Puny

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Perry
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Puny

Postby Perry » Wed Aug 30, 2006 9:36 am

Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): pu·ni·er; -est
Etymology: Anglo-French puisné younger, weakly, literally, born afterward, from puis afterward + né born
: slight or inferior in power, size, or importance : WEAK
Miriam-Webster Online
1548, "inferior in rank," from M.Fr. puîné, from O.Fr. puisné "born later, younger" (12c., contrasted with aisné "first-born"), from puis "afterward" (from V.L. *postius, from L. postea, from post "after") + O.Fr. né "born," from L. natus, pp. of nasci "be born." Sense of "small, weak, insignificant" first recorded 1593. Online Etymology dictionary
Around here (Asheville, NC) puny is also used as a synonym for ill or sickly.
"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once. Lately it hasn't been working."
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gailr
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Postby gailr » Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:56 am

My dad grew up in western Nebraska; he used "puny" as a synonym for "under the weather" as well.

-gailr


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