Weenie Is a Sausage and an Insult
A weenie is a small sausage. In American slang it also means a feeble or overly earnest person, and the two senses came from the same word.
A weenie is a small frankfurter, and in American slang a feeble or tiresomely earnest person. It is an affectionate diminutive of *wiener*, itself German for Viennese, and the insulting sense grew in mid-twentieth-century American schoolyards. The spelling was probably helped along by *wee*, meaning small, which is Scottish in origin and unrelated.
- A small sausage. *Cocktail weenies.*
- A feeble person (American slang). *Don't be such a weenie.*
- An over-earnest enthusiast. *A rules weenie.*
- Wiener — the fuller form. *A wiener in a bun.*
- Wee — small, Scottish in origin and unrelated. *A wee dram.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | weenie | A cocktail weenie. |
| Plural | weenies | A tray of weenies. |
| Fuller form | wiener | A grilled wiener. |
| Related | weeny | A weeny portion. |
| Unrelated | wee | A wee bit. |
- Cocktail weenies were passed round on sticks.American party food.
- He was called a weenie for backing out.Slang insult.
- Weenie is a diminutive of wiener.Etymology.
Diminutive endings in English
- -ie or -y — doggie, birdie, weenie
- -let — piglet, booklet, droplet
- -ette — kitchenette, cigarette, from French
- -ling — duckling, seedling
- Often affectionate, and sometimes dismissive, depending on tone
A diminutive of *wiener*, from German *Wiener*, Viennese. American English recorded it from the early twentieth century, and the insulting sense from the 1960s.
Are weenie and wee related?
No. Weenie comes from wiener, the Viennese sausage. Wee, meaning small, is Scottish and unrelated, though it probably influenced the spelling.
Is weenie rude?
As an insult it is mild and childish. It is also a plain word for a small sausage in American English.