[Ads-l] Kiss my arse for a week of fair weather. 1659

Baker, John JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM
Mon Feb 22 17:01:51 UTC 2016


A further antedating may be found in Sir Anthony Weldon, The Court and Character of King James 47 (1650) (Google Books), describing George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, and his conduct at the court of King James I of England, who died in 1625:  "nor in truth did any other like or approve of the Prince his poor spirit; fearing it foretold his future inclination, that could ever indure any familiarity with such an one as had put such foul scorn and affronts on him in his time of greatness, . . . as this man [i.e., the Duke of Buckingham] had done the Prince at two several times, before an infinite concourse, by bidding him in plain terms kiss his arse once, a second time offering to strike him . . . the first of these at _Roiston_, the second at _Greenwich_."


John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of ADSGarson O'Toole
Sent: Monday, February 22, 2016 11:10 AM
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Subject: Kiss my arse for a week of fair weather. 1659

On twitter I was just asked about the earliest instance of "kiss my
ass". (Not sure why I was selected for this inquiry.)

The remarkably capacious OED has an entry:

[Begin excerpt]
l. to kiss (a person's) arse, behind, bum: to behave obsequiously
towards (a person). As imp., esp. in phr. kiss my arse: a vulgar
rejoinder, stronger than 'go to hell'.

1705   in N. & Q. (1971) Feb. 46/1   You can father it..just as you
did another man's philosophical essay upon the wind..when you made
bold with several pages from the learned Dr. Bohun, without saying so
much to the Dr. for his assistance as kiss my a–se.
[End excerpt]

Early English Books Online has this:
1659 Paroimiographia Proverbs
Kiss my arse for a week of fair weather.

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


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