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How the Word Pussy Came to Mean a Cat, Cowardly, and Female Genitalia
Ever wondered why a pussy means a cat and a vagina, here is why
This is one of those random posts which came about in the most random of ways. I was speaking to a friend and for some reason or another, I have no clue what reason, the subject of the origins of the word pussy came up. Why does pussy mean a cat, female genitalia, and a coward/wimp?
Perhaps the coward/wimp could be explained, after all, there is the word scaredy-cat. But the link to female genitalia definitely seems a stretch. I sure as hell cannot think of any time when looking at a lady’s downstairs department that I thought, wow, that reminds me of a cat.
The question is, what gives?
Well, after doing a bit of googling, the first thing that gives is that there seems to be a good number of people who disagree with me, and think a cat does remind them of a lady’s downstairs.
As such, many argue this is the link, arguing that because female genitalia are soft and gentle like cats, this is why pussy means vagina.
However, further research proved this to be inaccurate. It truly does seem that based on the evidence, the link between pussy and vagina is not related to appearance — yep, cats can now sigh a great sigh of relief.
But what is the link? Well, my friend argued that it was most likely a result of sexism and homophobia, and not just the vagina part, the coward/wimp part as well.
In fact, he was certain of this. The question is, was he right?
Well, before attempting to answer that, I just wish to say that I am a big fan of the evolution of words, I have always been fascinated by how words come to take on entirely different meanings over time.
It seems crazy to me that two thousand years from now, even if we are still speaking the English language, there is a high probability that the English language of the year 4000 will be near enough a foreign language to the people who speak it today.
