# Asshat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 1, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250 "2003-05-01T00:00:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/1 "2003-05-01T00:00:01Z")
How do you pronounce ‘asshat’ ? and where/when did it start being an oft used term of abuse? ---
**Author:** ![Peg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Peg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peg)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/2 "2003-05-01T00:02:25Z")
I have no idea if this is accurate or a big old joke, but here ya go: [http://www.confusednation.com/asshat/](http://www.confusednation.com/asshat/) ---
**Author:** ![Peg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Peg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peg)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/3 "2003-05-01T00:14:24Z")
Crud. Please ignore the above post. It’s a nice story, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/4 "2003-05-01T00:17:36Z")
Implies cranial insertion into rectum. ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/5 "2003-05-01T01:37:10Z")
how do you say it: ‘arse hat’ or ‘arse shat’ ---
**Author:** ![dave316](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dave316](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dave316)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/6 "2003-05-01T02:03:48Z")
they use it at [www.fark.com](http://www.fark.com) a lot maybe it started there ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/7 "2003-05-01T02:33:39Z")
[quote] _Originally posted by MelCthefirst_ **how do you say it: ‘arse hat’ or 'arse shat’** [quote] _Originally posted by Mangetout_ \*\*Implies cranial insertion into rectum.\*\*Given that the meaning of “asshat” implies wearing your ass as a hat, I would assume that the pronunciation is “ass hat”. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/8 "2003-05-01T02:35:09Z")
Man, I **really** screwed up that coding. Oh well, you get the point. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/9 "2003-05-01T02:49:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MelCthefirst \* > \*\*how do you say it: ‘arse hat’ or ‘arse shat’ \*\* Neither. Arse is not a word! Ass! ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/10 "2003-05-01T04:08:55Z")
I guess a more phonetically correct spelling would be ‘ahs’ maybe not ‘arse’, but definitely not ‘ass’ with my accent. ---
**Author:** ![effac3d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@effac3d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/effac3d)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/11 "2003-05-01T04:20:15Z")
My guess is some fourums and chat rooms automatically filtered out “asshole” so people started using the term asshat to beat it. One more thing Fark has a filter on their talkback, it automatically changes asshole to asshat and i will let you guess what it changes to fark 😉 The origin is probably one of those. ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vampire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Space\_Vampire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vampire)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/12 "2003-05-01T04:32:48Z")
I believe I saw it first on Something Awful, and it suits their style. They probably weren’t THE first people to ever use the word on the face of the earth, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they popularized. Both Fark and SD have a good chunk of SD overlap so it would make sense for it to migrate. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/13 "2003-05-01T06:25:05Z")
Sorry, I think it’s lame. It sounds like the kind of slander little kids would come up with. Ranks right up there with ‘buttmunch’. And anyway, we already have plenty of perfectly good expletives, lots of which will make it through message board filters. Besides, if it were suppored to imply cranial-rectal insertion, it would be ‘hatass’. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/14 "2003-05-01T06:36:06Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by MelCthefirst_ > **I guess a more phonetically correct spelling would be ‘ahs’ maybe not ‘arse’, but definitely not ‘ass’ with my accent.** However you pronounce the word “ass”, that’s how you would pronounce the “ass” in “asshat”. It’s a simple compound word. If you have an accent, that should carry over to the new word, or else people who know you will think you’re being strange for have different pronunciations of “ass” depending on how the word is being used. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > \*\*Besides, if it were suppored to imply cranial-rectal insertion, it would be ‘hatass’. \*\* Not really. You wouldn’t say to someone, “You’re wearing a hatass,” would you? That just sounds wrong. It’s a hat. What kind of hat? An _ass_ hat. ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Barber\_s\_Underwear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/58f4c7/32.png) [@Tony\_Barber\_s\_Underwear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Barber_s_Underwear)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/15 "2003-05-01T07:03:07Z")
I’m sure its only a matter of time before **Guinistasia** pops in to tell everyone that she was the first person to use the term on the SDMB. - Bubba ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/16 "2003-05-01T07:31:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tony Barber’s Underwear \* > **I’m sure its only a matter of time before Guinistasia pops in to tell everyone that she was the first person to use the term on the SDMB.** Well, we can put that to rest. The word was used by **Sasquatch!** in the thread [When is a spoiler no longer a spoiler?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=1545064#post1545064) on August 25, 2001. It was used by **Guinistasia** in the thread [Fuck you, God. FUCK YOU!!!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=1730215#post1730215) on October 19, 2001. It was also used by **Ashtar** and **SPOOFE** before **Guin** first used it. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/17 "2003-05-01T07:34:16Z")
I can’t wait until someone comes out with a foam rubber asshat. (You know it’s going to happen. Don’t act so shocked.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/18 "2003-05-01T09:48:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SenorBeef \* > **Neither. Arse is not a word!** Perhaps not on your side of the Atlantic. ---
**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/19 "2003-05-01T09:58:14Z")
I’m with Sam in that it’s probably the weakest insult I’ve ver heard. To me it produces visions of some guy with a top hat balanced somewhere on his lower back. ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250/20 "2003-05-01T14:02:42Z")
What ever happened to good ol’ opticorectalitis? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asshat/172250.md?page=2)