What do they call assholes in your neck of the woods?

April 14, 2016 5:50 AM

What do people call assholes in various areas of the world? I'm not looking for translation, though. I'm trying to get together names for groups that are usually perceived as loutish, rude, or unpleasant. There are chavs in England, bogans in Australia, I would guess rednecks in America. What are some others for, well, everywhere? What are they called in Russia? Brazil? All over?

While I understand that some might find this a bit off, I've got an idea for a project, and I actually have the time to actually get it going. I'm not looking for anything racial/racist, and I know this can be a tender subject. I would, if possible, just like to get a good solid list of names of groups in different countries that are usually seen as pretty much assholes

posted by Ghidorah to Writing & Language (17 answers total)

flaite in chile (pronounced flight-eh).

this is a term loaded with assumptions about class, and so is your question. you can't avoid those issues by pretending "pretty much assholes" is objective).
posted by andrewcooke at 5:53 AM on April 14, 2016

tories
jambos
hibees
posted by gnuhavenpier at 5:54 AM on April 14, 2016

Neds in Scotland (same meaning as 'Chavs' down south).

I read that in Poland you have the "red elbows" (cos they drive around with one elbow out their open car window, so often sunburned on that one area). While googling for the right term I came across this page which has a few other cultures terms for this down the bottom- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dres
posted by Gratishades at 5:56 AM on April 14, 2016

Australia:
Arseholes (spelling difference)
pricks
dickheads
cunts

(wow, that was quite satisfying to type out, given I'm kinda annoyed at the moment)
posted by Diag at 5:57 AM on April 14, 2016

In Pittsburgh we've got jagoffs.
posted by DingoMutt at 5:58 AM on April 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

I imagine you are familiar with the (mostly Ontario and eastward) Canadianism 'hoser'?
posted by jamaal at 6:01 AM on April 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

In a polite lecture, "that guy" as in, "Don't be that guy." which can be interchangeable with "that dude. Don't be that dude." It has is a bit more spectrum and room for nuance but it is class free and can be used in polite company.
posted by jadepearl at 6:08 AM on April 14, 2016

In Serbian it's "seljaci" (sing. "seljak"). It means "peasants" and it's extremely non-PC. Just typing it out makes me cringe, but I'm doing it for science.
posted by Dragonness at 6:08 AM on April 14, 2016

"Redneck" and "chav" are not, to me, neutral terms that mean "asshole." They have a definite classist origin. I think you'll find "the groups that are seen as assholes" VERY often are groups that are racially or economically disadvantaged.
posted by chaiminda at 6:10 AM on April 14, 2016 [10 favorites]

Redneck doesn't mean asshole in America, though people who fit the description of redneck can be assholes (just as much as anyone else). I wouldn't feel right about defining what redneck typically means in America, so I'll just say the words aren't interchangeable.

Other words for asshole:
Jagoff
Jerkoff
Dickhead
Fuckwit
posted by _Mona_ at 6:12 AM on April 14, 2016 [2 favorites]

Just want to throw in another voice saying, 'redneck' is not equivalent to 'asshole'; rather it's both racist and classist.
posted by easily confused at 6:14 AM on April 14, 2016 [2 favorites]

Yeah, for me "asshole" implies someone who is so up their own ass that they think the rules don't apply to them. (Ex: That guy cut in line! What an asshole!)

Redneck or hick isn't really interchangeable with asshole for this reason. Redneck or hick kind of implies that someone simply embodies a certain set of attributes, not that their behavior is implicitly asshole-ish.

So with that in mind, here are some of my favorites:
Jagoff, definitely (What up, DingoMutt! Pgh represent!)
Douchebag
Jerk
Dickhead
Asshat
Dingleberry
posted by helloimjennsco at 6:17 AM on April 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

> Just want to throw in another voice saying, 'redneck' is not equivalent to 'asshole'; rather it's both racist and classist.

I'm not from the UK but "chav" also seems a bit racist and classist to me.
posted by Gev at 6:17 AM on April 14, 2016 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I just want to point out that yes, I am aware that some of these words are classist and unpleasant. Unfortunately, that's what I need to do this project. General terms of asshole (jerk, dick, etc) aren't really what I'm looking for. I'm looking for localized names for equivalents to chavs, bogans, and so on.
posted by Ghidorah at 6:17 AM on April 14, 2016

Bogan is more like an urban red neck, in Austalia an asshole is a wanker or a cunt depending who you are around. Though cunt is a multi use word. Or an arsehole with different spelling, I've also heard Tosser used.
posted by wwax at 6:19 AM on April 14, 2016

Brit here. Just to mention, as a slight aside, that while some people seem to use both indiscriminately "chav" is definitely classist and "pikey" is downright racist.

The word that springs to my mind at "loutish, rude or unpleasant" is "wanker".
posted by A Robot Ninja at 6:22 AM on April 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

Here in my neck of NY, we just call them assholes to their face.
posted by AugustWest at 6:24 AM on April 14, 2016 [1 favorite]