Like it is with “Hi Opal” and “1920’s Style Death Ray”, or is it a generic term people outside the board use? 
Asshat is used all over the Internet, and has been for some time.
Heh, I guess I’ve been a little sheltered. Thanks.
Try www.confusednation.com/asshat in the AM. It’s down right now, but has what appears to be a genuine history of the word.
That link seems to still be broken.
Anyway, I’m not sure if it originated there, but “asshat” is heavily used on Fark. It’s been my experience that there are a significant number of SDMB’ers who are also Farkers.
For what it’s worth, it only shows up in Google groups in 1998. This would indicate rather modern. I’m guessing from a movie.
I first saw it well before I came to The Dope in Dark Age of Camelot. In Realm Vs. Realm combat, when you died, your body would topple to the ground. It’d lay there until you got a rez or /DEPARTed. So if, say, the treacherous Albs killed you and your side retreated, they’d be free to jump up and down on your body and such. One of the most popular things to do was sit on the person’s head, creating an “asshat.”
I can’t remember when I first saw the exact term “asshat”, but who could forget the famous line in the 1987 film, Raising Arizona, when Gale and Evelle are leaving the Farmers & Mechanics Bank of La Grange with their loot and Gale warns the customers on the floor that:
The confusednation site admits to making the whole thing up, so ignore them.
the term also seems to be popular among the online gaming community to describe a gamer who isn’t a “team player”. Still, it’s one of those terms that makes me laugh a little everytime I read it.
The term “asshat” may not be specifically SDMB related, but I do believe the SDMB is the first message board to ever bestow it unto a member as a title. If only for an ever-so-brief-and-shining moment.
I think I was the one who first used it HERE, but I first saw it at the Smile and Act Nice boards.
I also heard it on That '70s Show.
It’s a great word, isn’t it?
How about assclown? (I think this is a much better word)
I disagree. ‘Assclown’ just doesn’t give me the same amusing visual of someone with their head firmly hidden where the sun doesn’t shine.