Sentence:  Don't be misled by the British tendency to be soft-spoken and polite. The English language didn't spread across the oceans and over the mountains and jungles and swamps because these people were <WSD>pantywaists</WSD>. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  An ineffectual, weak, or timid person, especially a boy or young man; a sissy.