# Quick question: Is "asshat" SDMB related? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 2, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-is-asshat-sdmb-related/237857 "2004-04-02T04:14:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![7\_up\_yours](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/7/919ad9/32.png) [@7\_up\_yours](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/7_up_yours)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-is-asshat-sdmb-related/237857/1 "2004-04-02T04:14:53Z")
Like it is with “Hi Opal” and “1920’s Style Death Ray”, or is it a generic term people outside the board use? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-is-asshat-sdmb-related/237857/2 "2004-04-02T04:20:02Z")
Asshat is used all over the Internet, and has been for some time. ---
**Author:** ![7\_up\_yours](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/7/919ad9/32.png) [@7\_up\_yours](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/7_up_yours)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-is-asshat-sdmb-related/237857/3 "2004-04-02T04:23:57Z")
Heh, I guess I’ve been a little sheltered. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-is-asshat-sdmb-related/237857/4 "2004-04-02T08:40:01Z")
Try [www.confusednation.com/asshat](http://www.confusednation.com/asshat) in the AM. It’s down right now, but has what appears to be a genuine history of the word. ---
**Author:** ![pestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e5b9ba/32.png) [@pestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pestie)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-is-asshat-sdmb-related/237857/5 "2004-04-02T17:40:34Z")
That link seems to still be broken. Anyway, I’m not sure if it originated there, but “asshat” is heavily used on [Fark](http://www.fark.com/). It’s been my experience that there are a significant number of SDMB’ers who are also Farkers. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-is-asshat-sdmb-related/237857/6 "2004-04-02T18:27:01Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-is-asshat-sdmb-related/237857/7 "2004-04-02T18:37:40Z")
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.” ---
**Author:** ![chukhung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@chukhung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chukhung)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-is-asshat-sdmb-related/237857/8 "2004-04-02T20:37:31Z")
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](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093822/), 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: > [@](#): > > Anyone bipedal in five wears his ass for a hat! ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-is-asshat-sdmb-related/237857/9 "2004-04-02T21:58:25Z")
The confusednation site admits to making the whole thing up, so ignore them. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-is-asshat-sdmb-related/237857/10 "2004-04-02T22:40:03Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-is-asshat-sdmb-related/237857/11 "2004-04-03T01:03:32Z")
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. ---
**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 3, 2004, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-is-asshat-sdmb-related/237857/12 "2004-04-03T06:52:03Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Bernard\_Marx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@Bernard\_Marx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bernard_Marx)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-is-asshat-sdmb-related/237857/13 "2004-04-03T08:46:28Z")
How about assclown? (I think this is a much better word) ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-question-is-asshat-sdmb-related/237857/14 "2004-04-03T17:38:25Z")
> [@Bernard Marx](#): > > 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.