pussyfoot

English

WOTD – 2 October 2010

Etymology

From pussy (“feline”) +‎ foot; because of the light and careful tread of cats.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpʊs.iˌfʊt/

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Verb

pussyfoot (third-person singular simple present pussyfoots, present participle pussyfooting, simple past and past participle pussyfooted)

1. (intransitive) To move silently, stealthily, or furtively.
2. (intransitive) To act timidly or cautiously.
   • 2004, Jeph Jacques, Fripp and Eno

     — So are you going to practice what you’re preaching and stop pussyfooting around with Faye?

     — Hey, I’m 0 for 1 when it comes to practicing what I preach. These feet stay pussied for the time being.

3. (intransitive) To use euphemistic language or circumlocution.
   • 1946, Tennessee Williams, The Unsatisfactory Supper

     "Then you talk up! And plain! What's there to be so pussyfooting about?"

Translations

to move silently

• Dutch: sluipen (nl), trippelen (nl)
• Finnish: hiipiä (fi), hipsutella (fi), hipsiä
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: trippeln (de), auf Zehenspitzen gehen, schleichen (de)
• Swedish: tassa (sv), smyga (sv), trippa (sv)

to act timidly

• Dutch: treuzelen (nl)
• Finnish: arastella (fi), hissutella
• German: um den heißen Brei schleichen, leisetreten
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian: (figuratively) gå på gummisåler
• Swedish: fega (sv), fjompa

to use euphemistic language

• Dutch: schoonspreken
• Finnish: sievistellä (fi), hyssytellä (fi)
• German: um den heißen Brei reden
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian: (figuratively) gå på gummisåler, skjønnmale
• Swedish: skönmåla (sv), omskriva, omformulera (sv)

See also

• pussytoe
• walk on eggshells