"The pursy man means by freedom the right to do as he pleases, and does wrong in order to feel his freedom, and makes a conscience of persisting in it." from English Traits (1856), Ralph Waldo Emerson
Pursy can also mean something like cowardly, wuss, nancy.
If you look at the Pussy wikipedia article it says the weakness meaning of pussy is derived from Pursy.
- The Emerson quotation does not mean "cowardly". Equinox ◑ 14:05, 1 October 2017 (UTC)
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RFV-sense "fat". The one citation currently under that sense actually looks like it's using the other sense, "out of breath (especially due to being fat)". - -sche (discuss) 03:11, 27 November 2015 (UTC)
- It's tricky to say whether "fat" is exactly a distinct sense from "short of breath due to being fat", but these quotes seem to be referring purely to stockiness:
- 1886, Samuel Laing, A Sporting Quixote: Or the Life and Adventures of the Honble. Augustus Fitzmuddle, Afterwards Earl of Muddleton
- But at length the right man came in the shape, not of a fairy prince, but of a pursy little stockbroker, Muggins by name, whom she met one winter when she went with old Lady Muddleton to Brighton.
- 1900, H. A. Kemble, William E. S. Fales, Blue Pencil Magazine
- There stood in front of the Hotel Metropole a big, pursy fellow, picking his teeth.
- 1980, Clancy Carlile, Honkytonk Man
- The diner's big bay windows and interior lights allowed us to see everyone in the dining room, including the lone waitress, presumably Myrtle herself, a big pursy-gut woman who looked as if she was more used to giving orders than taking them.
- 1886, Samuel Laing, A Sporting Quixote: Or the Life and Adventures of the Honble. Augustus Fitzmuddle, Afterwards Earl of Muddleton
- There are lots of quotes like this, where pursy seems to refer to appearance, but I wouldn't object to it being made a subsense or a part of sense 1. Smurrayinchester (talk) 15:41, 30 November 2015 (UTC)
- Fair enough. RFV-passed. - -sche (discuss) 20:19, 28 February 2016 (UTC)