Chapter PUTTEE to PYSE of P by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

PUTTEE to PYSE

[PUTTEE, PUTTY, s. Hind. patti.

a. A pi ece or strip of cloth, bandage; especially used in the sense of a ligature round the lower part of the leg used in lieu of a gaiter, originally introduced from the Himalaya, and now commonly used by sportsmen and soldiers. A special kind of cloth appears in the old trade-lists under the name of puteahs (see PIECE GOODS).

1875.—“Any one who may be bound for a long march will put on leggings of a peculiar sort, a bandage about 6 inches wide and four yards long, wound round from the ankle up to just below the knee, and then fastened by an equally long string, attached to the upper end, which is lightly wound many times round the calf of the leg. This, which is called patawa, is a much cherished piece of dress.”—Drew, Jummoo, 175.

1900.—“The Puttee leggings are excellent for peace and war, on foot or on horseback.”—Times, Dec. 24.

b. In the N.W.P. “an original share in a joint or coparcenary village or estate comprising many villages; it is sometimes defined as the smaller subdivision of a mahal or estate” (Wilson). Hence Putteedaree, pattidari used for a tenure of this kind.

1852.—“Their names were forthwith scratched off the collector’s books, and those of their eldest sons were entered, who became forthwith, in village and cutcherry parlance, lumberdars of the shares of their fathers, or in other words, of puttee Shere Singh and puttee Baz Singh.”—Raikes, Notes on the N.W.P. 94.


c. In S. India, soldiers’ pay. 1810.—“…hence in ordinary acceptation, the pay itself was called puttee, a Canarese word which properly signifies a written statement of any kind.”—Wilks, Hist. Sketches, Madras reprint, i. 415.]

PUTTYWALLA, s. Hind. patta-wala, patti-wala (see PUTTEE), ‘one with a belt.’ This is the usual Bombay term for a messenger or orderly attached to an office, and bearing a belt and brass badge, called in Bengal chuprassy or peon (qq.v.), in Madras usually by the latter name.

1878.—“Here and there a belted Government servant, called a Puttiwala, or Patta-wala, because distinguished by a belt.…”—Monier Williams, Modern India, 34.

PUTWA, s. Hind. patwa. The Hibiscus sabdariffa, L., from the succulent acid flowers of which very fair jelly is made in Anglo-Indian households. [It is also known as the Rozelle or Red Sorrel (Watt, Econ. Dict. iv. 243). Riddell (Domest. Econ. 337) calls it “Oseille or Roselle jam and jelly.”]

PYE, s. A familiar designation among British soldiers and young officers for a Pariah-dog (q.v.); a contraction, no doubt, of the former word.

[1892.—“We English call him a pariah, but this word, belonging to a low, yet by no means degraded class of people in Madras, is never heard on native lips as applied to a dog, any more than our other word ‘pie.’ ”—L. Kipling, Beast and Man, 266.]

PYJAMMAS, s. Hind. pae-jama (see JAMMA), lit. ‘leg-clothing.’ A pair of loose drawers or trowsers, tied round the waist. Such a garment is used by various persons in India, e.g. by women of various classes, by Sikh men, and by most Mahommedans of both sexes. It was adopted from the Mahommedans by Europeans as an article of dishabille and of night attire, and is synonymous with Long Drawers, Shulwáurs, and Mogul-breeches. [For some distinctions between these various articles of dress see Forbes-Watson, (Textile Manufactures, 57).] It is probable that we English took the habit like a good many others from the Portuguese. Thus Pyrard (c. 1610) says, in speaking of Goa Hospital: “Ils ont force calsons sans quoy ne couchent iamais les Portugais des Indes” (ii. p. 11; [Hak. Soc. ii. 9]). The word is now used in London shops. A friend furnishes the following reminiscence: “The late Mr. B—, tailor in Jermyn Street, some 40 years ago, in reply to a question why pyjammas had feet sewn on to them (as was sometimes the case with those furnished by London outfitters) answered: ‘I believe, Sir, it is because of the White Ants!’ ” [1828.—

“His chief joy smoking a cigar
In loose Paee-jams and native slippers.”