[Ads-l] Euphemism?

[Jonathan Lighter]

Earliest:

1951 Donald Powell Wilson _My Six Convicts_ (N.Y.: Rinehart) 45 [ref. to
1933]: Let this wise-ass ham hang himself.

Dr. Wilson's book is a semi-fictionalized account of his time as a prison
psychologist at Ft. Leavenworth in the '30s.

JL


On Mon, Oct 14, 2019 at 12:24 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

> Ben Zimmer wrote:
> > Try hyphenating. OED2 has "wise-ass" from 1971 (Current Slang, Univ. S.
> > Dakota), and also "wise-assed" from 1967 (Tamony's "Americanisms").
> Green's
> > Dictionary of Slang, meanwhile, has "wise-ass"  from 1961 and
> "wise-assed"
> > from 1960.
> >
> > https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/p7oyyzi
> > https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/laf3gkq
>
> There are early matches in which a "wise ass" refers to a donkey. Here
> is a snippet match for "wise ass" with the modern sense that is
> probably from 1959.
>
> Year: 1959 (According to GB)
> Book Title: Let Me Be Awake
> Author: Stuart Mitchner
> Publisher: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., New York
> Database: Google Books Snippet; data may be inaccurate; should be
> verified with hardcopy. Probe for 1959 show "Copyright 1959" in a
> snippet.
>
> [Begin extracted text - GB page 127]
> “A wise-ass! We've got a goddam wise-ass! I hate wise-asses, Reed, and
> you're the biggest wise-ass in this whole green-ass lousy pledge
> class!” A pledge laughed and was immediately shouted down. “Funny,
> Bailey? Laughing at your own ...
> [End extracted text]
>
> Search for "1959" displays a snippet suggesting that the year is accurate.
>
> [Begin snippet text]
> Copyright (c) 1959 by Stuart Mitchner
> All Rights reserved, No Part of This Book May
> [End snippet text]
>
> Here is a match in 1960 that is fully visible in HathiTrust. The
> excerpt seems to be a war scenario and "Nips" are mentioned which
> suggests the WWII time period, but the slang presented by the author
> might be anachronistic
>
> Year: 1960 Copyright
> Book Title: Do Not Go Gentle
> Author: David MacCuish
> Publisher: Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York
>
> https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015030760725
> https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015030760725?urlappend=%3Bseq=233
>
> [Begin excerpt from page 226 and 227]
> Hudge grunted a laugh that dissolved into silence as the bleak eyes of
> Larko hit him. "You got a feather up your ass, Hudgins?"
> "Only salt water, Sarge. I was jus' thinkin'—"
> "Stow it! Yer not paid ta think."
> Hudge rapped his helmet with the knuckles of a dirty hand.
> "Pardon, commander. My head gets in the way sometimes."
> "The Nips have a cure for that, wise ass!"
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
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>


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