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Ben Zimmer bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM
Mon Oct 8 17:12:02 UTC 2018


Earliest cite in GDoS for "unass" is from 1969.

1969 ‘Iceberg Slim’ _Mama Black Widow_ 51: Unass mah money, lady.


On Mon, Oct 8, 2018 at 1:07 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Green's Dictionary of Slang
> https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/x3ygdea
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> un-ass v.
> [SE pfx un- + ass n. (2)]
> [1960s+]
> 1. (US black) to hand over, to give up.
> 2. to leave, to abandon.
> [End excerpt]
>
> I do not have access to the citations at GDOS.
> On Mon, Oct 8, 2018 at 12:52 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Here is an instance of "un-ass" (with the sense disembark) from a U.S.
> > soldier in Vietnam published in 1971. JL may have some early cites.
> >
> > Date: May 2, 1971
> > Newspaper: Rocky Mount Sunday Telegram
> > Newspaper Location: Rocky Mount, North Carolina
> > Article: Story of Lt. William L. Calley and His Court-martial
> > Author: Arthur Everett, Kathryn Johnson, and Harry F. Rosenthal
> > (Associated Press)
> > Quote Page B1, Column 7
> > Database: Newspapers.com
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > "But the only really significant thing I remember there, that on
> > final, the AC aircraft commander turned around and told me we had a
> > hot one, we were coming in hot and I believe he said, 'When I get low,
> > un-ass.'
> >
> > "And we definitely did. I think my first man went out the chopper when
> > we were still at 15 feet. I went off, it was about five feet off the
> > ground."
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > On Mon, Oct 8, 2018 at 9:44 AM MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY
> > RDECOM AMRDEC (US) <william.d.mullins18.civ at mail.mil> wrote:
> > >
> > > Wilson - I’m not surprised
> > > Bill
> > >
> > > > On Oct 8, 2018, at 7:20 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > All active links contained in this email were disabled.  Please
> verify the identity of the sender, and confirm the authenticity of all
> links contained within the message prior to copying and pasting the address
> to a Web browser.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ----
> > > >
> > > >> "Unass" is older than this; I have heard it in use verbally since
> the
> > > >> mid-1990s.
> > > >
> > > > unass v. to dismount or disembark (a vehicle); to get off of
> > > > (something); to unseat (someone); to leave (somewhere). Editorial
> > > > Note: This term dates back to at least the 1960s and the Vietnam War.
> > > > It is especially associated with the military, from where it has
> > > > spread to politics and aeronautics. (Nov 17, 2004
> > > > A Way with Words | unass
> > > > Caution-https://www.waywordradio.org/unass/
> > > >
> > > > My personal experience is that this was used in the Army as far back
> > > > as the Korean War.
> > > >> On Mon, Oct 8, 2018 at 12:35 AM Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
> > > >>
> > > >> The most recent updates include a lot of entries derived from ass,
> bum,
> > > >> butt, and the like.
> > > >>
> > > >> Included is "bums in seats" (1978), but missing is "butts in seats".
> > > >>
> > > >> _Corbin [KY] Times-Tribune_ 23 Oct 1970 p 2 col 1
> > > >>
> > > >> " "The object of the game is to put butts in the seats," said
> Cousy."
> > > >>
> > > >> Evanston IL _Daily Northwestern_ 7 Oct 1971 p 8 col 2
> > > >>
> > > >> "How do you get the butts in the seats?"
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >> And also missing is "Asscrackistan"
> > > >>
> > > >> _Rolling Stone_ 25 Jul 2002, quoted in _Slug & Lettuce_ Summer
> 2003, p 2
> > > >> col 2
> > > >>
> > > >> "Now while the reporting in Rolling Stone is dodgy, and superficial
> at
> > > >> best, this article, "Horny and Heavily Armed" (issue 901, July 25,
> 2002)
> > > >> was great because it portrayed military men as exactly what they
> are.
> > > >> In this article, the journalist Even Wright, joins an army platoon
> in
> > > >> garrison based in a country they call "Ass-crack-istan." "
> > > >>
> > > >> Caution-
> https://digitalcommons.ric.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=Caution-https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=2814&context=as220_root
> > > >>
> > > >> _Prisoner Express_ Spring 2010 p. 16 col 1
> > > >>
> > > >> "Let me especially extend my apologies to the anonymous government
> > > >> employees whose brilliant idea to set this man to killing his fellow
> > > >> Arabs in Asscrackistan caused him to instead begin murdering the
> killers
> > > >> he was training with."
> > > >>
> > > >> Caution-
> https://prisonerexpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/2010_1_Spring.pdf
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >> "Unass" (to get people to get off their butts) is not included,
> either.
> > > >>
> > > >> _Small Arms Defense Journal_ Jan 2016  p 104 col 1
> > > >> "Defilade, enfilade, grazing fire, plunging fire, and suppressive
> fire
> > > >> on assault or effective cover for your platoon to unass an AO gone
> bad."
> > > >>
> > > >> Caution-
> http://machinegunarmory.com/MGAMilSite/Publications/SMDJ_vol8_no1_JANUARY_2016104-107.pdf
> > > >>
> > > >> _The Eddy Line_ Mar 2001 p 17 col 2
> > > >>
> > > >> "Footage includes Clint Rinehart demonstrating how to unass a kayak
> and
> > > >> swim from the hole below Left Crack and into Middle Crack's hole at
> 2.4
> > > >> feet."
> > > >>
> > > >> Caution-
> http://www.gapaddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/el200103.pdf
> > > >>
> > > >> _The Intake_ Sum 2011 p. 32
> > > >>
> > > >> "He wrote back that because he didn't have to "unass" the bird, it
> > > >> didn't fit there either."
> > > >>
> > > >> Caution-
> https://supersabresociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Issue-16-Summer-2006.pdf
> > > >>
> > > >> ("Unass" is older than this; I have heard it in use verbally since
> the
> > > >> mid-1990s.)
> > > >>
>

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