Sore ass

 


Sore ass


     This tale goes back to one of the many arcane sayings we learned from John F. Sheehy aka Big Joanie who taught his son Greg sundry expressions that may have not been used in mixed company. The double delight of this term was that it changed over time and had two distinct meanings. I am sure Richard Lederer and the cast of the radio show "a way with words" would have some description for this linguistic form. John would use the phrase as a derogatory term when he wanted to heap abuse on a person he disliked strongly. Thus a man like Richard Nixon could be a sore ass or a guy like Joe Moore who opposed Mister Mayor in the late 1980's would warrant sore assness. He also would turn the idiom into a description of his reaction to people he disliked saying "You know what gives me a sore ass?" This would be the preamble to a lengthy vent about something that irritated the eloquent elder Sheehy. Greg picked up this saying from the elder Sheehy Lexicography and used it himself in a more modern application asking the questiom regarding  how people voted against their own self interest or why a baseball player would make millions but have a terrible haircut. He also created his own vernacular claiming such things gave him a "real pain in the balls" or the much more popular "this  guy is real pain in the ass" that continues to this day.



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