61–70 of 89 posts
I’ve always associated this word with fark.com, I remember it being used frequently on that site around 2000.
> It occupies the space between assez and asshead. The fact that asshead , a word I can honestly say I've never heard used in any English dialect, merited inclusion before asshat, a word I've heard a dozen times this last week, boggles my mind.
> the etymological note we have describes the linking of ass and hat as “seemingly nonsensical” What? It's obviously a reference to having your head up your ass, thus turning your ass into a hat.
A minor issue with that reasoning is that it doesn't explain why you might use the word asshat to refer to a person who is wearing an asshat. Asshatter would make a bit more sense, akin to brownnoser. On the other hand, I guess words like fatass have this same problem of equating the person with something the person possesses.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> On the other hand, I guess words like fatass have this same problem of equating the person with something the person possesses. On the third hand, I'm not sure that "fatass" really means "your ass is fat" specifically; I've always understood it to mean "you are fat, and an ass." That is, I take it in this respect to be like "dumbass": "you are dumb, and an ass", not "your ass is dumb".
I've never been aware of your interpretation. I've always understood "fat-ass" to just mean "fat," or perhaps closely-associated derogatory traits like "sedentary" or "lazy."
Yes, that is my interpretation—unless you mean to dispute my claim that "fat-ass" means "fat, and an ass" by asserting instead that "-ass" is a meaningless intensifier. I'm also OK with that interpretation; what I mean to reject is the interpretation that "fat-ass" means anything specifically about a fat ass, as opposed to fatness in general.
I have loved this word since I first heard it. I assumed it evolved out of the common expressions: "get your head out of your ass" or "he's got his head up his ass". To me, this evokes an image of wearing one's ass as a hat. I love the ridiculousness of picturing that.
Is the etymology actually obscure? I seem to recall it gaining currency in the warblog era (late but not lamented) and it's a way of saying someone has their head up their ass. They're wearing their ass as a hat. I remember this being explained a lot in various comment sections where folks would yell at each other about the war. It's hard for me to see this as folk etymology since afaik it's where the word itself com…
I first encountered "asshat" in the context of network security: there are white hats, who are motivated by ethics and social responsibility. There are black hats, who are motivated by personal gain and seem to lack a sense of morality. Then there are asshats, who don't care about anything other than amusing themselves at other people's expense. I have absolutely no idea of this is the origin of the term, or if it ju…
I first encountered this term while playing Kingdom of Loathing. https://kol.coldfront.net/thekolwiki/index.php/Asshat which puts it at somewhere in the 2005 or so timeframe when I encountered that term.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've never been aware of your interpretation. I've always understood "fat-ass" to just mean "fat," or perhaps closely-associated derogatory traits like "sedentary" or "lazy."
> I've never been aware of your interpretation. I've always understood "fat-ass" to just mean "fat," or perhaps closely-associated derogatory traits like "sedentary" or "lazy." Yes, that is my interpretation—unless you mean to dispute my claim that "fat-ass" means "fat, and an ass" by asserting instead that "-ass" is a meaningless intensifier. I'm also OK with that interpretation; what I mean to reject is the interpr…
The use of written word in these scenarios is always interesting to me. I have video of me and some friends using the word "asshat" predating their first recorded usage by almost a decade. (I have no idea why I remembered that video when reading this... but here it is on my hard drive) Ironically in a similar context, a bunch of punk rockers talking about someone in a band we didn't like! I always wonder how many wor…
It's pretty much universal. Etymologists and lexicographers know that most words were in use for some time before being written -- anywhere from years to centuries. They try to make inferences by other means, as best they can. They gradually expand the corpus they can search. A lot of words that are attributed to Shakespeare are gradually finding earlier sources, often in manuscripts. They knew all along that Shakesp…