piss proud

English

Alternative forms

• piss-proud

Etymology

From piss (“urine”) + proud. Appears in Francis Grose’s A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1796):

“PISS-PROUD. Having a false erection. That old fellow thought he had an erection, but his — was only piss-proud; said of any old fellow who marries a young wife”.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

piss proud (not comparable)

1. (British, vulgar) Having an erection when waking from sleep or, more generally or metaphorically, a false or "empty" erection.
   • 1988, George O'Brien, Dancehall Days, page 150:

     I fucked culture for being unnatural (it was nothing but the city's piss-proud erection).

2. (British, vulgar, by extension) Falsely proud, implying an outward display of success or virility belies a dubious reality.
   • 2000, Sandra Gulland, The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B, page 30:

     And my guess is that his piss-proud father told him...

   • 2003, Maureen Jennings, Let Loose the Dogs, page 291:

     Full of the strong beer brewed at the camp, the men boasted, piss proud of their sexual exploits.

3. (British, derogatory, dated) Denoting an old man who marries a young woman, implying the only erection he could muster would be prompted by the bladder.
4. (rare) Paruretic.
   • 1998, Richard H. Stratton, Kim Wozencraft, Slam: The Book, page 106:

     I really have to go, but nothing comes out. Not used to pissing next to twenty strangers. Piss proud?

See also

• morning glory
• morning wood