Royal pain in the ass

Posted by Smokey Stover on September 12, 2009 at 03:51

In Reply to: Royal pain in the ass posted by R.Berg on September 11, 2009 at 15:18:

: : : Does anyone know the origin of the phrase "royal pain (in the ass)"?

: : You've actually split it incorrectly: that should be "(royal) pain in the ass/arse". Anything annoying or irksome can be decribed as being, or giving one, "a pain", often elaborated to "a pain in the neck/back/arm/wherever." "Pain in the ass/arse" became common in the 1960s - we may speculate that it was in used before but was simply considered too rude to set down in print. "Royal" is simply an intensifier, as in similar phrases such as "right royally screwed".

: In another sense, Harvey didn't split the phrase incorrectly. Calling someone a royal pain, without specifying a body part, is common. ~rb

Why royal? you may be thinking. The Oxford English Dictionary has answered the question for us.

s.v. royal "d. colloq. Noble, splendid, first-rate. Also (chiefly U.S. colloq.) used as an intensifier, freq. with ironic force.
[examples] . . . 1951 J. D. SALINGER Catcher in Rye iv. 27 He gave out a big yawn while he said that. Which is something that gives me a royal pain in the ass. I mean if someone yawns right while they're asking you to do them a goddam favor. 1960 WENTWORTH & FLEXNER Dict. Amer. Slang 435/1 Royal... Used as a term of emphasis, esp. before taboo words and expressions, most freq. in 'a royal screwing'. 1972 Dict. Contemp. & Colloq. Usage 24/2 Royal screw (fuck),..an ultimate or complete put-down; total failure where success was expected; an unmitigated defeat or deception. . . 1977 C. MCFADDEN Serial x. 26/2 Kate had been Harvey's idea of a royal Bengal pain in the a** for the last year."