# Is the word "asshole" the strongest insult in English? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 10, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779 "2013-01-10T18:58:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/21 "2013-01-10T21:19:19Z")
[This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cV_q-mVAAA&sns=em), from the movie _Team America_, is a discussion of the words dicks, pussies, and assholes. My favorite line from the great Brit movie about political machinations _In the Loop_ (from Yes, Prime Minister?) is When talking to a prig (among other things) US government guy, who earlier had said “F, star, star, K” the British public affairs handler says “F, star, star, cunt.” ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/22 "2013-01-10T21:22:27Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > ETA: Although ‘cocksucker’ may have orignated as a homophobic slur, it’s totally generic now IMO. For sure, I don’t think of it at all as implying the that the object of the insult is homosexual or that there’s anything wrong with being gay/lesbian. I can hear it now: “Hey, you cocksucker! Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/23 "2013-01-10T21:25:12Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > Words have meaning. An asshole is well, listen to the [Denis Leary song](http://youtu.be/UrgpZ0fUixs). Basically it refers to a person who disrespects other. Not exactly the thermonuclear weapon of words. Yeah, I’ve come to realize that calling some people assholes is an insult to actual assholes… after all, they do serve a useful function. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/24 "2013-01-10T21:27:25Z")
> [@toofs](#): > > A real world example: “Deep inside yourself, you must know why you are alone, and I am guessing that you are too weak to address your problems. You cannot get a date because of your abrasive, controlling personality. You are a pathetic loser.” Is [this](http://xkcd.com/1027/)based on you? ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/25 "2013-01-10T21:34:15Z")
I consider it a not overly aggressive minor insult. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/26 "2013-01-10T21:52:52Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Is [this](http://xkcd.com/1027/)based on you? XKCD is great! I told that real world insult to a disgusting man I unfortunately shared 10 months on a deployment a few years ago. He made an inappropriate sexual comment about my wife. Fuck him. He deserved the insult. What are we going to do, fight? We all had guns. See, that word in the op (asshole) isn’t really as insulting as a personalized application of the word “loser.” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/27 "2013-01-10T22:29:19Z")
Moved to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/28 "2013-01-10T22:30:10Z")
I think “Piece of Shit” is a much stronger insult than Asshole. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/29 "2013-01-10T22:33:51Z")
I think that asshole is a pretty lightweight insult. Just think of any of the other ‘4 letter words’ and you’ll top asshole. In America, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/30 "2013-01-10T22:38:46Z")
I think asshole is very mild. Bitch is much worse in many contexts being said about women and in virtually all contexts about men. Go call 10 men “asshole” and then go call 10 men “punk ass bitch” and observe the difference in response. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/31 "2013-01-10T22:40:26Z")
> [@TheCrow](#): > > Is the word “asshole” the strongest insult in English? I’d consider something like “monster” to be worse. “Asshole” is what you get called for being a jerk; “monster” is what you get called for cutting children up with knives. ---
**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/32 "2013-01-10T22:46:50Z")
If I call you a flying fuckwit you have just added the last straw and had better back away slowly. Arsehole barely registers and cunts are everywhere that isn’t polite company or fiercely feminist. Before I get to flying fuckwit I have likely unleashed everything I learned from growing up watching The Bill on telly, British insults just seem more punchy than American or our own Aussie versions. I am particularly fond of using toe-rag. ---
**Author:** ![YourAdHere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/65b543/32.png) [@YourAdHere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YourAdHere)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/33 "2013-01-10T22:48:55Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Spoilered because I refuse to bowdlerize the words:[spoiler]‘Nigger’ is the worst if it’s said in anger by a light-skinned person to a dark-skinned person. It will reliably provoke the most outrage, not just in the hearer but in others within earshot, and may well cause a violent scene. However, if two dark-skinned people who know each other well call each other ‘nigga’ or similar, very often no offense is meant and it’s perfectly friendly. > > (Variations on ‘nigger’ are also extremely offensive: ‘Sand nigger’ for ‘person of Middle Eastern, Persian, or North African descent’ and ‘prairie nigger’ for ‘Native American’ are likely as offensive as the base word in similar contexts.) > > ‘Cunt’ is offensive pretty much exclusively to females in the US; call an American man a ‘cunt’ and he’ll wonder what the hell you’re talking about. That said, it is pretty damned offensive to women and girls. Whether calling the body part a ‘cunt’ is offensive depends greatly on the people involved. > > With males, it’s different: ‘Faggot’ or ‘homo’ might well be the _ne plus ultra_ of offense, provoking immediate violence, or it might cause gales of laughter. Similar ‘cocksucker’. ‘Asshole’ is pretty reliable to cause offense, but not to a violent level in my experience.[/spoiler] Sometimes the most offensive word depends on the person, and others may not be as offended or even find the word offensive. I worked with a jolly gay guy at papa John’s in high school. My boss\* called him “a fat disgusting fucking faggot”. I was trying to console him later when he was crying and he said he was used to faggot (how sad), but it was the "fat " part that got him. Plus it depends on who says it, how, and when. \*a fellow teenager, who also used to call me a “fucking faggot” all the time and hit/ throw heavy shit at us. He sucked I don’t know how he managed to always have girlfriends. ETA anything anti semetic / racist is so taboo I won’t even write it. Prepare to be seen as " literally hitler" if you dare to utter it, even in jest. ---
**Author:** ![YourAdHere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/65b543/32.png) [@YourAdHere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YourAdHere)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/34 "2013-01-10T22:57:11Z")
Uggh anti Semitic, sorry, already edited thrice. Dang semetes. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/35 "2013-01-10T23:45:09Z")
“C-word?” What are we 12? ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/36 "2013-01-10T23:46:49Z")
No, 12-year-olds are some little foul-mouthed bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/37 "2013-01-10T23:49:07Z")
> [@Shadowfyre](#): > > As to the c-word: Is it only offensive for woman to be called one? Say I was writing erotic fiction (not that I do. This is hypothetical) and used the c-word to refer to the woman’s vagina, would that still raise the same ire? Probably not. A lot of women writers use the word ‘‘cunt’’ in erotic writing. I’m pretty sure I have myself. Language is weird. I’d say the hands-down worst insult in the U.S. is the n-word. It’s considered so bad that some of us always call it ‘‘the n-word,’’ even in the privacy of our own homes (discussing race relations or some-such.) Like two white people sitting at home will have a conversation and say, ‘‘So-and-so called Such-and-such _the n-word_.’’ I can’t even hear it or read it without having at least a mild physical reaction, like getting slapped. That is a word that in certain circumstances could probably get you killed. A while back some public official got fired for using the word _niggardly_, which doesn’t even have any relation to the racial slur but just sounds enough like it to be offensive. I had a black racism professor who used the actual word, but only on occasion, when it was really powerful in that context, and that has been my approach as well. I don’t necessarily think our aversion to using it in the appropriate context is a good thing. I guess the question is whether words really _should_ be that powerful, so powerful that they remain unspoken. I’m always fascinated by how curse words work in other languages. I had a friend from Taiwan; I don’t think they really have the same concept of curse words there. She wrote something like ‘‘what the hell’’ for one of our grad school research papers and I had to explain to her that there are some things you just can’t say in a professional setting. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/38 "2013-01-11T00:01:23Z")
Yeah, I hate the n-word because it’s so corny to say “the n-word” but I also really don’t want to say it. I feel so conflicted. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/39 "2013-01-11T00:16:26Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > My favorite line from the great Brit movie about political machinations _In the Loop_ (from Yes, Prime Minister?) Not _Yes, PM_, but _The Thick of It_. Both fantastic series, but the latter is far, far more foul-mouthed than the former. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779/40 "2013-01-11T00:21:55Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Yeah, I’ve come to realize that calling some people assholes is an insult to actual assholes… after all, they do serve a useful function. Indeed. So a couple of hours ago I’m driving on the local Interstate (2 lanes each direction in this stretch) and I find my lane (the right lane) slowing because for reasons known only to the DOT, trucks aren’t allowed to drive the same speed as everyone else. 😕 Anyway, in my mirror, I spot a nice, generous sized gap coming up and I flip on my left blinker even though a car is still alongside me, but passing. I was taught to not only be a defensive driver but also a courteous driver. Plus I was hoping to incite the usual response, in these parts anyway. Sure enough, the person in the car way back floored it. You can always tell because you will see the front of their vehicle rise even before they begin accelerating. Long story short, it was still a comfortable merge as he was still quite a ways back, though he promptly got on my ass for having the gall to move into ‘his’ lane. So I give him a friendly wave in the mirror for ‘letting’ me in and get a finger in response. Score! 😃 Now, who’s the asshole? A little of both, perhaps. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-asshole-the-strongest-insult-in-english/646779.md?page=3)