I was about to say that that was not convincing, Andrew, but I decided to look
up "pusillus" in a Cassell's Latin dictionary: the word means "very small,
tiny, puny". But then there is a set of transferred meanings mentioned later
in the entry, "b, of courage, animus, timid . . "
So the basis for the current meaning is there. And I suppose "animus" means
"soul" or "spirit" leading to "small-spirited" (my words).
However, this all came about because I didn't really understand the meaning of
"chicken shit" as used by Moose . . . I thought it meant "useless" or
"rubbish". But then I use "chicken shit" as rarely as I use "pusillanimous",
so my lack of understanding is not surprising.
So, let's see how frequently we can use the longer word.
Chris
On 18 May 2013, at 07:10, Andrew Fildes <afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Not only is pusillanimous used to mean timid, there is a native fish around
> here, Galaxiella pusilla, so named because it is very small and shy. (Rare,
> vulnerable and hard to find).
> It was named in 1936, before your schooling, I think.
> Almost all the Victorian records of the species are attributable to a friend
> of mine, a large fellow devoted to a tiny fish.
> In his honour, I use the word whenever an opportunity presents.
> Andrew Fildes
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