Talk:Asshole/Archive 1

rationale
Sometimes I feel like saying this to people who are loudly shifting the blame, like that drunk guy on BART who was ranting about some woman who didn't treat him like he wanted to be treated. On the other hand, this is a self-deprecating question that one may apply to oneself all too often, if one is chronically melancholy. Strange that the human society has room for these opposites: Them that say,     charls oliver                          "It's all, always, all my fault," and them what says "It's anyone's-but-mine fault!" Two very different ways of being in the center of the universe. There are probably lots of ways of being in the happy middle on this one.
 * That's a perfect description of a Narcissist. DariuszT 19:42, 15 May 2005 (UTC)wORD bAD

This is a prime example of a person I know who's name is Steven Wolfe. He workes at the UTES at Fort Indiantown Gap, PA. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 132.79.7.18 (talk) 12:58, 22 April 2009 (UTC)

Is the use of "asshole" as an insult related to the expression "He's full of shit"? It seems like a logical connection. DanBishop (talk) 16:01, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm like tacos but not when they are made from assholes. Can I show their pictures in this article?

A Motto.
Your irritability is my chardonnay.

See also: Talk: Decadence: The Essence of Decadence.

Talk: Evil.

I would be
I would probably top that list, I am all for it. MKGrissmer

asshat forum bit
Does anyone have any info on why the behaviour of minor denizens of a Lost forum in a single thread is in any way encyclopaedic and worth including in this article? User:MeSlapMeThrowRock's only edits on Wikipedia so far are to continuously re-insert, in one way or another, information about this "infamous" board with a pointer to the (rather juvenile) thread as his only evidence for why it's notable. What's so special about these guys? fuddlemark (fuddle me!) 16:28, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

→== Asshole Game == While cute, this paragraph has nothing to do with any attempt to formally define asshat. --71.131.75.178 00:49, 19 February 2006 (UTC) A more modern cultural definition is the (traditionally college-based) drinking game Asshole. It requires simply a deck of cards and for each error or break in rules, players must take a sip of their drink. Typically, players are ranked and any player who wins three times in a row (earning the title of "President" three times) gets to make a new, temporary rule. Games may get out of hand when players of higher rank force lower ranks to drink at their whim for any reason.

Assclown
Does it make sense for assclown to redirect here? To me they are very different concepts. Opinions? -Quasipalm 18:38, 31 May 2006 (UTC) Kerry is an assclown! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.165.209.244 (talk) 18:40, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

THIS is just about the word, not the actual thing
What's this got to do with asshole? There are no pictures of assholes or description of the composite make up. Nothing about the fixed assets or the current assets of the asshole —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.137.123.207 (talk • contribs).
 * For the body part, see Anus. I thought this was clear from the first line of the article. --Damian Yerrick (☎) 21:39, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

Disambiguation
Doesn't the bit at the top seem like a disambiguation page? Can someone make one of those? 66.225.69.254 13:50, 13 July 2006 (UTC)Lostcatholic

ROFL
Anyone else find it funny that this article has been nominated for cleanup? Lick it. There are no images for this article. I propose this image - http://matte0.altervista.org/immagini/asshole.jpeg


 * o_0 I'm scarred for life...
 * That is an exceptionally inaccurate portrayal of the Sahara. The layout of that image also leads me to believe that the author has something against Poland.
 * ; ) 165.146.133.251 00:35, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Haha funny guy. MrBobla 09:23, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

For more, please see: http://shootingmessengers.blogspot.com/2006/06/yet-another-box-o-truth-retort.html


 * I have an idea for an image. Use a picture of some jerk flipping the bird.  Or a photo of someone parked in 4 parking spaces or parked across 2 or more spaces.  Or use a photo of Fred Phelps.
 * 75.191.135.245 (talk) 12:58, 31 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Yeah this article needs a picture of some guy's asshole- nice Wrongapedia, nice!

Explain This?
"A person is called an asshole when they are actually ignorant and in the dark (like the anal ring is) and yet very loud (like the real 'asshole' can be at times due to gastrointestinal turbulence). The loudness of the person is often embarrassing (due to the ignorance) and cause for cringing behavior for the audience"

Ignorant and in the dark with an analogy/metaphor for the real anus seems a little silly. Furthermore I don't see the connection with the very loud part either. I understand where this definition is going but there is a much simpler way to say the same thing!

e.g: An individual who is shunned by others for their actions, comments or thoughts.

hm yes, i dont agree with that description, when i call someone an asshole, i really dont like to think about the anal ring -.o

"popularized by Something Awful"
I see this in a lot of articles, and there are never any cites. 71.131.176.199 00:26, 25 May 2007 (UTC)


 * I noticed this too... I most definitely heard the phrase before the comic came out (apparently 1999) and I am not even really familiar with the comic. Would it really be a blow to the article to simply remove this sentence? 66.28.71.162 15:25, 9 August 2007 (UTC)

Asshat? Trendier?
Since when? Ass-hat turns up once in a quote search on IMDB, where as asshole weighs in at more than a 100 results. Come to think of it, whereas asshole has continuing relevance cred as one of the Dirty Seven, I can't find a damn thing establishing asshat's pop culture cred. --Rev Prez (talk) 08:58, 15 December 2007 (UTC)


 * "Asshat" is just a de-vulgarised (ie. cleaner) version of asshole, much the same as "shiz" is for "shit". Jimthing (talk) 01:44, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Possible vandalism
Wikipedia's page of musician Seal is redirecting to this page. Could anyone please fix that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.110.235.175 (talk) 00:10, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

We Want A Picture
is that possible ?--Choumacher (talk) 21:31, 9 September 2008 (UTC)


 * As a teenager, I read a copy of a buddy's Hustler magazine once. The image used for the "asshole of the month" was hillarious. It was a nude cartoon butt with a fart cloud coming out of it that was ejecting a photo of that month's "asshole" out the butt. The issue I saw had the Shah of Iran as that month's winner. Super kitchy and very funny! 216.153.214.89 (talk) 05:54, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

Findings per the warrant will produce a photo soon enough. 98.148.124.242 (talk) 05:53, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

"Songs using the word asshole"
Seriously? This is not encyclopedic, either in content or style. (Do we really need two sentences devoted to the line "Picasso was never called an asshole", which an explantion that it was released after the band broke up?) At best this section is a pop-culture-cruft list, at worst it is a parody of what Wikipedia is meant to be. --Mr.98 (talk) 17:08, 23 October 2009 (UTC)
 * A year later, I'm removing this pointless section. Westbender (talk)

greenday rocks the roof off — Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.117.110.126 (talk) 00:34, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

Page title
I believe this article should be better named Asswole (word), and the article at Asshole should contain the contents currently on Asshole (disambiguation). This article is obviously not about some asshole nor about assholes in general. It's about the English term.

This would follow suite with Faggot, but not with Motherfucker. Actually, I wonder if we shouldn't instead set fagot straight instead of messing with asshole or motherfucker. --Damiens .rf 22:06, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

Fuck, Slut does the same. The problem actually relies with the Faggot article. Nevermind. --Damiens .rf 22:10, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

Edit request on 5 February 2012
In a common and less obsceen usage, the term becames a substitute and synonym for the woird outraegous. (75.9.101.11 (talk) 10:19, 5 February 2012 (UTC)) This is mostly seen in traffic when one careless driver.

75.9.101.11 (talk) 10:19, 5 February 2012 (UTC)

Not done: Please phrase your request in a 'please change X to Y' degree of detail and provide a reliable source for any factual changes. Thanks, Celestra (talk) 00:57, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 5 February 2012
Submitted for inclusion as the second sentence in the section Symantics: In a more common and less obscene usage, the word becomes an expression meaning you are outrageous. Frequently used in traffic situation when one encounters a poor driver. (75.9.101.11 (talk) 10:31, 5 February 2012 (UTC))

75.9.101.11 (talk) 10:31, 5 February 2012 (UTC)

Not done: This request is clear, but the facts needs to be sourced. The meaning itself, the fact that the meaning is more common and the fact that it is frequently used in traffic should all have some support. The rest of the section seems to be heavily sourced. Thanks, Celestra (talk) 01:05, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

Article states asshole is a pejorative term for anus. Incorrect. It is a vulgar term for anus. It is a pejorative term for people. FrankBlank (talk) 21:41, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

Additional meaning for Asshat
Asshat - a unit vector in the ass direction —The preceding unsigned comment was added by SnakeJG (talk • contribs) 20:23, 11 January 2007 (UTC).

Asshat originated in Battlefield 1942, due to helmets in the shape of buttocks on the Axis side.

By the way, in NO way shape or form did this word or "pwn" or "own" or "frag" originate in Warcraft. Warcraft in itself is unoriginal, just as Starcraft is, both which ideas were stripped from Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000. Blizzard openly admits to this. Just decided to put this out there since it refers to internet slang as well. --Combatwolf 07:42, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
 * For starters? Asshat did not originate in Battlefield 1942. I saw it used years before BF1942 even came onto the drawing board. Secondly; don't trash Warcraft and Starcraft because they are 'unoriginal' when your vaunted Warhammer games are just as bad. Warhammer is but a rip-off of Tolkien, who is but a rip-off of mythology. WH40K is but a rip-off of Alien and other sci-fi crap. Thirdly? Sign properly, or not at all.
 * About the only thing you managed to get right is the fact that "pwn", "own" and "frag" did not originate with Warcraft. --–Xoid 07:09, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

Not a pleonasm
Removed description of 'asshole' as a pleonasm -- 'arse' has never meant 'anus' -- according to the OED, the word has been used since Anglo-Saxon times to refer to ' The fundament, buttocks, posteriors, or rump of an animal.' —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Gasala (talk • contribs) 05:26, 19 March 2007 (UTC).

I agree. When you say "Look at that girls ass", you're not refering to her anus.66.167.39.208 17:10, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

Asshat?
In my experiences, I've always foud the word "assclown to be a lot more popular than "asshat". Tunney 02:24, 17 July 2005 (UTC)


 * Among fans of American professional wrestling (mainly WWE) assclown has become extremely popular due to Chris Jericho's use of the word in his promos. Darryl Hamlin 07:09, 29 September 2005 (UTC)

It'd be better if the usr/bin/w00t link actually went to a strip which used the word "asshat".

"Asshat" may have an origin (or at least a source of popularization) in dialogue from the Coen brothers' film Raising Arizona (1987), where Gayle says (during a robbery of a "hayseed bak"): "Anyone caught bipedal in five where's his ass for a hat!" Or maybe I just like the trivia. "Assclown" also has significant film usage; in Office Space (1999), Michael Bolton (a character, computer programmer) uses it to describe the pop singer with the same name (if I remember correctly). Brent 14:23, 23 October 2005 (UTC

Surely you mean "wears"? "where's" makes very little sense in that context, if any. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.208.83.93 (talk) 04:37, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Gender and/or certain group
Does the gender of a person who is referred to as an asshole matter, i.e., does it have to be a male. Because someone told me that people never call women assholes, is this correct. --198.51.130.254 (talk) 03:27, 8 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Yes and no, depends on the people and context concerned really. Yes, IMO men get the term thrown at them more often and in certain groups a women may get the term bitch instead (though bitch may be used by either sex against a man who may/may not be acting in some supposed culturally pre-defined womanly manor). However, no, because I have many a time also heard the term being used to apply to women, though personally only usually overheard very occasionally in public places, rather than in the groups I frequent personally myself.


 * One thing I have noticed, is in supposed higher social and economic groups of people, if asshole/arsehole or bitch are used at all, it is generally only amongst friends or others one feels at ease with, rather than in open conversation. This is largely because both terms are seen as rather overly vulgar, and so constrained usage is often applied (much like most swearing). Additionally in many socially conservative groups, it may be seen as simply wrong to address anyone regardless of reason with such terms, or may also imply the user is rather uneducated to use such terms which are deemed baseline (lower) level language usage.


 * ...lol, funny conversation this — Does one prefer to be called a bitch or arsehole, please advise before usage! Jimthing (talk) 01:40, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

nearby genitals
"Usually, the term is directed at a male (in female anatomy, the focus is deflected to the nearby genitals; see cunt)" This is stupid and does not make any sense...

Everyone posting on here is really immature, even the mature editors that come here in the first place to delete all the inappropriate comments and slander, I have a serious question for you. Why are you here in the first place, are you that immature that you have to look up the word asshole on Wikipedia, and then talk about it. It all seems quite rude, and inappropriate, even for the most respectable editors. Just my two thoughts. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.156.239.29 (talk) 15:00, 17 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Your wrong actually. Completely wrong. The usual thick comment from the uneducated "I'm above this" idiot brigade. Only people who don't understand the reason for clear objectivism say such ignorant comments as that. Would you say the same to the Oxford English Dictionary or perhaps the Britannica? No you wouldn't, as if something exists, no matter how vulgar or lower level it may be presumed by certain individuals/groups/cultures, it still needs discussing and making as accurate as possible on sites such as Wikipedia et al, because that is the sites' very raison d'être.


 * It takes users who are dedicated to accuracy to spend the time and effort getting even these most basic things defined properly; clearly you don't have the foresight to understand even this. As such, please STOP telling users, who do take the time for across-the-board accuracy without prejudice, they are somehow wrong in doing their work, and crawl back under that stone to whatever uneducated world you came from! (hence why you don't publicly sign-off, cause you're so unsure of your own thoughts you can't even admit to them being your own by doing so!) Jimthing (talk) 02:10, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Inadequate definition
Currently the article says "asshole" is used "generally to describe people who are viewed as stupid or incompetent or detestable". I don't think that's accurate. I almost never hear it used to mean the first two, and the third only occasionally. Merriam-Webster's definition is used as the source for that, but I think they're wrong. Wiktionary's definition says "A jerk; an inappropriately or objectionably mean, inconsiderate, contemptible, obnoxious, intrusive, or rude person." That is exactly what it means in my experience, but I doubt Wiktionary would be a good source for Wikipedia. Dictionary.com defines it as "a stupid, mean, or contemptible person", which is close to the truth, but I'm not sure if dictionary.com is a good source either. The only thing I'm sure about is that Merriam-Webster's definition is wrong and it shouldn't be here.--Teiladnam (talk) 12:47, 17 January 2012 (UTC)

Arse cannot be confused with ass by non-rhotic speakers
Please delete this sentence:

"It is worth noting that speakers of some varieties of English "drop their Rs" before consonants, leading to a pronunciation of arse that is quite similar to ass.[9]"

(1) Ref. 9 no longer exists

(2) I can think of no non-rhotic accent/dialect that would confuse these two words. It has been suggested that a north England speaker might, but this is absolutely not true. The writer appears not to know that, outside North America, there are (at least) two pronunciations of the letter "a" and therefore these two words are clearly different in pronunciation, viz:

arse: ɑːs

ass:æs


 * Irishmen'll tell you you're an /ærs/ and not mean you're an ass. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trap-bath_split#Development_before_nonprevocalic_.2Fr.2F μηδείς (talk) 03:16, 15 June 2012 (UTC)

Google News
Re: this:
 * Its first appearance as an insult term in a newspaper indexed by Google News is in 1965.

Not to be an asshole, but this is original research (searching Google News for the earliest mention). Green Cardamom (talk) 17:08, 23 September 2012 (UTC)

Ascent of the A-Word: Assholism, the First Sixty Years
This book is a gold mine of information about asshole: origin, use, and influence on culture. Even just reading the book reviews, there's enough info to expand this article double at least. I'm not going to do it, but should this article ever be AfD'd again, this book is the source to write a really good Wikipedia article on asshole. Green Cardamom (talk) 17:12, 23 September 2012 (UTC)

Political Usage
I wanted to add the following anecdote, but the page is protected: "On 18 October 1984, the Green member of parliament Joschka Fischer, who later became Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany, addressed the Vice President of the Bundestag Richard Stücklen with 'With all due respect, Mr. President, you're an asshole' ('Mit Verlaub, Herr Präsident, Sie sind ein Arschloch'). Previously, Stücklen had excluded a Green party member from the parliamentary session for calling the Chancellor Helmut Kohl 'bought by Flick' and switched off the microphone, when another member of parliament requested an interruption. Fischer apologized to Stücklen two days later." Could someone add (and edit) the text, as I would have to wait four days after creating an English wikipedia account. (The text is mostly from the article about 85.181.207.208 (talk) 10:25, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 12 January 2014
I think an additional section should be added, as a basis for further additions, entitled "Theorising assholes", which refers to scholarly work on the topic. Text:

Aaron James, in his book "Assholes: A Theory" [publication details here: http://www.amazon.com/Assholes-A-Theory-Aaron-James/dp/0385535651 ] has suggested a theory of assholes, suggesting specifically that "a person is an asshole when his sense of entitlement makes him immune to complaints from other people."

Deandpeters (talk) 16:15, 12 January 2014 (UTC)
 * ❌ Please continue to attempt to find consensus for this proposal. Answering Wbm1058's questions would be a good starting-point. Joefromrandb (talk) 19:01, 29 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Yes, there is some basis for your request. The article Bullshit says in its lead "In philosophy, Harry Frankfurt, among others, analyzed the concept of bullshit as related to but distinct from lying", and that article has a section In the philosophy of truth and rhetoric. Amazon's book summary compares James' book with Frankfurt's. The term "theory" is vague, i.e., what kind of theory? Would this also be a topic in philosophy? Wbm1058 (talk) 16:52, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

English origin?
"This word is found in colloquial speech in a number of cultures (in both English and in direct translation to other languages)" implies that it originated in English, and in other languages is a mere "translation" (loanword). No evidence supports that. According to Arschloch, the German and English words seem to be coetaneous (early Middle Ages). Removed the "translation" part.--84.188.133.222 15:38, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

On the subject of ass vs arse, would it be logical to assume 'arse' came about through hypercorrection in non-rhotic speakers?


 * If we didn't know better, that would be plausible enough. But we do know better.  Arse came first and has cognates in other indo-European languages.  It's worth noting ass and arse are not pronounced the same by most British speakers of English, be they non-rhotic or not. The first usually has a short vowel, the second a long one.  In the north of England, of course, speakers may use a short vowel in both.  Scots tend not to make such distinctions of length, but then Scots tend to be rhotic too, so they distinguish. I'd guess (and I'm being lazy and not looking this up now) that the similarity of arse and ass led the second to be used euphemistically for the first, but I might be wrong.  Either way, the /r/ is no hypercorrection.  garik 22:28, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

No, arse does not come about through hypercorrection from ass. The r is original. The root is perfectly good Indo-European and other terms such as the German are equally descendent from IE, not from the English. μηδείς (talk) 07:10, 5 September 2010 (UTC)


 * 'Ass' in the American meaning of backside isn't used in British English because 'ass' is already a term for a donkey and has been for centuries. So to call someone an 'ass' in British English is to imply they are like a donkey. To refer to the backside, the word 'arse' is used. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.148.220.15 (talk) 17:53, 25 January 2015 (UTC)

Archived a few threads
Archived a few threads, specifically, those that were marked as resolved, and/or quite old with zero new comments for some time. &mdash; Cirt (talk) 00:25, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 3 May 2018
The entry for the word "asshole" has been added to the "penumatic hammer" page here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_hammer I do not know how to remove it. 137.132.119.36 (talk) 05:47, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Yes check.svg Done by purging the page. Gulumeemee (talk) 06:48, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 3 May 2018
On the page for "Man in the Moon": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_in_the_Moon_(disambiguation) There is an asshole with a hat that says "asshole" and a definition and history of the word "asshole". 2601:8C:4103:FFB0:2DA6:F107:92E0:C5C7 (talk) 13:09, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * I've purged the page in question. Thanks for the report. TwoTwoHello (talk) 13:16, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

"Pooholes" listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Pooholes. Please participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. SpicyMilkBoy (talk) 15:50, 19 March 2020 (UTC)

Asshat
Asshat redirects here but is unmentioned. Asshat is someone with their head up their ass. Not the same as an asshole. ~Kvng (talk) 17:19, 3 April 2020 (UTC)