HUSSY

[Dr. Goodword]

• hussy •

Pronunciation: hê-zee, hê-see • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: (Mildly offensive) A bad girl or woman, a girl or woman of loose morals or one who is simply rude and saucy (or, in the US, sassy).

Notes: Today this word is only mildly offensive, though at one time it was much more so and may still be in some quarters. Today it is used rather lightly if not humorously. Indeed, some girls and women might strive to achieve the brazen outspokenness that often characterizes a hussy. Some still spell this word huzzy though most of us seem to have settled more on the spelling hussy. The plural is hussies (or huzzies), with an IE instead of the Y before S the in either case.

In Play: Today this word is only mildly offensive, though at one time it was much more so and may still be in some quarters. Today it is used rather lightly if not humorously. Indeed, some girls and women might strive to achieve the brazen outspokenness thought to characterize a hussy. Some still spell this word huzzy though most of us seem to have settled on the spelling hussy. The plural is hussies (or huzzies), with an IE instead of the Y before S in either case.

Word History: Today's Good Word is a reduction of Middle English huswif "housewife", from hus "house" and wif "woman". Woman itself is a reduction of wif-man "woman person". Early on the pronunciation of this word split into a reduced form, hussif, used as a slang variant of the original. The original maintained its contact with the words for "house" and "wife", arriving in the Modern English we speak as housewife. The meaning of hussif, on the other hand, gradually acquired the sense of "any ordinary woman or girl", and declined from there to an unpleasant girl or woman. In parallel with the shift in meaning, the pronunciation and spelling continued to degenerate to hussy, the word we began with today. (Today we thank Ralph Mowrey, whose suggestion led to the discovery of the fascination in today's Good Word.)

[saparris]

Today, the term "housewife" is mildly offensive, especially for egalitarians (those hussies).

[misterdoe]

I recall as a kid hearing Wilma Flintstone use shameless hussy to refer to some woman she thought was after Fred, and having no idea what she was talking about. Of course this was a few years after the series' original run.

[LukeJavan8]

A few years after??
Are you saying you don't remember the original runs???
(yuk,yuk)

[skinem]

I remember--prime time entertainment.

Hussy always seems to be accompanied with "shameless"...is there any other kind?

I guess it sounds better than "shameful hussy" or "shamed hussy" or "ashamed but can't help herself hussy"...

[LukeJavan8]

Wilma and Betty - what a pair.
Like and Alice and Trixie: another fabulous twosome.

[scw1217]

I never heard this word in a positive light. It has always seemed to have negative connotations in our family. As to "housewife" that is definitely a positive!

[LukeJavan8]

Frequently with the adj. "brazen", brazen hussy.
Housewife is sometimes pejorative in some circles with
politically-correct-speak: now being "Homemanager"
or some odd thing.

[scw1217]

Frequently with the adj. "brazen", brazen hussy.
Housewife is sometimes pejorative in some circles with
politically-correct-speak: now being "Homemanager"
or some odd thing.

I could see that if you weren't (a) female or (b) a wife.

[saparris]

I could see that if you weren't (a) female or (b) a wife.

The popular term among young "housewives" with children is "stay-at-home mom." I'm not sure what the non-moms call themselves.

[scw1217]

I could see that if you weren't (a) female or (b) a wife.

The popular term among young "housewives" with children is "stay-at-home mom." I'm not sure what the non-moms call themselves.

I like the term "non-mom" myself. I, however, having 1 child, am a mom.

[Slava]

The popular term among young "housewives" with children is "stay-at-home mom." I'm not sure what the non-moms call themselves.

I don't know about the singles, but couples are called DINKs: Dual-Income, No Kids.

[saparris]

Nowadays, many DINKs are still single but live together. And, so, here are a few interesting questions:

Should we come up with differentiating terms for married DINKs and unmarried DINKs, like Ringed DINKs and Unringed DINKs?

When one of the DINKs loses a job, does the couple become SINKs?

If so, if one SINK leaves for selfish, monetary reasons, is it called vanity?

If both SINKs leave for monetary reasons, is it double vanity?

Finally, if DINKs (ringed or unringed) are living together simply for the sake of having more money, should they also be know as STINKs (Selfish, Two-Incomes, No Kids)?

[Slava]

Nice riff, saparris. Ringed DINKs made me think of rinky-dink and, in a leap, rope-a-dope. Ringy DINKs works for me.

We could add another one: SNINK - single, no income, no kids. Perhaps appropriate for today's economic situation?

[saparris]

Ringy DINKs works for me.

I like it. I propose that Ringy DINKs and No-Ringy DINKS be added to the Dinktionary at once.