“Pussle-Gut,” “Puzzle Gut,” and the Unseen “Wampus Cat”

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, how are you? This is Brandon Smith. I’m calling from Southern Vermont.

Southern Vermont? Well, welcome, Brandon.

It’s sunnier in Southern Vermont than it is in Northern Vermont, right?

It’s true. It’s like the banana belt of the state, you know?

Banana creamies.

What’s on your mind, dude?

The tropics.

What can we help with?

Hey, I was wondering about a couple words that my grandfather used to use in Mississippi.

So that’s where I was born. Half of my family was there.

And I used to go there in the summers as a kid.

Whenever I’d show up, he’d always say, hey, Puzzle Gut.

So that’s one that I’m kind of curious about.

And another one, we used to go fishing in the bayous over in Louisiana.

And a term that he used over there would be when we heard a noise coming from the bushes or out in the bayou somewhere.

We didn’t know what it was.

He’d always say it was a wampus cat.

And those two things, I’ve never really looked up or known what they were.

So I was wondering if you could help me out.

Brandon, I’m curious about how he used those.

For example, did he imply that a wampus cat was something scary?

Yeah, I think so.

Yeah, I think it was kind of meant to create a vague critter kind of out in the bushes.

You know, I don’t know if he meant to necessarily scare us, but it certainly wasn’t a friendly pet that we were going to go find.

Right, right.

Okay.

And when he called, when he said, hey, Puzzle Gut.

Puzzle Gut?

Z’s or S’s?

No, I think it was S.

Oh, okay.

U-S-S-E-L, maybe.

Okay.

So was that affectionate? Was it teasing?

Yeah, it was a bit teasing, kind of tongue-in-cheek.

You know, he’s just kind of picking on us, I think, was his intention.

Did you have a pot belly?

No, I didn’t.

But, you know, I don’t think it would have mattered to him.

I think you would have used it either way.

Well, I asked for a reason, not just because I was curious about your body type.

Because the pussel part is very related to the word pus, as in the liquid that’s inside a blister.

Huh.

Yeah, and so the idea is that you have a potbelly or a big belly.

Like a swollen gut.

Yeah, you have a pusselen gut.

I guess I kind of assumed that’s what it was, but I really had no idea, you know, like a little potbelly kind of thing.

Yeah, and there’s lots of record of this.

The Dictionary of American Regional English, one of our trusted sources here, has a really great entry on this.

They take it back as far as 1909, where it pops up in an academic book series called Dialect Notes.

And it’s never been very common, but it’s still out there.

That’s great.

Yeah, right? It’s cool.

And then Wampus Cat.

Now, I’m sure you Googled Wampus Cat.

Did you?

I actually haven’t.

Oh, come now.

The two I was going to, but I figured I’d call you first.

Do it, because there’s a ton of information.

It’s a classic folklore animal from American culture.

We have a ton of these.

It’s kind of up there.

It’s not as famous as Bigfoot, but maybe it should be.

It’ll pop up in story after story, campfire tales, fiction, nonfiction.

It’s gotten the full kind of folklore treatment from experts.

It’s really interesting.

Even the Wikipedia entry, and I hesitate to say this, is not terrible on it.

And some of the pictures are hilarious.

They imagine a man-cougar creature with a spear and a loincloth poised to attack or something like this.

It’s really interesting.

Poised to attack the wampus cat?

No, the wampus cat is that.

Oh, wow.

Some of the illustrations are just hilarious.

The wampus cat.

Yeah, no kidding.

That’s great.

I’ll often carry that one on with my stuff.

Yeah, definitely.

I had no idea I had the backstory like that.

Yeah, Google it.

Find the stories.

Are you going to carry on Puzzle Gut as well?

Yeah, why not?

They’re just kind of fun things, you know.

It’s just like a term of endearment.

I’ve always remembered it.

I mean, I was probably, you know, five years old, the first I heard it or younger.

Yeah, that’s kind of sweet.

Man, if you were a five-year-old, you could have had that little cute little pot belly the kids have.

Yeah.

Yeah, that’s probably true.

Who knows, you know?

That’s really great.

Well, thanks a lot, guys.

Yeah, sure, Brandon.

Thanks for your call.

Thanks, Brandon.

Bye-bye.

Have fun in sunny Vermont.

I will.

Bye.

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