from the Go Figure Dept.

I had occasion to wonder at the the provenance of petrophile* (rock-lover) and find that it's one of those words that dictionaries don't deign to gloss. but in looking at OED(online) I noticed, in the expected vicinitude, this gem: petsywetsy

1879 T. H. SAYRE Strategist II. 20 He called her pet names, his sweetsie, sweetsie, petsie-wetsie, get up and getsie, and then the immoral cuss kissed her. 1928 D. H. LAWRENCE Lady Chatterley's Lover xvii. 305 I'm not content to be any man's little petsywetsy. 1994 A. CAMERON Wedding Cakes, Rats & Rodeo Queens I. iv. 38 Nyah-nyah, SmartyPants, forgot about 'cha, didn't they?..Har-de-har-har, little PetsyWetsy. [originally listed as nonce-wd from Lawrence in OED2]



*"The Chinese are the world's greatest petrophiles. They plant stones were[sic] others might choose an herbaceous border." - Stanley Stewart, Frontiers of Heaven (2004)

-joe (stone cold sober) friday

"PetsyWetsy" I would have guessed that is a response to the animal leaving a stain in my lap when I picked it up to hold!

I know the feeling. I can't pick up a dictionary without spending half an hour in it! There are so many interesting words to look at that sometimes I forget why I am there, having never quite made it to the word I was originally looking for...

Wasn't there a Petsy-wetsy doll that did.

The doll was called a "Betsy Wetsy" and she had both the charming always open mouth and the ability to urinate after feeding. It is amazing that any of us went on to give birth to actual children.

That was the one.
welcome Baca