Take the 2-minute tour ×

What's the meaning of to get your head out of your ass?

P1: Scientists turn blood cells into stem cells v. never gon die yall.

P2: F-k population control.

P1: Science can save us if we ever get our heads out of our asses.

share|improve this question

closed as general reference by FumbleFingers, bib, tchrist, cornbread ninja 麵包忍者, F'x Aug 28 '12 at 20:53


General Reference. It's just a coarse variation of bury your head in the sand, alluding to the supposed tendency of ostriches to do this when threatened. –  FumbleFingers Aug 28 '12 at 17:35
@FumbleFingers I don't know, I actually found it surprisingly hard to find a "legitimate" reference, as opposed to say UrbanDictionary, for this one. –  Evan Harper Aug 28 '12 at 20:10
@cornbread ninja oh it's just people from a forum that I frequent. –  Theo Aug 28 '12 at 21:28
@Evan Harper: On seconds thoughts, I think you've got a point! I just grabbed the UD link and a definition for the ostrich version in my first comment, but I see nothing making the fairly obvious connection between that and brown-nosing, kissing ass, and having your head up someone else's ass. Obvious or not, it doesn't seem to be explicitly set out anywhere else, so I shall vote to re-open. –  FumbleFingers Aug 28 '12 at 23:49

2 Answers 2

up vote 5 down vote accepted

To have your head in your ass means to ignore problems around you, usually by not seeing or not wanting to see them.

To get your head out of your ass means to start noticing those problems and stop ignoring them.

share|improve this answer
This answer is insufficiently general. For instance, it would make sense to say, "He has his head so far up his ass that he didn't know his own sister had gotten married," although his sister's marriage is presumably not a problem. –  Evan Harper Aug 28 '12 at 20:01

The The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang defines it as "[To be] stupid, unaware, uninformed;" I would add, "...especially as a result of self-absorption or arrogance."

Edit: Cf. navel-gazing, a milder way to express almost the same idea using a milder version of almost the same metaphor.

share|improve this answer
+1 for the last sentence. "Head up your arse" specifically means that you are arrogant and self-centred, and that this is the reason for your unawareness. –  user16269 Aug 28 '12 at 20:29
+1 for citations –  MετάEd Aug 29 '12 at 6:30
