If you haven't noticed over the past few years, the word "douchebag" is everywhere. It's in movies, TV shows, magazine articles and blogs. It's only a matter of time before your mom calls you a douchebag for using the word "douchebag" too much in your blog posts (hi mom!).
But it wasn't always that way. As you can see from the Google Trends graph above, there was a time not too long ago when "dumbass" was America's favorite derisive term. Apparently back in 2005 you couldn't leave the house without hearing "dumbass this," "dumbass that," "you're a dumbass" or "that dumbass is a dumbass". But then, at the peak of it's popularity, a California court ruled that the word was no longer a defamatory term anymore. According to internetcases.com.
in its March 24, 2005 decision in the case of Vogel v. Felice, the California Court of Appeal has determined that calling someone a “dumb ass” does not give rise to liability for defamation.
And since then, the word has lost much of it's power and has seen a steady decline in use. (What's the point of calling someone a "dumbass" if it's not even a legal insult in a court of law.) While, on the other hand, the increased use of popped collars and spray-on tans have caused an explosion in the popularity of "douchebag".
So, the only question that remains is: What will be the next insult to come along and overtake douchebag?
I'd like to nominate "Cruisebag." See, even Webster's agrees.
I remember when douche bag was rising in popularity a few years ago and a radio show had a caller that didn't know what d-bag meant so they wouldn't play song requests until people said what they thought d-bag meant the rest of the week. Some of the answers were priceless.
Unrelated, you forgot to edit the bottom of the Merriam Webster page to read ' Learn more about "Cruisebag" and related topics at Britannica.com' in your photoshop. Hilarious nonetheless.
Just noticed something... what happened around late October 2004 when the use of "douchebag" went down to zero, and then went back up around March 2005? Was there a "no douchebag" policy in affect online for those six months?
I guess "cruisebag" will have to do since "winehousebag" doesn't really work that well, and people will think "hiltonbag" is the newest handbag that costs $2000.
(11 Comments)
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March 18th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
My wife asked for a Washer/Dryer for Christmas, so I bought her a Douchebag and a Towel!...... What?
September 5th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
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August 19th, 2008 at 09:07 am
My Mom has a great tasting douche-bag !!
August 19th, 2008 at 12:27 am
Douche Waddle is the next generation of Douche...Douche Waddle so hot right now...Douche Waddle....
August 18th, 2008 at 03:12 pm
Yea, so upload your favorite douchebags and rate them on http://www.topdouchebag.com.
So far, some greasy guy is #1.
August 13th, 2008 at 04:44 am
douchefag>douchebag
August 11th, 2008 at 09:52 pm
I remember when douche bag was rising in popularity a few years ago and a radio show had a caller that didn't know what d-bag meant so they wouldn't play song requests until people said what they thought d-bag meant the rest of the week. Some of the answers were priceless.
Unrelated, you forgot to edit the bottom of the Merriam Webster page to read ' Learn more about "Cruisebag" and related topics at Britannica.com' in your photoshop. Hilarious nonetheless.
August 11th, 2008 at 09:37 pm
Just noticed something... what happened around late October 2004 when the use of "douchebag" went down to zero, and then went back up around March 2005? Was there a "no douchebag" policy in affect online for those six months?
August 11th, 2008 at 05:32 pm
I would very much like to have you killed.
August 11th, 2008 at 05:32 pm
I'm sort of partial to Douchebrad. Though these days I've been using douchcicle a bit and quite enjoying it
August 11th, 2008 at 05:08 pm
I guess "cruisebag" will have to do since "winehousebag" doesn't really work that well, and people will think "hiltonbag" is the newest handbag that costs $2000.