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This article is about the English-language suffix. For the French commune, see Ussy.

A calzone sliced in half on a plate
A calzone could also be called a pizzussy.[1]

-ussy (/ˈʊsi/ UUS-ee) is an English-language suffix derived from the word pussy used to create novel portmanteau terms, usually referring to hole-shaped objects. The suffix has existed within LGBT slang in the form bussy (boy pussy) since the early 2000s, but was popularized in the late 2010s and early 2020s on social media platforms including TikTok. It was named the American Dialect Society's word of the year for 2022.

History

The suffix originated within LGBT slang in the forms bussy (boy pussy) and mussy (man pussy), referring to a man's anus,[2] with these forms first appearing on the internet between 1999 and 2004.[3]: 4  An April 2017 Tumblr post popularized the suffix with the term thrussy (from throat), and it was further spread as part of the "one thicc bih" Internet meme that began to spread about a month later.[3]: 4  A 2018 study of -ussy usage on Twitter as part of the meme identified 1,338 "pussy blends" used in tweets from June to August 2017.[3]: 8 

A donut in a box
The hole in the center of this donut could be called a donutussy.[4]: 1 

Use of the suffix in forms other than bussy (also called -ussification)[4] was popularized by TikTok users beginning in late 2021.[4] This -ussification has been used to reference objects' cavities (e.g., a donut's donutussy)[4]: 1  as well as in a more figurative sense to denote the original object or concept with emphasis (a barista putting their "whole baristaussy" into latte art).[4] Rapper Lil Nas X also helped to popularize the suffix, advocating for the inclusion of bussy in the dictionary for Pride Month.[5] The suffix was named the word of the year for 2022 by the American Dialect Society with Ben Zimmer, the president of the society, stating that the selection "highlights how creativity in new word formation has been embraced online in venues like TikTok."[6]

Michael Dow, a linguist at the Université de Montréal, wrote an article analyzing different uses of the suffix, such as the merging of "Margaret Thatcher" with "-ussy" to create the portmanteau Thatchussy.[3] Other examples include clussy (clown and pussy)[7] and grussy (Grinch and pussy).[3]: 6 

References

  1. ^ Squires, Bethy (January 26, 2022). "We Asked Linguists Why People Are Adding -Ussy to Every Word". Vulture.
  2. ^ Henderson, Taylor (November 29, 2022). "Don't Lie to Your Mom About What 'Bussy' Means or This Might Happen". Yahoo! Sports.
  3. ^ a b c d e Dow, Michael (2018). "A corpus study of phonological factors in novel English blends" (PDF). Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Conference of the Canadian Linguistic Association. Canadian Linguistic Association: 1–14.
  4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Emily (January 11, 2023). "Language scholars decided "-ussy" was the word of 2022. Here's what that means". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on April 6, 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^ Rude, Mey (June 13, 2022). "Lil Nas X Wants "Bussy" Added to the Dictionary For Pride Month". Out.
  6. ^ "2022 Word of the Year is "-ussy"". American Dialect Society. January 6, 2023.
  7. ^ Taylor, Magdalene (June 28, 2022). "Serve Me Up a Slice of That Clussy". MEL Magazine. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
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