Motley Motley Motley is the traditional costume of the court jester, fool, or the harlequin character in "commedia dell'arte". The harlequin wears a patchwork of red, green and blue diamonds that is still a fashion motif. The word "motley" is described in the Oxford English Dictionary as a cognate of "medley", although the unrelated "mottled" has also contributed to the meaning. The word is most commonly used as an adjective or noun, but is also seen as a verb and adverb. When used as a noun, it can mean "a varied mixture". As an adjective, it is generally disparaging — a
Ascent of the A-Word Ascent of the A-Word Ascent of the A-Word: Assholism, the First Sixty Years is a 2012 book by the American linguist Geoffrey Nunberg which analyzes the history of the epithet "asshole". In "Ascent", Nunberg traces to World War II the origins of the word as an epithet, when it was used as a term of abuse for superior officers considered abusive or self-important. Following the soldiers' return home from the war, the term spread to "movement radicals", and, by the 1970s, to everyday discourse as a replacement for "heel", "cad" and other milder insults. According to Nunberg, the Internet has