Patsy

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• /ˈpætsi/
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• rhymes with -ætsi
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• CMU ARPABET: P AE1 T S IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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From the clipping of Patricia or Patrick + -sy (hypocoristic suffix).

The term dates back at least to the 1870s in the United States, close to the peak of Irish migration. The OED's recent revisions link Patsy with Pat and Paddy, the stereotype of the bogtrotter just off the boat. The American Heritage Dictionary and Online Etymology Dictionary quotes the OED it may derive from the Italian pazzo (“madman”), and souther Italian dialect paccio (“fool”). Another possibility is the term derives from Patsy Bolivar, a character in an 1880s minstrel skit who was blamed whenever anything went wrong, in Broadway musical comedies, for example in The Errand Boy [1904] and Patsy in Politics [1907].

33 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Bulgarian: балама (balama) — a person who is taken advantage of
• Czech: moula — a person who is taken advantage of
• Czech: trouba — a person who is taken advantage of
• Czech: jelimánek — a person who is taken advantage of
• Dutch: zondebok — a person who is taken advantage of
• Finnish: syntipukki — a person who is taken advantage of
• Finnish: uhri — a person who is taken advantage of
• French: lampiste — a person who is taken advantage of
• French: pigeon — a person who is taken advantage of
• German: Sündenbock — a person who is taken advantage of
• German: Buhmann — a person who is taken advantage of
• German: Prügelknabe — a person who is taken advantage of
• German: Naivling — a person who is taken advantage of
• German: Einfaltspinsel — a person who is taken advantage of
• German: Gelackmeierter — a person who is taken advantage of
• German: Simpel — a person who is taken advantage of
• Hebrew: פראייר (frayer) — a person who is taken advantage of
• Hungarian: balek — a person who is taken advantage of
• Hungarian: palimadár — a person who is taken advantage of
• Icelandic: blóraböggull — a person who is taken advantage of
• Italian: capro espiatorio — a person who is taken advantage of
• Italian: cornuto m pollo — a person who is taken advantage of
• Italian: fesso — a person who is taken advantage of
• Italian: zimbello — a person who is taken advantage of
• Norwegian Bokmål: syndebukk — a person who is taken advantage of
• Russian: простофиля (prostofilja) — a person who is taken advantage of
• Serbo-Croatian: žrtva — a person who is taken advantage of
• Serbo-Croatian: ovca — a person who is taken advantage of
• Serbo-Croatian: žrtveni jarac — a person who is taken advantage of
• Spanish: cabeza de turco — a person who is taken advantage of
• Spanish: primo — a person who is taken advantage of
• Spanish: pardillo — a person who is taken advantage of
• Swedish: driftkucku — a person who is taken advantage of