Pissant
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Look up pissant or pissmire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
A pissant, also seen as piss-ant and piss ant, is one or the other of two specific types of ant. Its origin is with pismire, a 14th-century word for ant.[1][2] The term is also used as an insulting noun, and a pejorative adjective. The original pissant is any of a certain group of large ant species, commonly called wood ants, that make mounded nests in forests throughout most of Europe.[3] The name pissant arises from the urine-like odor produced by their nesting material—needles and straw from pine trees—and the formic acid that constitutes their venom.[4]
Formica rufa is one such ant, but there are others with similar characteristics. It may be derived from the term pismire.[5] Forelius and Irydomyrmex are two genera of piss ants.[6] In the United States, the word pissant can refer to any small ant that infests a home.[7] A derived meaning of the word is something that is insignificant, though the term is sometimes considered vulgar.[8]
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[edit] Slang
Pissant is an epithet for an inconsequential, irrelevant, or worthless person, especially one who is irritating or contemptible out of proportion to his or her significance. A Virginia politician who also popularized the term once silenced a heckler by saying "I'm a big dog on a big hunt and I don't have time for a piss-ant on a melon stalk."[9]
The term piss-ant can also be used as an adjective, usually as a pejorative, to mean insignificant and annoying. In conversations with his advisors during the Vietnam War, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson referred to Vietnam as "a piddling piss-ant little country".[10]
[edit] Culture
In the Monty Python sketch "Bruces' Philosophers Song", the philosopher Immanuel Kant is referred to as a 'pissant' in the first line.
In the musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Miss Mona Stangley sings the song "A Lil' Ole Bitty Pissant Country Place".
It was the basis of the nickname for mob boss "The Ant" Anthony Spilotro after an FBI agent referred to him as a "Pissant" during a press conference, though the media couldn't use the prefix. Spilotro is best known in pop-culture as the basis for Joe Pesci's character in the 1995 film Casino.
Piss ant can also be used positively. Ron Ault of the AFL-CIO said, in describing the relationship of his union to the Pentagon, "Our job is to be the irritant, piss ant stinging them on their ankles at every opportunity."[11]
After being defeated 4–0 in an Australian semi-final football (soccer) match against Melbourne Victory, Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar's post-match press conference became infamous when he described Adelaide as a "pissant town".[12][13] The rant gained nation-wide publicity in Australia.[14][15]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19990331
- ^ http://thenightwriterblog.powerblogs.com/posts/1152500340.shtml
- ^ The IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species
- ^ http://www.takeourword.com/Issue102.html#Spotlight
- ^ "1350–1400; ME pissemyre, equiv. to pisse to urinate + obs. mire ant, perh. < Scand (cf. Dan myre, Sw myra), c. D mier; pejorative name from stench of formic acid proper to ants" Dictionary.com
- ^ Kris M. Havstad, Structure and Function of a Chihuahuan Desert Ecosystem, Oxford University Press US, 2006, p. 256.
- ^ http://www.pestproducts.com/pissant.htm
- ^ Pissant, Merriam-Webster Dictionary
- ^ http://www.law.uoregon.edu/faculty/gepps/docs/unclebilly.html
- ^ Jeffrey Record, The wrong war, Naval Institute Press, 1998, p. viii,
- ^ Stephen Barr, "Blunt Talk on Union Web Site Spotlights Frustration Over Labor Relations Changes", Aug. 20, 2004.
- ^ http://www.independentweekly.com.au/news/national/national/sport/ranting-vidmar-will-keep-his-job/1434294.aspx
- ^ http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25058444-5006068,00.html
- ^ http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/soccer/adelaide-feels-wrath-of-vidmar/2009/02/15/1234028361960.html
- ^ http://www.safm.com.au/shows/rabbitamberandcosi/show-blog//blog/aurelio-vidmar-adelaide-is-a-pissant-town/20090216-2r1y.html
