patsy
nomverbeattesté dans les dialogues
- //ˈpætsi//
A person who is taken advantage of, especially by being cheated or blamed for something.
nom
- 1
familierA person who is taken advantage of, especially by being cheated or blamed for something.
And now it's quite obvious that instead of Mr Rumsfeld and Mr. Cheney listening attentively to Mr Blair's sage advice, they've simply been using him as a patsy—a convenient fig-leaf.
Étymologie
The term dates back at least to the 1870s in the United States, close to the peak of Irish migration. The OED's recent revisions link Patsy with Pat and Paddy, the stereotype of the bogtrotter just off the boat. The American Heritage Dictionary and Online Etymology Dictionary quotes the OED it may derive from the Italian pazzo (“madman”), and souther Italian dialect paccio (“fool”). Another possibility is the term derives from Patsy Bolivar, a character in an 1880s minstrel skit who was blamed whenever anything went wrong, in Broadway musical comedies, for example in The Errand Boy [1904] and Patsy in Politics [1907].
verbe
- 1
familierTo treat (a person) as a patsy or sucker; to pin the blame on.
Patsying me! Where the hell does he come off? Who ever heard of him? He can patsy the leaders in those night club dives but he can't do that here and get away with it.
- 2
familierTo mess around; to waste time.
I was in no mood for patsying around, and I let him have it with both barrels.
Formes
- pluriel
- patsies
- passé
- patsied
- participe passé
- patsied
- participe présent
- patsying
- 3ᵉ personne du singulier
- patsies
patsy · A person who is taken advantage of, especially by being cheated or blamed for something.
Patsy · A diminutive of the female given name Patricia.pattern · Model, example. Something from which a copy is made; a model…Patterson · A Scottish and Northern English surname originating as a…