Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick , or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, or Patrice). Among Italian Americans , it is often used as a pet name for Pasquale .
3-547: Patsy is a feminine (sometimes masculine) given name or nickname. Patsy may also refer to: Patsy In older usage, Patsy was also a nickname for Martha or Matilda , following a common nicknaming pattern of changing an M to a P (such as in Margaret → Meg/Meggy → Peg/Peggy; and Molly → Polly) and adding a feminine suffix. President George Washington called his wife, Martha , "Patsy" in private correspondence. President Thomas Jefferson 's eldest daughter Martha
6-405: The vaudevillian Billy B. Van , whose 1890s character, Patsy Bolivar, was more often than not an innocent victim of unscrupulous or nefarious characters. Van's character became a broad vaudeville "type", imitated by many comedians, including Fred Allen , who later wrote, "Patsy Bolivar was a slang name applied to a bumpkin character; later, it was shortened to Patsy, and referred to any person who
9-489: Was known by the nickname "Patsy", while his daughter Mary was called "Polly". The popularity of the name has waned with the rise of its, chiefly North American, meaning as " dupe " or " scapegoat ". Fact, Fancy and Fable , published in 1889, notes that in a sketch performed in Boston "about twenty years ago" a character would repeatedly ask "Who did that?" and the answer was "Patsy Bolivar!" It may have been popularized by
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