[Ads-l] Euphemism?

Mon Oct 14 15:29:53 UTC 2019

Great column on stronglang.  (Not on strangling, as my spellcheck thinks I must mean.)  One additional reference on X-ass:
Patricia Irwin (2015), "Expressive meaning in an AAE attributive construction”, Language Sciences 50: 12-29
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0388000115000054

> On Oct 14, 2019, at 10:43 AM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> As Garson suggested upthread, earlier examples of "wise ass" (as those
> given by John Baker) use "ass" in the sense of "donkey." I think JL's
> excellent 1951 example is still the earliest in the modern sense, where the
> anatomical sense of "ass" is implied. I did a search on an edition of "My
> Six Convicts" on Google Books and found the quote in snippet view, but I
> see it's actually "Let this wise-ass ham hang hisself" (not "himself").
> 
> https://books.google.com/books?id=WoDaAAAAMAAJ&q=%22wise+ass%22
> 
> Of related interest: I wrote a post earlier this year for the Strong
> Language blog on "stupid-ass" (as used in the 1967 song "Jackie" performed
> by the late Scott Walker):
> 
> https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2019/03/26/a-cute-cute-in-a-stupid-ass-way/
> 
> Relevant bits:
> 
> -----
> In American English, _ass_ for "donkey" and _arse_ for "buttocks" merged
> historically into the single word _ass_, and confusion over this ambiguity
> has reigned ever since. Calling someone "a stupid ass," for instance, would
> be relatively tame under the "donkey" reading of _ass_, but as the
> equivalent of British _arse_ it would be much more vulgar. _Asshole_ of
> course dispels with the ambiguity, as that can only be understood
> anatomically. [...]
> It strikes me that at least early on, the adjectival use of _dumb-ass_ and
> _stupid-ass_ had a kind of strategic ambiguity. Because "dumb" and "stupid"
> are qualities associated with donkeys, the "donkey" meaning of _ass_ could
> have been foremost in many people's minds. But for those in the know,
> especially those familiar with African-American slang, it would have had
> more of a connection to the anatomical sense. (That connection would have
> been undeniable in the written form _dumb-assed_ or _stupid-assed_; it's
> been argued that the _-ass_ suffix arose out of a dialectal pronunciation
> of _-assed_ that dropped the final /t/ sound.)
> -----
> 
> --bgz
> 
> On Mon, Oct 14, 2019 at 10:22 AM Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:
> 
>> There are a couple of earlier examples from the (Salt Lake City) Daily
>> Tribune (NewspaperArchive), probably both from the same writer, and both
>> addressing free silver.
>> 
>> April 19, 1890:  “If a railroad company were to send out a train with only
>> lubricating oil enough to keep the boxes of the passenger cars cool,
>> leaving none for the locomotive, baggage and express cars, and then when
>> the train came to a standstill because of hot boxes, were some wise ass to
>> say:  To supply oil which will enable the locomotive to run, it will jump
>> the track and smash things.” He would occupy exactly the same position that
>> the goldito occupies to-day, and he would be just as wise as is the Senator
>> or Representative or Secretary of the Treasury, who wants to hedge the
>> silver bill around with objections which will destroy its usefulness.”
>> 
>> May 22, 1890, after quoting an article from the New York Evening Post:
>> “This same wise ass goes on to say, “There is no reason why the currency of
>> the country should not be enlarged,” but adds, “but why must silver be
>> singled out and stored by the hundreds of tons as a basis of currency when
>> a better currency with less complication and less cost could be furnished
>> with legal tender notes issued by the govern?””
>> 
>> There are also references to a “wise ass” in the 1604 play Westward Ho, by
>> Thomas Dekker and John Webster, but it seems to have a different meaning
>> there.
>> 
>> 
>> John Baker
>> 
>> 
>> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of
>> Jonathan Lighter
>> Sent: Monday, October 14, 2019 7:57 AM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: Re: Euphemism?
>> 
>> External Email - Think Before You Click
>> 
>> 
>> 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<mailto: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/p7oyyzi>
>>>> https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/laf3gkq<
>> 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>
>>> https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015030760725?urlappend=%3Bseq=233<
>> 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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