patsy

patsy
patsy (n.) "fall guy, victim of a deception," 1903, of uncertain origin, possibly an alteration of It. pazzo "madman" (see PATCH (Cf. patch) (n.2)), or south Italian dialectal paccio "fool." Another theory traces it to Patsy Bolivar, character created by Billy B. Van in an 1890s vaudeville skit who was blamed whenever anything went wrong.
"Poor Rogers," Vincent said, still smiling, "he is always the 'Patsy Bolivar' of the school."
"Yes," Frank answered, "if there are any mistakes to be made or trouble to fall into, Rogers seems to be always the victim." ["Anthony Yorke," "A College Boy," 1899]

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Patsy — (Patsy Ranarijaona) est une chanteuse française d origine malgache connue pour son titre Liverpool, sorti en 1988. L année suivante, elle sort Comme un appel. Sa carrière Enfant de la balle, de père musicien et de mère chanteuse harmoniciste,… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Patsy — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Patsy es una actriz y cantante mexicana. Contenido 1 Carrera 2 Filmografía 2.1 Telenovelas 2.2 …   Wikipedia Español

  • patsy — ☆ patsy [pat′sē] n. pl. patsies [prob. altered (after Patsy, nickname for PATRICK1) < It pazzo, crazy ] Slang a person easily imposed upon or victimized …   English World dictionary

  • Patsy — f, m Irish and English: pet form of PATRICIA (SEE Patricia) or PATRICK (SEE Patrick). It is generally a female name; as a male name it is almost completely restricted to Irish communities. Its popularity does not seem to have been seriously… …   First names dictionary

  • Patsy — Patsy, Patty englische Koseform von → Patricia …   Deutsch namen

  • patsy — [n] fall guy boob*, chump, doormat*, dupe, easy mark*, fool, goat*, gull*, pigeon*, pushover*, sap*, scapegoat, schmuck*, sitting duck*, stooge, sucker, victim, weakling; concept 412 …   New thesaurus

  • patsy — ► NOUN (pl. patsies) informal, chiefly N. Amer. ▪ a person who is taken advantage of, especially by being cheated or blamed for something. ORIGIN of unknown origin …   English terms dictionary

  • Patsy — Infobox Given Name Revised name = Patsy imagesize= caption= pronunciation = PAT see gender = Female; sometimes Male meaning = Noble (i.e. a patrician) region = north England, Scotland, Ireland origin = Latin Patricius related names = Patricia… …   Wikipedia

  • patsy — [[t]pæ̱tsi[/t]] patsies N COUNT (disapproval) If you describe someone as a patsy, you mean that they are rather stupid and are easily tricked by other people, or can be made to take the blame for other people s actions. [AM, INFORMAL] Davis was… …   English dictionary

  • patsy — UK [ˈpætsɪ] / US noun [countable] Word forms patsy : singular patsy plural patsies mainly American informal 1) someone who is blamed for something that they did not do 2) someone who is stupid and can be tricked easily …   English dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”