Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick , or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, or Patrice). Among Italian Americans , it is often used as a pet name for Pasquale .
4-486: In older usage, Patsy was also a nickname for Martha or Matilda , following a common nicknaming pattern of changing an M to a P (such as in Margaret → Meg/Meggy → Peg/Peggy; and Molly → Polly) and adding a feminine suffix. President George Washington called his wife, Martha , "Patsy" in private correspondence. President Thomas Jefferson 's eldest daughter Martha was known by the nickname "Patsy", while his daughter Mary
8-493: Was called "Polly". The popularity of the name has waned with the rise of its, chiefly North American, meaning as " dupe " or " scapegoat ". Fact, Fancy and Fable , published in 1889, notes that in a sketch performed in Boston "about twenty years ago" a character would repeatedly ask "Who did that?" and the answer was "Patsy Bolivar!" It may have been popularized by the vaudevillian Billy B. Van , whose 1890s character, Patsy Bolivar,
12-435: Was more often than not an innocent victim of unscrupulous or nefarious characters. Van's character became a broad vaudeville "type", imitated by many comedians, including Fred Allen , who later wrote, "Patsy Bolivar was a slang name applied to a bumpkin character; later, it was shortened to Patsy, and referred to any person who was the butt of a joke." Lee Harvey Oswald , after the assassination of John F. Kennedy , denied he
16-673: Was responsible for the murder, and stated: "No, they are taking me in because of the fact that I lived in the Soviet Union. I'm just a patsy!" Byron Smith, after killing Haile Kifer and her cousin, Nicholas Brady , also claimed he was a patsy. Martha (name) Martha is a feminine given name (Latin from Ancient Greek Μάρθα ( Mártha ), from Aramaic מרתא ( Mārtā ) "the mistress" or "the lady", from מרה "mistress", feminine of מרי "master"). Patti , Patsy , and Patty were in use in Colonial America as English rhyming diminutives of
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