by Patrick Appel
Malcolm Jones reviews Geoffrey Nunberg's new book, Ascent of the A-Word:
It is a word sparingly applied to women and almost never to children: “It’s easy to think of small children as little shits, since a predisposition to malice or cruelty can manifest itself very early on. But we rarely describe little children as assholes. You can’t be an asshole until you’re old enough to know better, and neurotic enough to sense that you ought to feel bad about it.”
The Dish 