different between feist vs foist

English

Alternative forms

• fist, fice

Etymology

Earliest sense is “fart”, and later “stink” as abbreviation for fysting cur “stinking dog” (1520s). From Middle English fysten (mid-15th century), from Old English. Cognates with Middle Dutch veest and Dutch vijst. Possibly from Proto-Germanic *fistiz (“a fart”), presumably from Proto-Indo-European *pesd-, though this is disputed.

One explanation for the association of farting with small dogs is given in an 1811 slang dictionary, which suggests that the dogs were blamed for farting, specifically defining fice as “a small windy escape backwards, more obvious to the nose than ears; frequently by old ladies charged on their lap-dogs.”

Cognate terms include German Fist (“soft fart”), Danish fise (“to blow, to fart”) and Middle English askefise (“bellows”, literally “fire-blower, ash-blower”), from Old Norse; originally “a term of reproach among northern nations for an unwarlike fellow who stayed at home in the chimney corner”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fa?st/
• Rhymes: -a?st

Noun

feist (plural feists)

1. (US, regional) A small, snappy, belligerent mixed-breed dog.
2. (vulgar) Silent (but pungent) flatulence.

   Synonym: SBD

Usage notes

The term feist is uncommon, but the derived term feisty is common.

Derived terms

• feisty

References

Anagrams

• Feits, Fites, fetis

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fa??st/

Etymology 1

From Middle High German veizet, from Old High German feizzit, from Proto-West Germanic *faitid, whence also fett (through Middle Low German).

Adjective

feist (comparative feister, superlative am feistesten)

1. (derogatory, now chiefly literary) fat (of a person)

Usage notes

• Feist typically adds a negative moral judgment to the description, implying gluttony, laziness, and/or unrightful wealth. For example, ein feister Kapitalist (“a fat capitalist”).

Declension

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

feist

1. second-person singular present of feien

Further reading

• “feist” in Duden online
• “feist” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.

English

Etymology 1

Probably from archaic Dutch vuisten (“to take into one’s hand”), from Middle Dutch vuysten, from vuyst (“fist”); akin to Old English fyst (“fist”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /f??st/

Verb

foist (third-person singular simple present foists, present participle foisting, simple past and past participle foisted)

1. (transitive) To introduce or insert surreptitiously or without warrant.
   • 2006, Theodore Dalrymple, The Gift of Language

     attempts to foist alleged grammatical “correctness” on native speakers of an “incorrect” dialect are nothing but the unacknowledged and oppressive exercise of social control
2. (transitive) To force another to accept especially by stealth or deceit.
3. (transitive) To pass off as genuine or worthy.
   • 1969, Jonathan Spivak, "Competitive Problems in the Drug Industry" in The Wall Street Journal

     foist costly and valueless products on the public

Synonyms

• fob off
• pass off
• pawn off
• palm off

Translations

Noun

foist (plural foists)

1. (historical slang) A thief or pickpocket.
   • 1977, Gãmini Salgãdo, The Elizabethan Underworld, Folio Society 2006, p. 54:

     The foist had lately arrived form the country and was known to be doing a thriving trade in and around Westminster Hall where many country folk and others came to see lawyers.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:pickpocket

Etymology 2

From Old French fuste (“stick, boat”), from Latin fustis (“cudgel”).

Noun

foist (plural foists)

1. (obsolete) A light and fast-sailing ship.

   • These are mad boys, I tell you; these are things That will not strike their top-sails to a foist,
     And let a man of war, an argosy, Hull and cry cockles.

Etymology 3

From Old French fust (whence also French fût), from Latin fustis.

Noun

foist (plural foists)

1. (obsolete) A cask for wine.
2. Fustiness; mustiness.

Derived terms

• foisty

References

• “foist”, in OED Online ?, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000

Anagrams

• Fotis, tifos