Weasel, whease
- weasel. The weasel is one of several animals, including the stoat and the ferret, that are sometimes referred to as futtrats but in spite of the confusion in names, it is easy to tell the difference between a stoat and a weasel: a weasel is weasily distinguishable and a stoat's stoatally different. The wh spelling in wheasel reflects the Scots aspirated sound which has survived in Scotland since Anglo-Saxon times, although it has now been lost in England. It sounds a bit like hw. This form may have derived from an association with wheezle (similar to the wheezles and sneezles suffered by Winnie the Pooh's friend, Christopher Robin) because of the hissing noise a weasel makes when cornered.