Arse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arse is an English term referring to the buttocks, first recorded circa 1400 (in arce-hoole) and is commonly used in English speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, parts of Canada and former parts of the British Empire. In the United States and other parts of Canada the variant form ass is used.
Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 Modern semantics
3 Sources and references
4 See also
[edit]Etymology
"Arse", from Old English ærs "tail, rump," from Proto-Germanic root arsoz (cf. Old Norse ars, Middle Dutch ærs), meaning anus (see also: arsehole), and by extension the crease between the buttocks of any animal (see also:buttcrack), but especially the human bottom. There are many cognates such as German Arsch, Dutch aars (meaning anus), Scots airse, Swedish arsle or arsel bottom (from earlier ars-hål anus) and Norwegian and Icelandic rass (through metathesis). Greek orros "tail, rump, base of the spine," Hittite arrash, Old Irish err "tail" has been connected with it. Arse or ass, in this sense, has no etymological common root with the word “ass” when it refers to the donkey."
[edit]Modern semantics
Until the late 18th century, "ass" presumably had no profane meaning, and simply referred to the animal now mostly known as the donkey. Because of the increasingly non-rhotic nature of standard British English, "arse" was often rendered "ass". However indirect evidence of the change from arse to ass traces back to 1785 (in euphemistic avoidance of ass "donkey" by polite speakers) and perhaps to Shakespeare, if Nick Bottom transformed into a donkey in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1594) is such a word-play. This usage was also adopted in America, which is why the word "arse" is not usually used in the United States. The age of Victorian propriety resulted in the renaming of the horse-like animal, changing the name to "donkey" (not recorded in English before 1785, slang, perhaps from dun "dull grey-brown," the form perhaps influenced by monkey, or possibly from a familiar form of Duncan, cf. dobbin) to avoid any improper inferences. Although before World War I they were similar, the English pronunciations of "ass" /æs/ and "arse" /ɑːs/ are now quite different apart from in American English speaking countries, although arse is commonly used in Atlantic Canada, west of the Ottawa river, ass is more idiomatic.
In addition to its above literal uses to refer to the buttocks (see that article also for synonyms in that sense), "ass" is commonly employed to denote either a) an idiot or stupid person, referring to the alleged stupidity of the donkey, as in: "Don't be such an ass! You're acting like you're five years old!", or pleonastically in "dumb ass"; b) as a short-hand for asshole (itself first attested in 1935), referring to an egoistic person who is acting to make others miserable; or c) a woman regarded as a sexual object, recorded since 1942. In British usage the word is not considered profane so much as coarse—for example, most Britons wouldn't consider it as strong as "shit". However, the word is sufficiently strong that when Prince Harry used it in a 2005 TV interview the event was given significant press coverage, even if very little outright disapproval was expressed[citation needed]. In America it is considered to be a coarser expression and would be frowned upon in polite society, but "arse" is almost never used in the United States, as such—most Americans would assume that the word "ass" was being used.
It is also a curse-like exclamation, e.g. one of the four catchphrases attributed to the character Father Jack in the Channel 4 TV show Father Ted, in which the said character repeatedly shouts 'ARSE!', and other monosyllabic words of varying coarseness, for no apparent reason. The similar use of "arse" by Bob Fleming's friend Jed Thomas on The Fast Show is a speech impediment.
Arsebandit, a British English slang term for a male homosexual, is an example of the association of the organ with gay men, regardless of whether or not anal sex is involved.
Bare-arse or Bare-ass means with the bottom bared, but is also used as a pars pro toto for nudity, especially in a context where it implies full or at least 'strategic' exposure, as for spanking or mooning; a similar expression(for males only) is bare balls. Bare-arsed can also mean impertinent, e.g. about a cheeky act "the bare-arsed cheek of it".
Arseload or assload to refer to a large but not specified quantity.
Modern synonyms (often euphemisms or dysphemisms) include:
Hole, in various compounds including the popular arsehole, often referring to the use of the organ for fecal secretion (as in dung-hole, shit-hole) or for coitus (such as fuck-hole), while boy-hole and man-hole emphasize homosexual practices or simply the anatomical difference from the female.
Split ("Split-arse"), Midlands and North of England - a rare but phonetically potent term of reference used to indicate a female of poor character and worth and reduce her to genitalia only. A common American version with the same meaning is "split-tail".
"Aris", which is double rhyming slang: Aristotle (bottle), bottle and glass (arse).
"Pooterus", which is gaining popularity in the gay community in the United States
IS
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Is)
Look up is in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Contents [hide]
1 Acronyms
2 Codes
3 Miscellaneous
4 See also
Is is the third-person singular verb form of the copula in the English language
Grass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Grass (disambiguation).
Cut grass growing in the Hudson River Park
Tall grass growing wild at Lyme Park
A house with a grass roof in Iceland.
In some places, even small areas of grass are valuable. These steps were built to access grass for animal feed. Swiss-Italian region near Bignasco.
The yellow area is the pitch currently in use. Parallel to it are other pitches in various states of preparation which could be used in other matches.
A sea of neatly cut grass surrounds the bunkers at Filton Golf Club, Bristol, England.
Grass is a common word that generally describes a monocotyledonous green plant in the family Gramineae (Poaceae). True grasses include most plants grown as grains, for pasture, and for lawns (turf). They include some more specialised crops such as lemongrass, as well as many ornamental plants, and some weeds. They also include plants often not considered to be grasses, such as bamboos.
Contents [hide]
1 Use of the term
2 Grass and society
2.1 Grass in sports
2.2 Grass in fiction
3 References
4 See also
5 External links
[edit]Use of the term
The term 'grass' is sometimes used to describe related plants in the rush (Juncaceae) and sedge (Cyperaceae) families, that resemble grass somewhat. It may also be used to describe completely unrelated plants, sometimes of similar appearances to grass, with leaves rising vertically from the ground, and sometimes of dissimilar appearance. The term came about in the early 15th century, from the Old English græs, derived from the same root as "grow". A single piece of grass is called a blade.
Grasses and grass-like plants have proven to be among the most versatile of life forms. Plants having grasslike structures have existed for millions of years, providing fodder for Cretaceous dinosaurs, whose fossilized dung (coprolite) contains phytoliths of a variety of grasses that include the ancestors of rice and bamboo (Piperno & Sues, 2005). Grasses have adapted to conditions in lush rain forests, dry deserts, and cold mountain steppes, and are presently the most widespread of all plant types. Plants of this type have always been important to human beings. They provide the majority of food crops, and have numerous other uses, such as feeding animals, and for lawns. There are numerous minor uses, and grasses are familiar to most human cultures.
[edit]Grass and society
Grasses and grass-like plants have long had significance in human society, having been cultivated as food for domesticated animals for up to 10,000 years. (See grass fed beef.) They have been used for paper-making since at least 2400 BC.
In some places, particularly in suburban areas in the United States, the maintenance of a grass lawn is a sign of a homeowner's responsibility to the overall appearance of their neighborhood. Many municipalities and homeowner's associations have rules about this. Some require lawns to be maintained to certain specifications, sanctioning those who allow the grass to grow too long. In communities with drought problems, watering of lawns may be restricted to certain times of day or days of the week.
[edit]Grass in sports
Grass is also used in several contexts in sports, most notably with sports played on fields such as football, cricket, baseball, and rugby. In some sports facilities, including indoor domes and places where maintenance of a grass field would be difficult, grass may be replaced with artificial turf, a synthetic grass-like substitute. Sports such as cricket, golf and tennis are particularly dependent on the quality of the grass on which the sport is played.
Whilst often starting with a thin cover of green blades over the course of a five day match a cricket pitch tends to dry out and harden. Even in one day matches cricket pitches are often nearly bare earth covered only by a layer of dry yellow stalks. A green or moist pitch tends to favour the bowler as it will vary the bounce and increase the movement of the ball. A hard, dry pitch tends to give a more predictable, higher bounce which favours the batsman. The nature of the outfield is also important as grass may slow down a ball causing it to stop before reaching a boundary or allowing a fielder more time to gather the ball. Laws ten and eleven of the laws of crickets detail maintenance and protection of the pitch. Indoor cricket (as opposed to one day internationals or test cricket) is played on an artificial surface.
In tennis, grass is grown on very hard-packed soil, and bounces may vary depending on how healthy the grass is, how recently it has been mowed, and the wear and tear of recent play. The most famous grass tennis court in the world is Centre Court at Wimbledon. Tennis, however, is usually played on clay courts, and only a few regular tennis tournaments are played on a grass court. The surface is less firm than hard courts, causing the ball to bounce lower, and so players must reach the ball faster. Due to high maintenance costs however, grass courts are now rare as they must be watered and mowed often, and take a longer time to dry after rain than hard courts.
Golf, on the other hand, is always played on grass, and is dependant on the maintenance of a very large area of well-cut grass. Grass on golf courses is kept in three distinct conditions, that of the rough, the fairway, and the putting green. Grass on the fairway is kept very short and even, allowing the player to cleanly strike the ball, while playing from the rough is a disadvantage because the grass in the rough is generally much longer, which may affect the flight of the ball. Grass on the putting green is the shortest and most even of all, ideally allowing the ball to slide smoothly over the surface. An entire industry revolves around the development and marketing of grasses for golf courses.
[edit]Grass in fiction
Grass plays a central role in two important science fiction catastrophe novels from the 1940s and 1950s, Ward Moore's Greener Than You Think, in which the world is slowly taken over by unstoppable Bermuda Grass, and John Christopher's The Death of Grass, in which a plague that kills off all forms of grass threatens the survival of the human race.
[edit]References
Chapman, G.P. and W.E. Peat. 1992. An Introduction to the Grasses. CAB Internat., Oxon, UK.
Cheplick, G.P. 1998. Population Biology of Grasses. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Milne, L. and M. Milne. 1967. Living Plants of the World. Chaticleer Press, N.Y.
Soderstrom, T.R., K.W. Hilu, C.S. Campbell, and M.E. Barkworth, eds. 1987. Grass Systematics and Evolution. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
Went, Frits W. 1963. The Plants. Time-Life Books, N.Y.
[edit]See also
agrostology (study of grasses)
[edit]External links
Look up grass in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Why is the grass green?
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