pssst.

n.  a “sexy whisper,” as discussed in The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time by Jonathan Weiner.ul


n.  a conspiratorial whisper.

<Without a map, you wouldn’t even know where Twig was (pssst... Minnesota).  —Spencer Strauss, The Unofficial Guide to Real Estate Investing.>

n.  a muted hiss used surreptitiously to get attention; see also fsst, psss, psst, ssstt.

<“Pssst!” said a voice a few paces onward.  It was Appleby, hiding in back of a tree.  —Joseph Heller, Catch 22.> <Pain is the body’s way of getting our attention; from “Pssst!” to a thunder clap.  —Pete Egoscue, The Egoscue Method of Health Through Motion: Revolutionary Program That Lets You Rediscover the Body’s Power to Rejuvenate Itself.>

n.  the hiss of a deodorant spray.

<You’ve all seen a certain deodorant commercial on television.  You put one spray—psst ... psst—under each arm, and for twenty-four hours a day, an invisible shield forms around your body.  The advertiser couldn’t care less whether you or I understand the commercial, or whether there is evidence to support his claim.  The advertiser simply wants to demonstrate how this spray meets your needs and desires to be socially acceptable.  —Herb Cohen, You Can Negotiate Anything.>

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