It came up in a dead tree book I have.
Is the plural of "pain in the ass" "pains in the ass" or "pain in the asses"?
It came up in a dead tree book I have.
Is the plural of "pain in the ass" "pains in the ass" or "pain in the asses"?
My guess is "pains in the ass" (like "passers by" or "attorneys general."
It took me a while to think of where a plural for it would be used. I guess something like: "Those two girls are pains in the ass."
It comes out of an exchange between two characters in a dead tree book I have.
I shrugged. "With great power comes lots of pains in the ass?"
"Isn't it pain in the asses?"
It's from Dead Last (Crossroads Queen Book 3) by Annabel Chase.
"With great power comes lots of pains in the ass?"
That's not multiple people who each are a pain in the ass. That's more than one pain.
Yes, but in this case the word "pain" is a stand-in for the people or things which are causing the pain.
There is a technical term* for this which I forget at present, but in essence it's like saying "all hands on deck," where the word "hand" is standing in for "crew". The part is a metaphor for the whole.
So if there are multiples causes of annoyance then the phrase is "pains in the ass". If one person or thing was causing issues for multiple people you would say "pain in our asses". Both pluralizations are correct, but they mean different things.
Edit: looked it up, the term is "synecdoche". Not to be confused with "Schenectady". Although there is a 2008 film called "Synecdoche, New York" which plays on the word similarity.
The phrase typically refers to someone who is causing you problems. In that context, it would be appropriate to say "pain in my ass".
If multiple people are causing you a problem and since you only have one ass, you could say they are "pains in my ass".
Thus, I would say the plural in "pains in the ass".
Pains in the ass.
Similar to:
courts martial
Brothers in law
The following phrase is modifying the first word.
"A pain in the ass" is an expression. In general usage such expressions don't have plurals. Syntactically, either "pain" or "ass" or both could have a plural, but the meaning is best expressed through context. Farmer Jones says, "Those crows are a pain in the ass." The reference could be to the crows as a group or to individual crows at various times. And the expression could relate strictly to Farmer Jones but it could refer to an entity larger than Farmer Jones, that is, the statement could be universal. Attempting to clarify the expression by means of plurals only makes the statement awkward. Trying to do his taxes, Mr. Jones said to his wife, "This government form is a pain in the ass." Speaking to his constituency, Senator Jones said, "I know these government forms are a pain in the ass."
It might be fun to consider the expression "One of a kind." What happens when you try to make "one" or "kind" plural? Professor Marley said, "That Gina is one of a kind." Professor Marley said, "The girls in my 11th grade English class are one of a kind."
Professor Marley said, "The girls in my 11th grade English class are one of a kind."
That sentence doesn't make any sense. How can you make "one of a kind" refer to a group. I think you could say "that class is one of a kind," but it sounds clumsy.
"The girls in my 11th grade English class are one of a kind."
Following an apocalypse that wiped out the entire female population apart from those girls?
You could make a sex story out of that, with each girl getting continually impregnated by a succession of carefully chosen men in an attempt to breed humanity back to sustainability.
AJ
How many 'pains' are there?
How many asses are involved?
Do the math. I believe it should be 'Pains in the ass' if there is a single victim of said pain(s).
And yes, I rolled my eyes during the entirety of my time spent in this thread - which I will never get back. My own fault.
I prefer the term "painus". It can be used in mixed company(but it pisses my wife off!); you can even get away with referring to your kid as a painus. It could be singular or plural - who knows? Be the first one on your block to start calling your neighbors a painus. They'll know that you are erudite and well-spoken, even if they have no idea what you are talking about. At the office, they will think that you coined a new nickname for your boss - a painus if there ever was one. If he catches on, you can be the first to use it in the seemingly endless unemployment line. It's a word that is versatile, easy to spell and pronounce and it's yours without cost! Use it today; you'll be glad that you did