apologize to a couple of the above posters for the thumbs-down. After the fact, I realized that I just should've added my own post; I clicked thinking more "disagree," not "that stinks." I can't figure out how to take back a thumb rating, and if I could I would, so I'm sorry again.

Answer 3

pussy is just a slang term for people who aren't intelligent.
It's not part of a woman's body....idiot.

Answer 4

when did the p word ever become part of a woman's body?? it's just slang...some loser started calling a vagina a pussy, so it caught on...

Answer 5

The word pusseycat was around longer than the slang term for a vagina, popular culture perverted it.

Answer 6

It's only unacceptable when refering to that particular part of a woman's anatomy.

Answer 7

I THINK THAT THE WORD PUSSY CAT CAME FIRST AND THEN MAN CAME ALONG AND MADE IT DISCUSTING. BUT, YOUR RIGHT, I JUST SAY THE WORD CAT CUZ PEOPLE WOULD BE LOOKING AT ME LIKE I WAS A WEIRDO.

Answer 8

"Puss" was originally a call for cats, like "here, kitty kitty." That's the origin for "pussycat."

"Puss" also used to refer to a pocket or pouch, which is how "pussy" came to be used as a slang term for vagina.

Answer 9

there is nothing offensive about my name ,I may be socially unacceptable but my name is not.and vagina is the proper term for the female anatomy

Answer 10

Coz when you pet it, it purrs.