From: Rick McCallister
Message: 49293
Date: 2007-07-03
> At 6:11:09 AM on Monday, July 2, 2007, tgpedersen____________________________________________________________________________________
> wrote:
>
> > --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Brian M. Scott"
> > <BMScott@...> wrote:
>
> >> At 10:31:12 PM on Saturday, June 30, 2007, Rick
> McCallister
> >> wrote:
>
> >>> Good, but puss also means "face" in English and
> of
> >>> course "vulva", which is shared by Spanish mico,
> but
> >>> this is a secondary meaning Is the meaning
> "face", as in
> >>> "sourpuss", somehow from the animal or is a
> homonym?
>
> >> According to the OED, it's from Irish <pus> 'lip,
> mouth',
> >> generally used in a contemptuous sense. (The
> derivation is
> >> supported by the distribution, chiefly Irish and
> U.S.)
> >> For Early Irish the DIL has <pus> 'a lip',
> generally used in a
> >> contemptuous sense; this appears to be a variant
> of EIr
> >> <bus> 'a lip'.
>
> > How common is this b-/p- alternation?
>
> It seems to be quite rare. It also seems (on very
> cursory
> search) to be mostly Sc.Gael. In addition to
> derivatives of
> the 'lip' word I noticed <bùlas> ~ <pùlas>
> 'pothook', which
> MacBain derives from Scots <bools> 'a pothook in two
> parts
> or bools', from northern ME <bool> 'a curved or
> semicircular
> band forming the handle of a put, bucket, etc., or
> the bow
> of a key'; the Concise Scots Dict. notes MDu
> <boghel>. Also
> <Bìoball> ~ <Pìoball> 'Bible'; <bannal> ~ <pannal>
> 'a troop,
> a gang, an assemblage', which MacBain derives from
> EIr
> <banna> 'a band or company of soldiers', a loanword
> from OFr
> -- presumably OFr <ban> 'levée des troupes' --
> according to
> the DIL; and <bòilich> ~ <pòloich> 'idle talk, vain
> boasting, bombast'.
>
> Brian
>
>
>