# Hey-they said asshat on That 70's Show! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-they-said-asshat-on-that-70s-show/169009 "2003-04-16T02:50:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-they-said-asshat-on-that-70s-show/169009/1 "2003-04-16T02:50:17Z")
I was watching one of the reruns on UPN, and Eric was talking about how Red threatened him by saying he’d turn his ass into a hat. Then Hyde said, “Oh, come on now, Foreman-an asshat isn’t so bad.” Then I think Kelso called Eric an asshat! Yay asshat! ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-they-said-asshat-on-that-70s-show/169009/2 "2003-04-16T03:14:12Z")
[Borg voice] We are Dope™ You will be ass hatted Resistance is due to a low fiber diet. [/Bv] ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-they-said-asshat-on-that-70s-show/169009/3 "2003-04-16T03:46:43Z")
[sarcasm] And I’m so sure that asshat was commonplace in the 70’s… [/sarcasm] Okay, I don’t watch the 70’s show… but I did check out the pilot episode when it first came out. Didn’t care for it. Is it just me, or does anybody else see these really as 90’s acting kids in 70’s clothes? They just didn’t really seem to be acting like they were from the 70s… Oh, and regardless – Go SDMB! Soon, the world will tremble at the feet of the mighty Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-they-said-asshat-on-that-70s-show/169009/4 "2003-04-16T04:48:51Z")
**Monstre** , I’m all with you. They’re just kids in bellbottoms. I don’t really get the show but YMMV. You’d think that with such a blatant name it would have relevence to the 70’s but there is very little. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-they-said-asshat-on-that-70s-show/169009/5 "2003-04-16T05:38:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoClueBoy \* > \*\*[Borg voice] > > We are Dope™ > > You will be ass hatted > > Resistance is due to a low fiber diet. > > [/Bv] \*\* Ohhh, Bo **r** g voice. I coulda sworn you said Bong voice. ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-they-said-asshat-on-that-70s-show/169009/6 "2003-04-16T06:18:35Z")
"We are the… uh, yeah, we are the Bong. You will (cough cough)… wow, that’s pretty harsh, I hope it’s… Oooh, yeah, heh. What? Oh, yeah, We are, like, no, wait, heh heh, we are, heh heh heh, hang on a minute, okay? Okay. We are the Bong… hahaha, I said “Bong”. Hahahaha. Oooh, corn chips. Okay, we are the Bong, and you will be ass… hahaha, ass. You will be ass! All your ass belong to us! No, seriously, we are the Bong, and your ass will be imil… hey, was that right?" ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-they-said-asshat-on-that-70s-show/169009/7 "2003-04-16T06:31:01Z")
Did the SDMB really coin ‘asshat’? I think they take credit for it over at Fark as well. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-they-said-asshat-on-that-70s-show/169009/8 "2003-04-16T06:40:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cainxinth \* > \*\*Did the SDMB really coin ‘asshat’? I think they take credit for it over at Fark as well. \*\* The first occurence of [“asshat” on the SDMB](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=1545064&highlight=asshat#post1545064) was on August 8, 2001. The first use of [“asshat” on That 70’s Show](http://tv.yahoo.com/tvpdb?d=tvp&id=167709636&cf=0&lineup=us_DMA743&channels=us_KTBY&chspid=166030757&chname=FOX+4&progutn=1050472800&.intl=us) was on February 1, 2000. That 70’s Show trumps the SDMB by over a year and a half. ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-they-said-asshat-on-that-70s-show/169009/9 "2003-04-16T06:42:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fear Itself \* > \*\*The first occurence of [“asshat” on the SDMB](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=1545064&highlight=asshat#post1545064) was on August 8, 2001. The first use of [“asshat” on That 70’s Show](http://tv.yahoo.com/tvpdb?d=tvp&id=167709636&cf=0&lineup=us_DMA743&channels=us_KTBY&chspid=166030757&chname=FOX+4&progutn=1050472800&.intl=us) was on February 1, 2000. That 70’s Show trumps the SDMB by over a year and a half. \*\* First use of asshat on usenet, 1998. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-they-said-asshat-on-that-70s-show/169009/10 "2003-04-16T06:42:32Z")
Sorry, that should be August 24, 2001. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-they-said-asshat-on-that-70s-show/169009/11 "2003-04-16T06:46:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bdgr \* > \*\*First use of asshat on usenet, 1998. \*\* [Right you are, **bdgr**](http://groups.google.com/groups?q=asshat&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&scoring=d&as_drrb=b&as_mind=12&as_minm=5&as_miny=1981&as_maxd=15&as_maxm=4&as_maxy=1999&selm=6feglg%24rj2%40bgtnsc03.worldnet.att.net&rnum=4) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-they-said-asshat-on-that-70s-show/169009/12 "2003-04-16T21:04:38Z")
What does _asshat_ mean? What’s the derivation? P.S. Never heard the term in the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-they-said-asshat-on-that-70s-show/169009/13 "2003-04-16T21:30:36Z")
I’ll share My First Asshat Story, this is where I heard it first. In Dark Age of Camelot, they have Realm vs. Realm combat, which is basically large scale team-based PvP. When you die, your body falls to the ground. Jumping on the body, taunting the body, etc. are ways of being disrespectful and amusing. Sitting down on the dead person’s head was called “being asshat-ed”. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-they-said-asshat-on-that-70s-show/169009/14 "2003-04-16T21:49:35Z")
To be fair to “That 70s Show” they weren’t using it it any way that would make it seem like it was a common, or even rare word at the time. Red threatened to turn Eric’s ass into a hat. Eric complained to his friends that Red threatened to turn his ass into a hat. And then Hyde put 1 and 1 together and coined the term. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-they-said-asshat-on-that-70s-show/169009/15 "2003-04-16T22:45:25Z")
I think the original derivation may have come from the Billy Crystal movie “City Slickers” when one of Crystal’s friends on the cattle drive refers to the pretty girl and tell Crystal, “You want to wear her ass as a hat.” Just a WAG, though. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-they-said-asshat-on-that-70s-show/169009/16 "2003-04-16T23:29:22Z")
I got it from SAAN. We use it all the time over there. And guess what? I have everyone saying it over at Ms. Go me. “And **Guin** did spread the word of the Asshat. And it was good.”