Arse/ass

Is it pure coincidence that these two one-syllable words starting with “a” make mildly crude reference to the posterior? The former seems most prevalent in England and former/members of the British Commonwealth, whereas people sit on the latter in the US. Did one come from the other? Did Americans drop the former along with the tea tax in revolt? Or, are the origins entirely separate, the latter stemming from the donkey in some way? If you know, get off your whatever and start typing…

What I have heard is that ass used to be a polite substitute for arse, but somehow in the mists of memory, ass became the ruder term, and arse has become a polite substitute for it.

Well, I’ve also heard that people in Britain sometimes refer to a hoss as a “horse”.

Seriously, though, I think the real coincidence is that the Yanqi pronunciation of arse, that is, shortening the “a” and dropping the “r”, happens to sound the same as another word for donkey. When American words are different from British words, the American words are often simpler, thus being quicker to say, which is important because we Yanqs are always in a hurry. Where we’re going is anybody’s guess.

British American
aluminium aluminum
perambulator stroller
scrum scrimmage
wireless telephone radio
excellent idea, old chum aww yeah
telly God


Screaming at a wall is certainly futile.
It can also be very satisfying, particularly if it involves a lot of profanity.

Okay, so I fell off the ass trying to make up my cutesy trans-Atlantic glossary. Honestly, I put a ton of spaces in between my Yank term and my Limey term. And some feature of something or other parsed them to death. Here is an example, after this colon I will hit the space bar five times: there, how did that work?


Screaming at a wall is certainly futile.
It can also be very satisfying, particularly if it involves a lot of profanity.

“Arse” was the original term for the buttocks. During Victorian times, it was considered improper to refer to such things, so the similar-sounding “ass” was adopted as a euthemism for “arse”. “Ass” was originally not a naughty word at all, referring as it did to nothing but a donkey. The word “donkey” was itself relatively rare before “ass” became a naughty word. “Ass” became so naughty over time that people started using “arse” again, thinking it was a euphemism for “ass” when actually it’s a kind of dysphemism. Lord Macaulay said something along the lines of “The terms that are delicate in one generation are coarse in the next.”

By the way, when someone is calling you an ass, it’s usually not a euphemism for asshole. He’s saying you’re as stupid and stubborn as a donkey. If you want to say he’s an anus in return, go all the way and call him an asshole, or arsehole. Likewise, when you say something is “bull”, that’s not a euphemism for “bullshit”. “Bull” has meant “nonsense” ever since Protestants have started ignoring Papal Bulls.


Work is the curse of the drinking classes. (Oscar Wilde)

Dysphemism! I haven’t heard that word used in … ever. Thanks for clearing that up, Bibliophage and Johnny.

When you positively, absolutely &nbsp&nbsp have &nbsp&nbsp to have embedded blanks, type the characters & nbsp (with no blank between the amper and the “n”) for each blank you need to insert except the last one. There is no tab available and the five character string for “non-breaking space” will make your pre-submitted post look rather strange, but it will work.
One further note: do not join the “nbsp” to any characters following, the leading amper will make UBB think you attempted a much longer symbolic and it will resolve to nothing at all.

Examples (substituting # for & in the “typing” example):
to display this:
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Ta Da!
type this:
#nbsp#nbsp#nbsp#nbsp#nbsp#nbsp#nbsp#nbsp#nbsp#nbsp#nbsp Ta Da!

Do not type this:
#nbsp#nbsp#nbsp#nbsp#nbsp#nbsp#nbsp#nbsp#nbsp#nbsp#nbspTa Da!
because it will give you this:
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspTa Da!

Tom~

Thanks a bundle Tom. I’ve flirted with UBB code from time to time but it always ends up slapping my face.

British &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp American
aluminium &nbsp&nbsp aluminum
perambulator &nbsp&nbsp stroller
scrum &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp scrimmage
wireless telephone &nbsp&nbsp radio
excellent idea, old chum aww yeah
telly &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp God

[crossing fingers]


Screaming at a wall is certainly futile.
It can also be very satisfying, particularly if it involves a lot of profanity.

Boris B,

Try using the {code} & {/code} UBB tags (substituting the { for [ and } for ].

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=“1” face=“Verdana, Arial”>code:</font><HR><pre>
American British
TV Telly
truck lorry
cigarette fag
ass arse




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Wrong thinking is punished, right thinking is just as swiftly rewarded. You'll find it an effective combination.

Well, what about these?

American: elevator
British: lift

Am: apartment
Br: flat

And let’s not even get into the whole “suspenders” question.


I’m your only friend
I’m not your only friend
But I’m a little glowing friend
But really I’m not actually your friend
But I am