Continuing in an etymology vein...

While looking something up for a patron, I found a great site today: http://www.geocities.com/etymonline. (Couldn't let you think I'm such a geek that I'd go looking for this sort of thing on my own, right? :) In it the compiler (Douglas Harper, who has a great sense of humour) mentions that if someone calls you feisty, you should slug them. Okay, what would you do? I looked up feisty:

feisty - 1896, Amer.Eng. from feist "small dog," from fice, fist Amer.Eng. 1805 "small dog," short for fysting curre "stinking cur," attested from 1529, from M.E. fysten, fisten "break wind" (1440), related to O.E. fisting "stink." The 1811 slang dictionary defines fice as "a small windy escape backwards, more obvious to the nose than ears; frequently by old ladies charged on their lap-dogs."

Heehee. I agree. Oh, and be sure to check out the "I know I shouldn't but I can't resist" link at the bottom of his page.