' ( ) is an English-language

morpheme A morpheme is any of the smallest meaningful constituents within a linguistic expression and particularly within a word. Many words are themselves standalone morphemes, while other words contain multiple morphemes; in linguistic terminology, this ...

derived from the word ''

pussy ''Pussy'' () is an English noun, adjective, and—in rare instances—verb. It has several meanings, as slang, as euphemism, and as vulgarity. Most commonly, it is used as a noun with the meaning "cat", or "coward" or " weakling". In slang, ...

'' used to create novel derived terms, typically with the implication of resembling the

female genitalia In mammals, the vulva (: vulvas or vulvae) comprises mostly external, visible structures of the female genitalia leading into the interior of the female reproductive tract. For humans, it includes the mons pubis, labia majora, labia minora, ...

in some way. Neologisms derived from ''pussy'' have existed in

LGBTQ slang LGBTQ slang, LGBTQ speak, queer slang, or LGBTQIA slang is a set of English slang lexicon used predominantly among LGBTQ people. It has been used in various languages since the early 20th century as a means by which members of the LGBTQ communit ...

in the form '' bussy'' (''boy pussy'') since the early 2000s, but were popularized in the late 2010s and early 2020s on social media platforms including

Tumblr Tumblr (pronounced "tumbler") is a microblogging and Social networking service, social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and is owned by American company Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content ...

and

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

. ' was named the

American Dialect Society The American Dialect Society (ADS), founded in 1889, is a learned society "dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it." The Society p ...

's word of the year for 2022.

History

Portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

s derived from ''pussy'', referred to by Michael Dow (a linguist at the ) as "pussy blends", were first noted within LGBTQ slang. These include the terms '' bussy'' (''boy pussy''), referring to a man's

anus In mammals, invertebrates and most fish, the anus (: anuses or ani; from Latin, 'ring' or 'circle') is the external body orifice at the ''exit'' end of the digestive tract (bowel), i.e. the opposite end from the mouth. Its function is to facil ...

, and ''mussy'' (''man pussy''), with ''bussy'' first appearing on the Internet in 2004. In this context, Dow described ' as a fractomorpheme analogous to '' -gate'' (from

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, in August of that year. It revol ...

). An April 2017

post popularized pussy blends, including the term '' thrussy'' (from ''

throat In vertebrate anatomy, the throat is the front part of the neck, internally positioned in front of the vertebrae. It contains the Human pharynx, pharynx and larynx. An important section of it is the epiglottis, separating the esophagus from the t ...

''), and it was further spread as part of the "one thicc bih"

Internet meme An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...

about a month later. A 2018 study of pussy blends on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

as part of the meme identified 1,338 pussy blends used in tweets from June to August 2017. Other examples of pussy blends include ''Thatchussy'' (

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

+ pussy), '' clussy'' (clown + pussy), ''grussy'' (

Grinch The Grinch is a character created by children's author and cartoonist Dr. Seuss. He is best known as the titular main protagonist of the 1957 children's book ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' He has been portrayed and voiced by many actors, i ...

+ pussy), ''nussy'' (nose + pussy), and ''birdussy'' (bird + pussy, referring to a bird's

cloaca A cloaca ( ), : cloacae ( or ), or vent, is the rear orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive (rectum), reproductive, and urinary tracts (if present) of many vertebrate animals. All amphibians, reptiles, birds, cartilagin ...

). A 2024 Dune: Part Two movie promotional popcorn bucket covered with a sandworm mouth was called a ' by a magazine editor and gained Internet fame for resembling a

Fleshlight The Fleshlight is a brand of artificial vagina, oral, or anal sex toy. It is a Masturbation, masturbatory aid, which is used by inserting the Human penis, penis into its opening. Product history The Fleshlight was designed by Steve Shubin w ...

. The 2024 film

Deadpool & Wolverine ''Deadpool & Wolverine'' is a 2024 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Deadpool and Wolverine (character), Wolverine. Produced by Marvel Studios, Maximum Effort, and 21 Laps Entertainment, and distributed ...

satirized the ' popcorn bucket with their own bucket dubbed the ' featuring the character Wolverine's open mouth as the bucket lid. Use of ' as a suffix (sometimes called ') was popularized on TikTok beginning in late 2021. The suffix has been used in reference to a physical hole (e.g., a donut's ') as well as in a more figurative sense to emphasize an effort involving an object or concept (e.g., a

barista A barista ( , ; ) is a person, usually a coffeehouse employee, who prepares and serves espresso-based coffee drinks and other beverages. Etymology and inflection The word comes from Italian, where it means a "bartender" who typically works be ...

putting their "whole '" into

latte art Latte art is a method of preparing coffee created by pouring microfoam into a shot of espresso and resulting in a pattern or design on the surface of the caffè latte, cappuccino or hot chocolate. It can also be created or embellished by simpl ...

).See '' put one's whole pussy into'' on

Wiktionary Wiktionary (, ; , ; rhyming with "dictionary") is a multilingual, web-based project to create a free content dictionary of terms (including words, phrases, proverbs, linguistic reconstructions, etc.) in all natural languages and in a number o ...

. The suffix was named the word of the year for 2022 by the

, with its president

Ben Zimmer Benjamin Zimmer (born 1971) is an American linguist, lexicographer, and language commentator. He is a contributing editor for ''The Atlantic''. He was formerly a language columnist for ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''The Boston Globe'', and ''The ...

stating the selection "highlights how creativity in new word formation has been embraced online in venues like

Notes

References

{{Generation Z slang English suffixes LGBTQ slang 2000s neologisms Vulva Off-color humor Internet memes introduced in 2021

History

See also

Notes

References