Ascent of the A-Word

by Geoffrey Nunberg

  Chapter 5: Men Are All Assholes

  119 the description of a feminist panel: Franklin K. Ashley, “Job Market at the MLA: Let Them Eat Interviews!” Change, March 1975, p. 36.

  116 But Jacobins and bluestockings weren’t the only women: Timothy Jay, Cursing in America (John Benjamins, 1992). Gael Greene, The Cosmo Girl’s Guide to the New Etiquette (Hearst Corporation, 1971).

  131 what the New Yorker’s TV critic Emily Nussbaum calls the dirtbag sitcom: Emily Nussbaum, “Tool Time,” New Yorker, March 19, 2012.

  131 “My name is Tucker Max”: Tuckermax.com, http://www.tuckermax.com. .

  132 a Yale fraternity has its pledges pose: Lawrence Gipson, “A Year Later, Little Impact from ‘Sluts’ Controversy,” Yale Daily News, February 16, 2009, http://bit.ly/HVWY7q. Kayla Webley, “It’s Not Just Yale: Are Colleges Doing Enough to Combat Sexual Violence?,” Time, April 18, 2011, http://ti.me/HVWzC6.

  134 the five most common modifiers of bitch: Counts made at Corpus of Historical American English at Brigham Young University, http://corpus.byu.edu/coha.

  135 Often the word just suggests spitefulness or abrasiveness: Karrin Vasby Anderson, “Rhymes with Rich: ‘Bitch’ as a Tool of Containment in Contemporary American Politics,” Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Winter 1999), pp. 599-623.

  Chapter 6: The Asshole in the Mirror

  137 “In the early Seventies it seemed that no ex-movement household”: Todd Gitlin, The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage (Bantam Books, 1987), p. 425.

  138 “For the middle class, that focus was nourished by an alphabet soup of therapies”: Suzanne Snider, “est, Werner Erhard, and the Corporatization of Self-Help,” The Believer, May, 2003. Luke Rhinehart, The Book of est (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976).

  140 “You taught me to hate myself”: Jerry Rubin Growing (Up) at37, (Warner Books, 1976), pp. 140–142.

  141 “The spectacle of people paying a couple of hundred dollars”: “Behavior: est: ‘There Is Nothing to Get,’” Time, June 7, 1976, http://ti.me/LmdRt7.

  142 “What, after all, does it mean to ‘take responsibility’”: David Frum, HowWe Got Here: The 70’s, the Decade That Brought You Modern Life (Basic Books, 2000), p. 136.

  143 “These critiques of cultural effects of the era”: Daniel F. Piar, “A Welfare State of Civil Rights: The Triumph of the Therapeutic in American Constitutional Law,” 16 Wm. & Mary Bill of Rts. J. 649 (2008), http://bit.ly/GYRdpp. Ronald W Dworkin, “The Rise of the Caring Industry,” Policy Review, No. 161 (June I, 2010).

  146 “from badness to sickness”: Peter Conrad and Joseph W. Schneider, Deviance and Medicalization: From Badness to Sickness (Tempe University Press, 1992).

  146 “But the colloquialization of terms didn’t always signal”: Susan Lee, “A. Schlub and a Narcissist,” Forbes, March 27, 2009. Jeffrey Kluger, “Putting Bernie Madoff on the Couch,” Time, December 31, 2008.

  147 “a loose synonym for bloated self-esteem”: Peter Gay, Frend:A Life for Our Time (W.W. Norton & Company, 1988), p. 340.

  148 “In terms of psychology the ‘asshole’ consists of”: Jen Kim, “Do Girls Really Love Assholes?” Psychology Today, January 19, 2010, http://bit.ly/vNmBft.

  149 After Madoff was exposed: Stephanie Strom, “Elie Wiesel Levels Scorn at Madoff,” New York Times, February 26, 2009.

  150 “Hearn remembered Dove’s saying to him”: Mailer, The Naked and the Dead, p. 238.

  Chapter 7: The Allure of Assholes

  153 And the idea of decline is implicit: Kyle Wingfield, “Moving Past Our Summer of Incivility,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution online, September 18, 2009, http://bit.ly/12sKdj.

  153 In a 2002 Public Agenda poll: “Aggravating Circumstances: A Status Report on Rudeness in America,” Public Agenda survey prepared for Pew Charitable Trust, 2002, at http://bit.ly/HhiijX. “Civility in America: A Nationwide Study,” 2002. Weber Shadwick, http://bit.ly/HVCbPk.

  155 Civility is a matter of appearances: David Hume, “An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals,” in Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding and Concerning the Principles of Morals, 3d ed. (Oxford University Press, 1979), p. 261.

  155 In On Rude Democracy: Susan Herbst, Rude Democracy: Civility and Incivility in American Politics (Temple University Press, 2010) p. 5.

  158 “There’s No Escape”: David E. Scherman, “Transistor Craze—There’s No Escape,” Life, November 24, 1961, p. 23.

  156 You could make that point about bullying, too: Figures from the National Center for Educational Statistics, reported in Nick Gillespie, “Stop Panicking about Bullies,” Wall Street Journal, April 2, 2012.

  157 “rudeness, stupidity and indifference”: Anne O’Hagan, “Behind the Scenes in the Big Stores,” Munsey’s Magazine, Volume 22, January 1900, p. 532.

  158 “The serenading troubadour can now thrum his throbbing guitar”: The Electrical World: A Weekly Review of Current Progress of Electricity and Its Practical Applications,Vols. III and IV (W J. Johnston, 1884), p. 68.

  158 Etiquette columnists of the 1950s: David E. Scherman, “Transistor Craze—There’s No Escape,” Life, November 24, 1961, p. 23.

  159 “banging out an e-mail is just so easy”: Michael Kinsley, “Cybercreeps Run Amok,” Washington Post, July 24, 2005.

  161 “If he slapped a soldier”: Alan Axelrod, Patton on Leadership: Strategic Lessons for Corporate Warfare (Prentice Hall, 1999), p. xv.

  161 “CEOs, middle managers and wannabe masters of the universe” : Tom McNichol, “Be a Jerk: The Worst Business Lesson from the Steve Jobs Biography” Atlantic, November 28, 2011.

  162 “He found that by delivering brutal putdowns of his co-workers” : Alan Deutschman, “Exit the King,” Newsweek, September 21, 2011.

  162 “At Skadden Arps . . . we pride ourselves on being assholes”: Quoted in Lincoln Caplan, Skadden: Power, Money, and the Rise of a Legal Empire (Noonday Press, 1994), p. 147.

  164 Jobs’ assholism hasn’t been retouched for public consumption: Carlo D’Este, Patton: A Genius for War (Harper Collins, 1995).

  165 “It’s like in golf”: Michael Barbaro, “After Roasting, Trump Reacts in Character,” New York Times, May 1, 2011.

  171 “Shouldn’t we struggle against Facebook?”: Zadie Smith, “Generation Why?,” New York Review of Books, November 25, 2010.

  Chapter 8: The Assholism of Public Life

  174 Rank those areas as the most uncivil: Colette Thayer, “AARP Bulletin Survey on Civility,” American Association of Retired Persons, March 2011, http://aarp.us/HCyaO4.

  175 At a talk Ann Coulter was giving at the University of Ottawa: “Ann Coulter Stirs Controversy in Canada,” Rick’s List, CNN News, March 24, 2010; transcript at http://bit.ly/HrXHzL.

  176 “I was going to say something about John Edwards”: “Coulter Under Fire for Anti-Gay Slur,” CNN.com, March 4, 2007, http://bit.ly/HiQoFZ.

  176 this kind of assholism is close to snark: David Denby, Snark (Simon & Schuster, 2009), p. 1.

  177 the South Carolina Democratic chairwoman Carol Fowler on Palin: Jonathan Martin, “S.C. Dem Chair: Palin Primary Qualification Is She Hasn’t Had an Abortion,” Politico, September 10, 2008, http://politi.co/wUr9e5.

  177 For real satire, listen to the way Bill Maher: “New Rules,” Real Time with Bill Maher, HBO, episode 162, July 31, 2009; transcript at http://itsh.bo/A5xmSM.

  178 When Westbrook Pegler referred to Jews as geese: Diane McWhorter, “Dangerous Minds: Revisiting the Controversial Career of Westbrook Pegler,” Slate, March 4, 2004, http://slate.me/IrzbvV

  178 “attempts to micromanage casual conversation”: Excerpts from president’s speech to University of Michigan graduates, New York Times, May 05, 1995.

  179 As the Irish critic Finian O’Toole wrote: Finian O’Toole, Irish Times, May 5, 1994.

  179 “Mr. Helms, I know this might not be politically correct to say”: Quoted in Cynthia Tucker, “The Not-So-Subtle Code(s) of Racism,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 18, 1995.


  181 “PC campus administrators”: Charlotte Allen, “War Waged on College Fraternities,” Los Angeles Times, June 8, 2011.

  181 “spent their time painting murals of their own vaginas”: “News ‘View : The Right Kind of Feminism,” Yale Daily News, October 18, 2010, http://bit.ly/I92hyd.

  182 “A little political correctness never hurt anybody”: Mike Imrem, “Guillen’s Suspension Not Long Enough,” Chicago Herald, April 10, 2012, http://bit.ly/HBLWmT.

  183 “In a 2011 Rasmussen poll”: “79% See Political Correctness as Serious Problem in America,” Rasmussen Reports, November 2, 2011, http://bit.ly/IhuAut.

  184 Bobby Vinton and Bob Dylan: Jonathan Leaf, “The Legend of Woodstock Is a Distorted Truth,” Human Events, August 13, 2009, http://bit.ly/I6i6Uh.

  184 can be said to have begun with Beowulf: Elizabeth Kantor, The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature (Regnery, 2006) p. 3.

  184 We’ve come to the point: Conservapedia.com, “Theory of Relativity” http://bit.ly/HtXO7W

  184 the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt likens: Interview on Moyers & Company, February 12, 2012; text at Truth-Out.org, http://bit.ly/HrxKLo.

  185 There are plenty of comparable things on the left: Ronald Radosh, “Why Conservatives Are So Upset with Thomas Woods’ Politically Incorrect History Book,” History News Network, March 6, 2005, http://bit.ly/InK5pg. Michael Kazin, “Howard Zinn’s Disappointing History of the United States,” History News Network, February 9, 2010, http://bit.ly/Hy46nq.

  186 “No battle for the soul of America rages”: Morris Fiorina, Culture War?: The Myth of a Polarized America (Longman, 2004), p. 5.; Morris Fiorina and Samuel J. Abrams, “Political Polarization in the American Public,” Annual Review of Political Science, June 2008, vol. 11:563-588.

  189 As one conservative puts it: “5 Reasons Liberals Aren’t as Happy as Conservatives,” Rightwing News, http://bit.ly/I2yknP

  189 A 2009 Pew study: Aaron Smith, Kay Lehman Schlozman, Sidney Verba, and Henry Brady, “The Current State of Civic Engagement,” Pew Internet, September 1, 2009, http://bit.ly/IsbL9D.

  190 it’s more unsettling to hear Republican congressmen: Dana Milbank, “Bush’s Bill Suffers a Torturous Day in Committee,” Washington Post, September 21, 2006.

  190 Conservatives often point to surveys: “Are We Happy Yet?,” Pew Research Center survey, February 16, 2006, http://bit.ly/HvHdok; Dennis Prager, “Why Unhappy People Become Liberals,” National Review online, November 23, 2010, http://bit.ly/IkIIoW

  191 As Theda Skocpol and Vanessa Williams note: Theda Skocpol and Vanessa Williams, The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism (Oxford University Press, 2012), p. 128.

  192 conservatives are more densely connected: In a large-scale statistical analysis of tweets by political candidates during the 2010 midterm elections, a group of University of Michigan researchers found that conservatives in general maintained more consistent content and denser graphs of interconnections. Other researchers have found the same left-right differential in looking at tweets between legislators and constituents. Avishay Livne, Matthew Simmons, Eytan Adar, and Lada A. Admic, “The Party Is Over Here: Structure and Content in the 2010 Election,” Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media, 2011, Barcelona, Spain, July 17–21, 2011, http://bit.ly/tWaR5C. David Sparks, “Birds of a Feather Tweet Together: Partisan Structure in Online Social Networks,” presented at the 68th meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, 2010, Chicago, Illinois, April 22–25, 2010, http://bit.ly/HnpgWu.

  193 NPR would not be referring to American waterboarding: “Your Voices Have Been Heard,” NPR Ombudsman with Edward Shumacher-Matos, NPR, June 30, 2009, http://n.pr/IjvPvi.

  194 When people are asked: Among conservatives, standing firm is preferred to compromise by 60 to 34 percent, and among those who say they’re very conservative, standing firm is preferred by 72 to 17 percent. Among liberals, compromise is preferred by 59 to 36 percent, and among those identifying themselves as progressives, compromise wins out by 55 to 40 percent. “Nastiness, Name-calling & Negativity,” Allegheny College Survey of Civility and Compromise in American Politics, April 20, 2010, http://sites.allegheny.edu/civility/.

  195 It takes the modern right far from a traditional conservatism: Edmund Burke, Peter J. Stanlis (ed.), Edmund Burke: Selected Writings and Speeches (Regnery, 1963), p. 216.

  196 Conservatives may have had both ideological and personal reasons: Joel Achenbach and Peter Wallsten, “Heading into N.H. primary, GOP Finds Itself Stuck,” Washington Post, January 7, 2011. “Rove: Trump a Joke Candidate,’ Part of the ‘Nutty Right,’” Fox News, April 16, 201; transcript at http://bit.ly/Ht4vNk.

  201 “Civility equals censorship,” Rush Limbaugh said: The Rush Limbaugh Show, January 13, 2011; transcript at http://bit.ly/IelpdZ.

  201 “I’m all for good manners but this isn’t a dinner party”: Paul Krugman, “The Uncivil War,” New York Times, November 25, 2003.

  201 “Civility is important,” Sarah Palin says: “Palin: Obama’s State of Union Address Full of ‘WTF’ Moments,” On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, Fox News, January 26, 2011; transcript at http://fxn.ws/HPs5gI.

  201 “We don’t need lectures from uncivil leftists”: The Rush Limbaugh Show, January 13, 2011; transcript at http://bit.ly/IelpdZ.

  202 Some Tea Party protestors on Capitol Hill: Ravi Somaiya, “Tea Party Protesters Call Black and Gay Lawmakers ‘Nigger’ and ‘Faggot,’” Gawker, March 20, 2010,http://gawkr/HWp9C4. “Obama Supporters Call Black Republican an ‘Uncle Tom N*gger’,” Real Clear Politics, October 5, 2011, http://bit.ly/IbrkVU.

  203 In an article on “liberal incivility”: Gene Lalor, “Bristol Palin and Liberal Incivility,” American Conservative Daily, September 25, 2011, http://bit.ly/I8ZiJr.

  204 The Economist distinguishes between the rhetoric that’s ballistic: M.S., “Nasty Words Toxic v Ballistic Rhetoric,” Democracy in America blog, Economist, January 14, 2011, http://econ.st/IelzSz.

  204 You don’t have to be a semanticist: Sam Stein, “Mike McCalister, Florida GOP Senate Candidate, Brings Back Second Amendment Remedies,” Huffington Post, November 10, 2011, http://huff.to/vr3j8I. Greg Sargent, “Sharron Angle Floated Possibility of Armed Insurrection,” Plum Line blog, Washington Post, June 15, 2010, http://wapo.st/IoJcqO.

  205 After Joe Biden told a group of union members: “Top 10 Examples of Liberal Incivility,” Human Events, September 17, 2011, http://bit.ly/HrWGbd. Noel Sheppard, “Mark Levin Challenges David Gregory to Report Recent Violent Rhetoric from Democrats,” NewsBusters, April 09, 2011, http://bit.ly/yT1OdW.

  205 And MSNBC’s Ed Schulz goes after Michele Bachmann: John Hinderaker, “Paul Krugman, Buffoon,” Powerline blog, January 11, 2011, http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/01/028118.php.

  206 the editors of the New Republic tried to distinguish incivility: “After Arizona: Incivility, Yes. Indecency, No.” New Republic, January 12, 011.

  206 In what had to be the most absurd linguistic overreaction: Chellie Pingree, “For Gabby’s Sake, Republicans Should Change the Name of Their Health Care Repeal Bill,” Huffington Post, January 9, 2011, http://huff.to/HEXrLZ.

  207 When Dick Gephardt said: “RNC Chairman: Democrats Increasingly ‘Liberal, Elitist, Angry,’ CNN, December 4, 2003, http://bit.ly/IgW2uG.

  209 David Axelrod describes a Romney campaign strategy: “RJC Denounces Axelrod’s ‘Mittzkrieg’ Comment, Calls On Democrats to Do the Same,” Republican Jewish Coalition, March 19, 2012, http://bit.ly/HJn7Fo.

  211 “But when the object of his mockery”: Immanuel Kant, “The Metaphysical Principles of Virtue,” in Ethical Philosophy, trans. James W. Ellington (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1983),?. 127.

  A Note on the Figures

  229 “The figures used in this book were drawn from the ngrams tool”: Jean-Baptiste Michel et al., “Quantitative analysis of culture using millions of digitized books,” Science, January 14, 2011, pp. 1
76-183.

  229 “a considerable number of books in the Google Books are misdated”: Geoffrey Nunberg, “Google’s Book Search: A Disaster for Scholars,” The Chronicle of Higher Education Review, August 31, 2009, http://bit.ly/mT18YB; response by Jon Orwant of Google at Language Log, http://bit.ly/H55iDu.

  Acknowledgments

  One of the things that makes the notion of the asshole both fascinating and daunting is that its trail winds through many different territories: from country music to feminism, from Trilling to Trump, from The Naked and the Dead to Animal House. I haven’t tried to achieve a synthesis here; I was more interested in following the word wherever it took me, with the idea that the breadth of the itinerary alone would make the point. But I would have lost my way more often if I didn’t have a lot of guides to help me. Over the course of writing the book, I turned again and again to Rachel Brownstein, Paul Duguid, Kathleen Miller, and Bob Newsom. They, along with Bob Asahina, Todd Gitlin, and Barbara Nunberg, took the time to read parts of the manuscript and give me useful comments. For advice and background on various and sundry, I was fortunate to be able to pick the brains of Leo Braudy, David Henkin, Richard Hardack, Mark Liberman, Sophie Nunberg, Scott Parker, and Tom Wasow. For observations about the use of asshole in particular English varieties or about equivalent words in other languages, I’m grateful to Francesco Antinucci, John Rickford, Francisco Hulse, François Recanati, Hinrich Schuetze, Jesse Sheidlower, Arthur Spear,Annie Zae-nen, and Jonathan Lighter (from whose magisterial Historical Dictionary of American Slang I drew numerous observations about the history of these words). I learned a lot, too, from the comments I received when I gave talks on some of this material at Stanford University, the Yale Humanities Center, the University of Massachusetts, the Townsend Center for the Humanities at Berkeley, the Berkeley Cognitive Science Group, the Frank Institute for the Humanities at the University of Chicago, and the Institut Jean Nicod in Paris. Thanks to Dan Perkel, who did a lot of work converting the figures to a publishable form and extracting clean endnotes from a very messy manuscript. And thanks as always to my agent Joe Spieler and to Clive Priddle, my editor at PublicAffairs, both of whom were called on to be especially patient with this one.