Kayla Nachman

Professor Parker
English 101
27 January 2016
Have you ever heard the phrase pussyfooting? If you have, I am sure you feel
some type of way about this word. During the Hilary Clinton endorsement for Donald
Trump, she uses this word to explain the demand of a president who wont mess
around. However, theyre two ways this word can be construed, denotatively or
connotatively. Its also important to explain the effectiveness of the word in
communication. Pussyfooting is a fantastic way to describe a situation that you believe
should be taken head on, and avoided no more.
Denotatively, pussyfooting means more stealthy or warily. For example, if you
wanted to strongly express your opinion to somebody that you just meant you may
pussyfoot around what youd really like to say. You may be prone to doing this because
youre in fear of offending them or coming off too strongly. A synonym of pussyfoot that I
believe really explains the word well is beat around the bush. This is a great clarifying
phrase that explains the word in a language that we have been familiar with since
childhood.

The way that I connotatively feel about the word pussyfoot is very different. I have
a personal tie to this word because my father used to say it quite often. My father and I
dont get along well, and he's a very harsh and mean man. So, when I heard this word
in Hilarys speech it made me cringe at first, I almost had a flashback to the way I felt
when my father would say this. However, I then expanded on the word and realized it is
an impressive word in literature. The way my father used this word was nothing like the
context that Hilary said it in. Hilary used it to powerfully engage an audience in her
believes.
Pussyfooting is effective to complete communication when youd like to engage
an audience of readers or listeners! When Hilary said this in her speech it created
immediate intense engagement of everybody in the room! When I heard it, it really set
me back for a second and made me think of the true meaning and how brilliant it was for
her to use that word in that context. The word pussyfooting can be inferred at a nasty
word at first, so I think that it caught everybody off guard and reengaged them back into
her speech. She might as well of splashed a bucket of water on each of them! It was a
great word to use to complete her communication to the audience, and I cant wait to
use the word in my vocabulary to wake up my audience and engage them!
Pussyfooting is a fantastic way to describe a situation that you believe should be
taken head on and avoided no more This word really expanded my vocabulary and

made me step back to think of all the possible ways I could use this word in the future. It
is fantastic how my connotative senses engaged me to the word intentionally, and then
while looking up the denotative meaning I actually changed my connotative believes on
the word. Pussyfooting is a excellent way to complete conversation and entice an
audience or readers.