Please be aware that this word might be (or have been) a trademarked name for a commercially produced children's toy, a type of creature on a television show/program, etc. (This possibility is even greater because, as I'm sure you're all aware, 'w' is not a letter 'native' to French orthography.)
I saw this 'word' (again, 'wissouri', IIRC) on numerous print advertisements in the Paris Métro in the mid-1990s. (The ads were all for the same product, television show/program, etc. - I wish I could tell you more, but since I a) didn't live in France and so wasn't familiar with the culture, popular or otherwise, and b) understood/read almost no French at the time, I wasn't at all certain what the ads were promoting.)
I found this word ("wissouri") humorous because I had just finished a graduate degree in Missouri, USA, and I asked some French acquaintances what the word meant. They told me it meant something like a small elf or fairy, as I recall. Unfortunately, when I just Googled this 'word' (and spelling variants similar to it), I could not find anything that seemed to have anything to do with French mythology (and did not get any results in French, even). Again, I'm aware that 'w' is not a letter native to the French language, so I tried variants starting with 'ou', as well, but I didn't have any more luck with those searches. Any information (even guesses, educated or not!) on this 'word' that any of you could provide would be very much appreciate. Thank you all in advance! :)
