OT: Hissy fit

This definition comes from Michael Quinion, World Wide Words. He's the very best source of obscure and/or odd text I know.

"Snit

The American term snit for a fit of rather childish temper can be traced back to the editor, playwright, politician, journalist and diplomat Clare Boothe Luce in the 1930s."

Sorry to be adding to my own post, but I forgot to add this piece:

"What she based snit on isn't known, though it's a splendidly sharp and echoic word that nicely evokes the spitting hissy fit of such a temper tantrum. ...

I use the term all the time -- "pitchin' a hissy fit" to mean getting extremely upset (not necessarily justifiably so) and **very** verbal and generally having a nice rant about something. My family has always used the term for little kids (especially the SMDGD) when one has a small tantrum and screams, yells, hollers and is generally a total P.I.T.A. I have a t-shirt with a frantic looking cartoon woman on it and around her picture is printed "Never underestimate the power of a good hissy fit!" I think when I was a kid it was used only for when women got upset about something trivial. Only women got to pitch a hissy fit because they were supposed to be more "emotional" then men :-).

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

I think it originates from cats: when two cats meet & they don't get along, they hiss at each other.... getting verbal before getting physical.

Here's a good hissy fit for you all

Hee hee - know just how she felt. Coming home one time at Heathrow suddenly the oh so long lineup for security started to move really swiftly. As I got nearer to security I could see they were just waving people through, BUT THEN about ten people before me, they closed it off and resumed normal service !!!!!

I never understood that, if security is supposed to catch terrorists, that day about maybe 200 passengers went through unchecked and fanned out on to 'planes going all over the world.

"F.James Cripwell" wrote e seen the expression "Hissy fit" used on several occasions on rctn.

I have never known hissy fit to be gender specific. I have seen men throw hissy fits. Some are very good at them. Teenagers are also great at throwing them. For me the connotation has always been one of high pitched emotions (and probably a highpitched voice), and a tantrum that is considerably out of proportion to the situation. I don't think a hissy fit has any ulterior motive, like getting a partner's attention--it is just a highly overwrought reaction. Dawne

Well (VBG) I might argue that what you were pitching a fit about WAS important enough to justify the sound and the fury. My objection was more to the idea that hissy fits are a solely female activity and aimed largely at getting male attention. I have know people of both genders who could pitch major screaming footstamping fits about minor things--sometimes maybe to get attention, sometimes maybe just because of an inherent belief that whatever inconveniences them should cause the entire world to stop and fix it. We had a department head in a fine arts faculty who was a real champion of this; let a form be misplaced and actual screaming ensued. We concluded that besides an enormous ego, he just had a genetic intolerence for quiet.

Dawne

I've thrown a hissy fit or two myself.

The worst was probably the time we were coming back from Texas. We left Memphis Tn and hit a rain storm. After it cleared up, I took my rain gear off. However, the motorcycle seat had soaked up a lot of water, and you guessed it - my rear end was wet. We rode, and rode, and rode - me getting more tired and colder and hungrier.

The DH has always told me that if I want to slow down or stop, to pull up past him, and signal by slowing down to the speed I want to do, or to pull off. I did so ( pass and slow down, that is) only to have him repass me and turn the speed back up to 70 mph. It is now 6 p.m. and we are east of Columbus, Ohio.(about 650 miles) We passed all sorts of restaurants and motels and he is showing no sign of stopping.

I roared passed him to the next exit with a motel - pulled off and almost fell off the bike - I was hypothermic. I ranted and raved and cried - a true hissy fit.

It took a hot shower, and lots of hot coffee and food before I finally stopped shaking. The next morning I said to him - "You were headed home last night weren't you?" (We lived in Toronto at the time, at least another 425 miles). Sheepishly he said, "Well, yes".

He's learned that I do not do well when I'm tired, cold and hungry!

margW

If anyone wants to see or hear a hissy fit, just open your windows and listen to me. My bank has been taken over by aliens. A new bank took over the old one, today being the official date of the change. I've never before seen one like this. They took the old bank off this earth and sent them to some sort of limbo. Neither the name or any vestige of their having been in business remains.

Naturally, and as I fully expected, so far nothing (and I do mean nothing) has gone right. The old web address no longer exists and a whole new setup has to be made. The routing and checking account numbers have changed, just when I finally learned my checking account number after 15 years. Any CD's or Savings or Money Market Accounts have new numbers. They sent me new checks and, no surprise, they are printed wrong. When I called slightly hysterical and said what do I use to pay any bills that still require paper checks they said use the old. Okay, that's fine, but I only have a few of those knowing they were sending me new ones and being too cheap to pay for extras. I know they will give me some unprinted checks, but that means an extra trip to the bank.

Tomorrow I will try the new ATM card they sent me. I've been told the old one won't work anymore so this one better work or you'll hear me screaming again. Does anyone want to take bets on this situation????

Lucille ;^))

Ah - the world of US banking

I feel your pain. We had an old, trusted, county bank. Wonderful service, friendly people. Then that bank was bought out by a larger state wide run bank. Suddenly my checks started bouncing. Why? Because the new owners took all checks out before adding any deposit. So you go deposit your paycheck and go to the grocery, write a check go home and the check bounces. Now you have to drive to the bank day one to deposit the check, then go shopping on day two as long as it is not a weekend. Checks deposited on Friday evening do not get counted until Monday after checks written on the weekend have been charged to the account. We went through several different banks before we found one that suited our needs. So many banks with so many hidden charges. It is our money. Now, I only put in the bank what is needed to cover automatic payments. I do most of business with cash. That means being careful to not flash money in the stores and becoming a crime victim. Counting out the small change seems to drop the interest of the would be thief. If I am counting coin, I must be near out. Usually close to the truth. LOL

I think there's a special category of hissy fit - the total rage I can call up "on command" when dealing with banks, insurance companies, etc.

Normally I'm a very easygoing person, and not a squeaky wheel, but sometimes I find if I force myself to be a mean, nasty, hissy-fittin' SOB, I can get things done that wouldn't get done if I'm my nice, normal, easy-goin' self. I sit by the phone, sort of hyperventilate to work up a bit of a froth, and then dial, and start in BAM! on the first person who answers. Mind you, this is never done on the first three or four rounds, but if problems remain unresolved beyond that, I release my "inner bitch" as though playing a part onstage. It takes great energy and is only done as a last resort. And I HATE that that's the way the world seems to work when you get to dealing with bureaucracies.

Lucille, tap into your "inner bitch" and let her rip!

Thanks for that site. I have saved it for reading and savoring later. I can't wait to read every word.

Lucille

I have a bank story, in which I truly let out my inner bitch. BUT modeled my behavior on some of the trust fund babies I went to school with.

BUT

I think, most humbly, that my finest bitch moment was dealing with Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA. I had a large - grapefruit sized cyst on an ovary that was causing me to black out from pain. My doctor basically squeezed me into surgery with in 48 hours of diagnosis. I had health insurance through work as CA Parmenter, SSN 123-45-6789 - a salaried engineer at RayCo. Doctor and hospital filed every as Cheryl A Parmenter SS 123-45-6789.

Denied - no coverage Denied - fraudulent Mr. Parmenter has no registered spousal coverage Denied - no such policy holder as Cheryl Parmenter

All of these were responded to with phone calls from myself and the HR department at work. Look idiots, this is the same person and she has full insurance coverage.

Last call - high level supervisor, male, fine CA Parmenter is really a woman and a salaried employee (but seems to doubt I could be an engineer, which at the time had better health benefits from hourly employees) BUT all "female complaints" need a second opinion. DENIED

And that folks, is when my gasket blew - in full earshot of my 50 or so male co-workers.

OK Mr ABC - would you get a second opinion about a cyst the size of a grapefruit on your BALLS.

Magically - all bills were paid with in hours.

Cheryl

Why doesn't this surprise me? Maybe because I've had the same kind of battles with insurance companies, especially BC/BS and the same kind of reaction.

On 11/10/09 8:19 AM, "Cheryl Isaak" wrote:

Great story. When I had the little uterine problem, plus they were removing part of an ovary, I was in the hospital for supposedly 4 days. Which turned into 6 or 7 days because the surgery was more severe, and they couldn't do a "bikini line" incision so required longer stay, etc. Anyhow, my doctor comes in on day 2 and says, hmmmm, your insurance company is now denying claim. So, I call them - from the bed - because the hospital admin claims person has come up. I'm on meds, argue with hospital person, essentially similar to you Cheryl, and then call insurance company. Get to supervisor, trying logic, and finally, oh, we're sorry, and of course all is covered. Um, no, this wasn't a laporoscopy outpatient hing, but had been pre-certified for in hospital, with some contingencies depending on tumor sizes, etc. Now on day 4 - when I'm barely walking - hospital admin comes in and tells me that she has decided I could go home, because they have to daily contact insurance to be sure that all is covered for everyday after 3, and well, lucky me, they covered today, but you should go home today. Of course, several things have to be a go before you can be released, and I ask her if she's a doctor. Of course now my doctor comes in, and is blowing a gasket at the admin, to whom I just essentially tell - you're not a doctor, or medical professional, you have no medical education to be making a patient assessment, and I'll take care of this. Call the insurance company, they call doctor's office - all is fine - they just needed the confirmation from the doctor that I would require 6 days, and let them know if it'll be over a week. It was the hospital administrator being an ass - 'cause the insurance rate of course is a lesser reimbursement than some of the other carriers.

It's so important to be your own advocate, but I've learned to resist the yelling - however DH says that I have a certain very cold, emphatic, scarey tone of voice which works quite well for the "inner bitch" kind of thing. Works great on the ice with the "go to the box, NOW" kind of comment.

Ellice

I will never have BC/BS again. Supposedly "they're better now" but I'm not risking it... C