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HelpPansy
Hi !!!
WDYTO Pansy?
I saw that there are very few polls & posts about it.
It is a kind of violet and ultimately comes from French 'thought'.
Its look seems very British in my mind! So short, with the final -y like Ashley, Shirley, Tansy, Merry ...
I find it lovely and underused.
Is there any reason to not use it?
Personal Name Lists https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/125456
WDYTO Pansy?
I saw that there are very few polls & posts about it.
It is a kind of violet and ultimately comes from French 'thought'.
Its look seems very British in my mind! So short, with the final -y like Ashley, Shirley, Tansy, Merry ...
I find it lovely and underused.
Is there any reason to not use it?
Personal Name Lists https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/125456
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Replies
I echo what most everyone else has said; I'd personally stay away from it because of the negative connotations and because I just don't like the sound.
However, I could possibly warm to it a little as an occasional nickname for Pandora.
However, I could possibly warm to it a little as an occasional nickname for Pandora.
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Negative connotation, Pansy/Scarlett O'Hara, and Pansy Parkinson
As you mentioned, its usage would /seem/ more British. On the surface, the flower and French connections would make for a nice name. However, as others have brought up, the name now has a negative connotation of "weak, wimpy, sissy."
You might hear the phrase "Don't be such a pansy!" when one person is trying to coerce another into doing something s/he really doesn't want to do. It comes from the name being used as an insult, implying a man was homosexual or effeminate or "thought too much" (from the French connection) -- and was thus cowardly.
As mentioned here
http://www.newmainetimes.org/articles/2013/04/23/not-deferential-enough-pansy/
1929 was the year such a connotatuon "started."
Though I don't have a source for it (yet), I had an epiphany about Margaret Mitchell after reading that article. In Gone With The Wind, [Katie] Scarlett O'Hara is a survivor. She values "gumption" and is not afraid to do things others wouldn't do out of fear of offending social norms. Like a [P]ansy, she is strong and will come back from whatever setback she encounters.
Hence why Margaret Mitchell probably originally called the character Pansy! And, although the book was published in 1936, she started writing it in 1926. Meaning that the negative connotation didn't exist yet - or, at least, it wasn't commonly used. I imagine editors, dealing primarily in language on a day-to-day basis, are more keyed into slang terms entering the vernacular. And it was her New York editor who encouraged the name change to Scarlett O'Hara!
As for the reason I don't like the name Pansy.... I first saw the name when I started reading Harry Potter almost twenty years ago (wow!). There's a very minor character named Pansy Parkinson. She's a Slytherin who hangs around Draco Malfoy and, although we rarely see her, whenever we do, she's absolutely horrible. I don't like flower names in general, but REALLY don't like Pansy because of her.
As you mentioned, its usage would /seem/ more British. On the surface, the flower and French connections would make for a nice name. However, as others have brought up, the name now has a negative connotation of "weak, wimpy, sissy."
You might hear the phrase "Don't be such a pansy!" when one person is trying to coerce another into doing something s/he really doesn't want to do. It comes from the name being used as an insult, implying a man was homosexual or effeminate or "thought too much" (from the French connection) -- and was thus cowardly.
As mentioned here
http://www.newmainetimes.org/articles/2013/04/23/not-deferential-enough-pansy/
1929 was the year such a connotatuon "started."
Though I don't have a source for it (yet), I had an epiphany about Margaret Mitchell after reading that article. In Gone With The Wind, [Katie] Scarlett O'Hara is a survivor. She values "gumption" and is not afraid to do things others wouldn't do out of fear of offending social norms. Like a [P]ansy, she is strong and will come back from whatever setback she encounters.
Hence why Margaret Mitchell probably originally called the character Pansy! And, although the book was published in 1936, she started writing it in 1926. Meaning that the negative connotation didn't exist yet - or, at least, it wasn't commonly used. I imagine editors, dealing primarily in language on a day-to-day basis, are more keyed into slang terms entering the vernacular. And it was her New York editor who encouraged the name change to Scarlett O'Hara!
As for the reason I don't like the name Pansy.... I first saw the name when I started reading Harry Potter almost twenty years ago (wow!). There's a very minor character named Pansy Parkinson. She's a Slytherin who hangs around Draco Malfoy and, although we rarely see her, whenever we do, she's absolutely horrible. I don't like flower names in general, but REALLY don't like Pansy because of her.
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According to a biography of Margaret Mitchell that I read, in 1935, the year that "Gone With The Wind" was submitted for publication, the term "pansy" to mean a homosexual was current in the North but not (yet) in the South, so Mitchell was unaware of it. Because her New York publishers were in the North, they were aware of it, and that's why they informed her that the name had to be changed.
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I figured it was something like that, where the slang hadn't yet permeated to the South. I mean, even today there's a lag. And that's with television and the Internet! I can't even imagine what it was like almost 100 years ago.
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I don't imagine many people would use it nowadays with its former meaning of 'effeminate male homosexual', but the memory lingers on. And then, there were vintage comics in the UK, like Beano, and one of the recurring characters was "Pansy Potter, the Strong Man's Daughter'; she was well known for tearing up telephone directories, punching holes in walls etc and the irony was pleasant, but would probably also have made parents think twice.
However, not wishing to be entirely negative, there's always Viola!
However, not wishing to be entirely negative, there's always Viola!
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I don't personally like the sound.
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Well, it's an old school derogatory term, where I come from. So, I personally wouldn't use it.
As for the name itself...hmm...all I can think of is that it was almost Scarlett O'Hara's name. I don't like the sound of it.
As for the name itself...hmm...all I can think of is that it was almost Scarlett O'Hara's name. I don't like the sound of it.
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While I like most flower names, I'm not fond of Pansy. It sounds rather childish, and while I do agree it has some English charm, I definitely prefer the sound of Poppy (it doesn't mean "father" or "grandfather" in many sides of the world). Pansy is also a derogatory term for gay men, so a girl named Pansy would definitely get made fun of.
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sorry dont like this one, especially with the negative meanings associated
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