Talk:pistol

We just found the information that Pistol/Pistola comes from Czeck. From the book Schotts Sammelsurium, Ben Schott. Can somebody confirm this information? If yes, post this on the page?


 * The OED supports this (Czech -> Silesian German -> French -> English), and suggests that the term may have arisen during the Hussite wars. However, per the OED, it is also possible that the French word derived from the Italian pistolese:. -- Visviva 00:05, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

pistol
Rfv-sense: A creative and unpredictable jokester, a constant source of entertainment and surprises. WT:RFC brings up the issue of whether it exists at all. Mglovesfun (talk) 12:19, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Widespread colloquial use in the US. I think of it as a euphemism for pisser. "She's a real pistol." DCDuring TALK 13:20, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I wonder if sense 4 is redundant to sense 3—can the term really be applied only to small boys in the Southern U.S.? —Angr 21:28, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I managed to not see sense 4. Yes that is a tame version of the definition. The sense formerly marked Shakespeare looks like a PoV definition to support a particular theory for the derivation of the sense. A case could easily be made for it being metonymously derived from hot as a pistol. DCDuring TALK 21:57, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Cited. — Ungoliant (Falai) 12:22, 12 September 2013 (UTC)
 * RfV passed DCDuring TALK 13:22, 17 September 2013 (UTC)

RFC discussion: March 2013–August 2017
One of the senses is tagged with the 'context' "Shakespeare". Does this mean only the bard used the sense in question? - -sche (discuss) 19:55, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * If the sense in question is the character in Henry V named Pistol, then yes, but then it shouldn't be listed as a meaning of pistol. I don't know whether Shakespeare—or anyone else, for that matter—also uses it as a common noun. —Angr 21:04, 5 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Widespread use in the US, as if a euphemism for pisser. "She's a real pistol". Shakespeare is, of course, not a context. DCDuring TALK 13:17, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Etymologically, it is probably from the simile hot as a pistol. MWOnline has "a notably sharp, spirited, or energetic person", which different but not dissimilar from our definition, but, then again, it isn't straining to make a Shakespearean connection. DCDuring TALK 13:32, 11 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Looks good now --New WT User Girl (talk) 10:22, 27 August 2017 (UTC)