Re: pissy, pissant, etc.
What we really need here is a good slang dictionary. What is universally recognized as the very, very best is The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang (edited by J. E. Lighter, J. Ball, & J. O'Connor). However, I don't have it (expensive!), and the latest volume to be published only goes up to the letter "0", anyway.
I did find "pissy" in an online slang dictionary, but it was a dictionary of British slang. It means something different in British slang than it does in American slang, that's for sure. Check it out! :-)
page27.co.uk
My own guess is that "pissy" is derived from "piss off" ("to anger", as well as "to leave"), with a meaning similar, but not identical, to "pissed" and "pissed off."
It's worth noting that verbs (and derived adjectives)formed from nouns with "vulgar" meanings often lose all connection with the original root word. What does "crap out" have to do with "crap," for example? Or "fart around" with "fart"? Or "f*** up" with "f***"? :-)
Incidentally, Blue, I ran across another meaning for the word "pissant", in another online slang dictionary:
piss ant (descriptive): a sheepish person. Nondescript individual. Young punk. Non factor. "Don't worry about John. He's just a little piss ant."
notam.uio.no
One last point: all neologisms are "manufactured." The same thing is true of new meanings attached to old words: these, too, are "manufactured." That is how languages grow and develop: somebody "creates" a new word/meaning, it spreads, more and more people use it, and -- voila! Progress! (Sometimes.)
Joan
P.S. If anyone is interested in slang dictionaries, I'll be posting something about them on the Grammar thread.
|
