# Who coined the phrase "open up a can of whoop-ass"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 4, 2013, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316 "2013-10-04T01:18:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/1 "2013-10-04T01:18:40Z")
Obviously it was coined sometime after the first tin can was invented. But who coined the phrase _open up a can of whoop-ass_? ---
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/2 "2013-10-04T01:29:35Z")
It came from that Chuck Norris movie where he went back to Nam to rescue Ross Perot’s son. Can’t remember the name ATM. ---
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/3 "2013-10-04T01:33:38Z")
[Here it is.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS6QBfIx_Kc) ---
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/4 "2013-10-04T01:36:03Z")
Uncommon Valor. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/5 "2013-10-04T01:39:31Z")
I did. Now shut up about it or I’m gonna open a whole can of… nevermind. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/6 "2013-10-04T01:44:17Z")
Sorry no Chuck in that movie my bad. [Best](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmfEIGViDeI) part of that movie. Fast forward to 50 sec. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/7 "2013-10-04T01:59:36Z")
Lot of Tex Cobb, though, if I’m not mistaken. Why is he wearing sneakers?? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/8 "2013-10-04T02:08:11Z")
I thought the phrase was older than that movie. But can’t recall when I first heard it. Tex was a guy that could open up a big can of whoop ass. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/9 "2013-10-04T02:52:12Z")
How about “I’ll rip off your head and shit down your neck!” ? I first heard it from Dan Aykroyd in “Doctor Detroit” in 1983. Anything earlier? ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/10 "2013-10-04T02:59:43Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > How about “I’ll rip off your head and shit down your neck!” ? > > I first heard it from Dan Aykroyd in “Doctor Detroit” in 1983. > > Anything earlier? I remember that from Trading Places, but it wasn’t Aykroyd who said it. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/11 "2013-10-04T03:10:20Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > I remember that from Trading Places, but it wasn’t Aykroyd who said it. That was a similar variation: [I’ll rip out your eyes and piss on your brains.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJRBcE-fHvY) ---
**Author:** ![Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diver)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/12 "2013-10-04T03:51:08Z")
It was whup ass when I was growing up many years ago. Whooping was hollering. ---
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/13 "2013-10-04T04:06:44Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > “I’ll rip off your head and shit down your neck!” ? > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I’ll rip out your eyes and piss on your brains. I always liked: “I’ll gouge your eyes out and skull fuck you.” ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/14 "2013-10-04T05:46:45Z")
I always thought it was Tubadiva? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/15 "2013-10-04T13:02:47Z")
This is from the early 90’s. Theres quite a [few comedy CD’s featuring the character Roy D. Mercer](http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Fits-Roy-D-Mercer/dp/B007IX388I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380891941&sr=8-1&keywords=Roy+D.+Mercer). The _Uncommon Valor_ quote by Tex Cobb still beats it by ten years. > **[KMOD-FM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KMOD-FM)** > > KMOD-FM (97.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Tulsa, Oklahoma, owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It airs an active rock radio format. The station's studios and offices are at the Tulsa Events Center on South Yale Avenue in Southeast Tulsa. > KMOD-FM is a Class C station. It has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts, the maximum for most FM stations. The transmitter tower is along Oklahoma State Highway 97 on the Osage Reservation in Sand Springs. KMOD-FM broadcasts in the HD Radio... > [@](#): > > The station was the home of disc jockeys Brent Douglas and Phil Stone, who originated the character Roy D. Mercer, the notorious and popular prank caller who regularly threatened to “open a can of whup-ass” on the person he called (for some fabricated wrong the person supposedly had done), only for the person to find out the call was a prank. Stone died in 2012, not long after he and Douglas were not allowed to continue their works as DJs due to the latter’s refusal to sign a new contract. > **[Roy D. Mercer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_D._Mercer)** > > Roy D. Mercer was a fictional character created by American disc jockeys Brent Douglas and Phil Stone on radio station KMOD-FM in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Douglas, who performed Mercer's voice, used the character as a vehicle for comedy sketches in which he performed prank calls. The two released twelve albums of prank call recordings under the Roy D. Mercer name via Virgin Records and Capitol Records. The character was essentially retired in 2013 after Stone's death. > Brent Douglas and Phil Stone, disc ... > [@](#): > > Brent Douglas and Phil Stone, disc jockeys on KMOD-FM, a rock radio station, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, created the Roy D. Mercer character in 1993. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/16 "2013-10-04T14:07:30Z")
I always thought it was Al Sharpton. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/17 "2013-10-05T00:41:56Z")
I wonder if there’s any connection to the whoopie cushion, I mean, the ass is involved there. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/18 "2013-10-06T21:37:46Z")
> [@Diver](#): > > It was whup ass when I was growing up many years ago. Whooping was hollering. Same here. Redneck speak for “whip ass”. ---
**Author:** ![knel3030](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecae2f/32.png) [@knel3030](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knel3030)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/19 "2013-10-07T04:56:27Z")
The etymological ancestry of this expression is traced back to the battle of Waterloo, in which Wellington, in a preface taunting to Napoleon, shouted, “Listen, ya bloody frog, and bugger off, or I shall proceed to unlid a full coop of arse-wallopping upon thee.” The rest is history. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316/20 "2013-10-07T08:58:41Z")
> [@Diver](#): > > It was whup ass when I was growing up many years ago. Whooping was hollering. I was actually just thinking about this today. The “whoopass” spelling has always annoyed me. On the other hand, I have never seen the phrase “big whoop” pronounced “big hoop”, though I suppose it ought to be (always “big whup”). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-open-up-a-can-of-whoop-ass/670316.md?page=2)