Here is the information a bit of Google-Fu yielded....
Pissant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the song by the Smashing Pumpkins, see Pisces Iscariot.
Formica Rufa, a typical pissant
A pissant, also seen as piss ant or piss-ant, refers to a specific type of ant. The word is also used as a pejorative noun or adjective, indicating insignificance.[1]
It has its origin in the word pismire, a 14th-century term for ant.[2][3]
The original pissant is any of a certain group of large ant species, commonly called wood ants, that make mounded nests in forests throughout most of Europe.[4] The name pissant arises from the urine-like odour produced by their nesting material—needles and straw from pine trees—and the formic acid that constitutes their venom.[5] Formica rufa is one such ant, but there are others with similar characteristics. Forelius and Iridomyrmex are two genera of piss ants.[6] In the United States, the word pissant can refer to any small ant that infests a home.[7]
Contents [hide]
1 Slang
2 Culture
3 See also
4 References
Slang[edit]
Pissant is an epithet for an inconsequential, irrelevant, or worthless person, especially one who is irritating or contemptible out of proportion to his or her perceived significance. A Virginia politician is said to have silenced a heckler by saying, "I'm a big dog on a big hunt and I don't have time for a piss-ant on a melon stalk."[8]
The term piss-ant can also be used as an adjective, usually as a pejorative, to mean insignificant and annoying. In conversations with his advisors during the Vietnam War, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson referred to Vietnam as "a piddling piss-ant little country".[9]
Sounds like my workplace!!
