[Ads-l] Euphemism?

Mon Oct 14 19:43:06 UTC 2019

HDAS has lots on -ass(ed).

JL

On Mon, Oct 14, 2019 at 11:29 AM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

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

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