Feisty/Feist

Surely you know someone who you would describe as feisty, and you might mean it as a sincere complement. The American Heritage Dictionary defines feisty as an adjective meaning "1. Touchy; quarrelsome. 2. Full of spirit or pluck; frisky or spunky." This usage is employed all over the US today. The word feist in the Southern United States is also used to refer to "a small, mixed-breed dog" and typically carries the additional connotation of a "snappy, nervous, belligerent little dog." According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this canine usage first appeared in the Bartlett Dictionary of Americanisms in 1860, spelled as fiste. It came from the Middle English fisting, meaning "a breaking wind, foul smell, stink." The OED cites this usage as appearing as early as 1440.

I realize that the modern usage of "feisty" carries some gender bias as well. As I sit here, I cannot conjure a memory in which I heard a man referred to as feisty. I only seem to remember this term being applied to a woman, myself included, but never as a rude comment. The innocuous comment "wow, you're acting really feisty today" would never lead me to believe that someone is telling me that I stink like a dog, but just that I'm a little charged up. Still, I think I might opt to recycle this word out of my vocabulary, since I will everfore remember that the term etymologically relegates the addressee to the realm of stinky, yappy dogs and flatulence. However, I have no plans to stop listening to Leslie Feist's music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvOOegxKIoI