Date: Sat, 13 Jul 1996 19:41:17 -0500

From: Dan Goodman goodman[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]FREENET.MSP.MN.US

Subject: hissy



Stumpers is a list primarily for reference librarians faced with questions

they can't answer. Here is a chance to help a librarian -- and to recommend

books with answers to such dialect questions.



Date: Sat, 13 Jul 1996 13:53:08 +0200

From: Even Flood even.flood[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ntub.unit.no

To: Phalbe Henriksen afn33012[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]afn.org

Cc: stumpers-list[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]crf.cuis.edu

Subj: !def. of ""hissy""



Phalbe!



The word German word "hitzig" means short of temper, (as does the

Norwegian word hissig). However it seems that babies has nothing

to do with it. The prefix hitz means hot, "hitzkopf" translates directly

to hothead. So the origin is probably from there. (The German word

for hot is heiss.)



Even



At 12:36 12.07.96 -0400, you wrote:





The word, "hissy," doesn't appear in the Shorter Oxford and all theat

Webster's Third says is [origin unknown] - Southwest - fit of temper.



We have a patron who say he believes it comes from the German, meaning a

baby.



I have no German. Is there a polyglot w+mb+t who'd like to take a stab at

this? (The derivation of the word, not the baby!)



TIA for any help you can give me.





Phalbe