What's the origin of the phrase "Christ, what an asshole"?
March 7, 2014 11:55 AM   Subscribe

Wanted: A cultural history of the phrase "Christ, what an asshole." I know of some websites where the phrase is frequently used. But where did it come from?
posted by bicyclefish to Society & Culture (4 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 


It's most famous as a catch-all caption for any New Yorker cartoon. I'm not sure if it has a history before that.
posted by Sara C. at 11:57 AM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]




Best answer: Just to spell it out: obviously, the phrase as such is lots older; I found it, for instance, in A Collection of Canadian Plays: Volume 5: Seven Authors from Quebec ("Bebe (going to join Marco): Christ, what an asshole. You're just jealous cause you don't have one. Fifille: If you don't give it to me, I'm gonna come and get it."); the book is from 1978, but I don't know which play it's from or how old the play is. If you're interested in the meme aspect, yeah, the other answers have it.
posted by languagehat at 5:03 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]


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