[Ads-l] "smacked-ass"/"face like a smacked arse"

[Baker, John]

I’ve never heard this, although I visit Philadelphia every month or two.  However, those visits are not particularly productive in terms of either slang or insults.

Newsbank has 18 examples dating back to 1991.  Most examples are from Philadelphia, and all examples before 2010 are from southeast Pennsylvania or southern New Jersey.  An article discussing Phillyspeak in the Philadelphia Inquirer, 8/26/2005:  “Smacked ass. Peculiarly Philadelphian, this refers to a person, generally male, who has done something really dumb or foolish. "Did you see how Bobo talked to that woman?! He is such a smacked ass.""

Smackass Gap, North Carolina, is probably unrelated.


John Baker


From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Yagoda, Ben
Sent: Thursday, February 8, 2018 2:38 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: "smacked-ass"/"face like a smacked arse"

I am looking into to the provenance of the above expressions. “Smacked ass,” which I first heard circa 1982, is an insult that appears to be limited to the Philadelphia area. To the extent I could discern the location of the author of every cite I could find on Google Books and other databases, it was Philly, for example, crime writer Lisa Scottoline, Rough Justice: "Then I hold a press conference where I tell the world that the mayor is a smacked ass.” The first Google Books citation is from a 1977 criminology text, quoting (presumably) a criminal: "I just asked for change for a ten-dollar bill and felt like a real smacked-ass to myself.” The snippet view doesn’t allow me to search for any info on the person being quoted, but one of the coauthors, the late James Inciardi, was a professor at my institution, the University of Delaware, and may have done fieldwork in Philly, less than an hour away.

Somebody used it on a bulletin board, was asked what it meant, and replied, “Northeastern US slang for ‘complete idiot.” Someone else responded, "Funny, I've never heard of that in my 30 years of existence, all of it in the Northeast.” Then the original poster said, "Philadelphia, actually. Maybe it was just my mother.” (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=207765)

Green’s Dictionary of Slang has no entry for the term (neither does DARE), but it does have “Face like a smacked arse,” defined as “a phrase used to describe someone who looks very depressed.” It appears to be common in Ireland and the North of England. Jonathon’s first cite for it is 2000 but I found a 1987 quotation on Google Books: "Big red nose, big red face, just like a smacked arse.”—Cedar, by James Murphy. “Face like a smacked arse” has gotten quite popular, with 23 Google Books hits since 2010.

Any guidance or information appreciated. And I’d be interested in if anyone outside of Philadelphia or the United Kingdom has heard it.

Ben



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