the posterior, the buttocks. In conventional usage from Old English until early C18, at which time it was deemed impolite language and began a celebrated existence in slang, rarely appearing in print with all four letters in place. It was not until 1860 that the American ASS appeared. The spelling in Australia is 'arse', but pronounced with a long 'a' and no 'r'. Since the 1980s there has been some encroachment of the American 'ass', but this is still strongly associated with the US UK, c1000.

the base, the bottom; the tail end; the seat of a pair of trousers AUSTRALIA, 1945.

yourself; your body or person UK, 1979.

a fool; a despicable person AUSTRALIA, 1944.

boldness, gall, gumption, impudence; hence, luck as a result of this AUSTRALIA, 1958.

dismissal, especially from a job; rejection. Generally with verbs 'give' and 'get' AUSTRALIA, 1955.► ask me arseused when refusing to cooperate or when withholding information. Other variations used are: 'ask me bollix', 'ask me sack', 'ask me left one'. ('Me' is a common Hiberno-English pronunciation for 'my'.) IRELAND, 1991.► get off your arse; get off your assto start doing something. Often in the imperative UK, 1979.► get your arse in gearto start making an effort UK, 2000.► make an arse ofto make a mess of something; to botch something UK: SCOTLAND, 1996.► not know your arse from a hole in the groundto be completely ignorant (of a given subject) UK, 1982.► not know your arse from your elbowto be ignorant UK, 1930.► on your arsein dire straits, especially financial US, 1917.► out on your arseejected, evicted, expelled. A variation of 'out on your ear' UK, 1998.► put on the arse bitto indignantly tell someone what you think of him or her AUSTRALIA, 1975.► take it up the arseto submit to a more powerful force UK, 2000.► the arse drops out of; the arse falls out of(of a financial venture) to fail dismally AUSTRALIA, 1969.► up someone's arsevery close behind, in close proximity UK, 1997.► up your own arsevery self-involved UK, 2000.► you couldn't find your arse with both handsyou are stupid UK, 1999.► your arse is nippin buttonsyou are nervous, you are full of trepidation UK: SCOTLAND, 1988.► your arse offto a great degree; vigorously. Used to intensify verb meanings, thus 'to work your arse off' means 'to work hard'; very common with the verb 'work' and the verb 'fuck' and its synonyms UK, 1972

to make a mess of something, to botch something UK: SCOTLAND, 1996.

to eat something greedily, to consume something quickly UK: SCOTLAND, 1996.

of a vehicle, to reverse UK, 1959