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"What does {holding nose} P.U. mean?" my son asked me tonight. I told him I didn't know, and he laughed and said "It means stinky, Mommy!" Very funny and well said, but it left me wondering.

A search of Wikipedia and Etymology Online came up wanting and my etymological dictionaries are packed in boxes. What does this abbreviation stand for and why does it mean stinky?

Kit Z. Fox
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  • It’s not the letters ‘p’ and ‘u’, it’s a “word” (and may not even have an official spelling like most guttural noises), and I’m fairly sure it’s supposed to be an ‘f’ sound at the beginning, not a ‘p’. That said, I too am having trouble finding an authoritative spelling/definition for it. – Synetech May 18 '11 at 23:32
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    @Synetech Inc.: For what it's worth, I have always heard/said it with a [p] at the beginning and not an [f]. – Kosmonaut May 19 '11 at 02:23
  • I always assumed it came from Pepe Le Pew somehow...Which is to say I also pronounce it "P.U." – kitukwfyer May 19 '11 at 02:24
  • Seems there is Punjab, Purdue, Pune and Princeton Universities ;) PS: I have NEVER heard F.U. about smell – mplungjan May 19 '11 at 05:57
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    According to my wife, it stands for "Daddy" (as in Daddy did it again) :) – Tim Post May 19 '11 at 06:07
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    I can believe that it's not an acronym, but I have a really hard time believing that it's a variant of "Phew!" @Tim My son used to call flatulence "Daddy", so that one gave me a good chuckle. – Kit Z. Fox May 19 '11 at 11:21
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    I'm delighted folks, as in extremely delighted that the 'upper crust' of the English language still finds flatulence a little funny. @Kit - Thanks for an awesome and entertaining question! – Tim Post May 19 '11 at 13:22
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    So far it looks to me like your kid had the best answer. – T.E.D. Jun 13 '11 at 16:17
  • It stands for my (first and last) initials, and is the reason I insist on using my middle initial. Grade school was tough... – PSU Jul 20 '11 at 21:25
  • I always figured that was just onomatopoeia for the sound one makes roughly exhaling the bad air involved. – T.E.D. Sep 09 '11 at 14:15

3 Answers3

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I'm not 100% on this, but I don't think it's actually an abbreviation. It's possibly a way of saying "phew" that has morphed into "pee-you" or "pyoo" over time, as "phew" is often said with emphasis that makes it sound like two distinct syllables (stress on the "yew"):

"PheeeeeYEW that stinks!"

Or, to put it in another context that might sound more familiar:

"FeeYEW that was a close one!"

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/phew

used as an exclamation to express disgust, exhaustion, surprise, impatience, relief, etc.

Still, it's just a guess. I wouldn't be surprised if there was another, more accurate source.

Mog
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    I wonder if "Fee-you" is a regional difference. I have never heard it pronounced this way in relation to stinkiness, but I have heard it that way in relation to relief after exertion. – Kit Z. Fox May 19 '11 at 00:31
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    I didn't mean "Fee-you" in relation to P.U., but the way one would pronounce "phew". As in "FeeeeYOU that stinks!". Makes it sound like two syllables, and somewhat like "Pee You". Still, it's just a guess. – Mog May 19 '11 at 01:31
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    I think "phew" is a way to write a sigh of relief. The non-exaggerated way to write the sound you make in response to a stink is "pew". (The exaggerated way, naturally, is "P.U.") – Marthaª May 19 '11 at 15:28
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One person's attempt to find an answer seen on wordwizard.com came up with two different postulations which are interestingly possible.

1) It's a shortened term for puteo, which is Latin for "to stink, be redolent, or smell bad." I actually called a professor of Latin at the University of Florida to verify this one.

2) It's actually spelled "piu," but is often pronounced as "pee-yew". It's root is the Indo-European word "pu," meaning to rot or decay. A lot of other languages use this root word and have the same general meaning.

That Realtor Programmer Guy
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My boys and I decided that p.u. stood for positively unpleasant. Of course, we have no source for this, and it is likely to become a folk etymology now.

Kit Z. Fox
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