Post-Intensifying

The Case of the Ass-Intensifier and Its Similar but Dissimilar Danish Counterpart

Abstract

Language is a “moving target”; the meaning and use of elements of a language can change so that former understandings and explanations become insufficient. The contemporary, American English colloquial use of the ass-intensifier, such as in “a grown-ass man”, is an example of that. This article is an examination of the ass-intensifier and a comparison with its Danish counterpart røv, exploring the similarities and dissimilarities. It will be argued that the English intensifier is post-intensifying and has two distinct meanings; furthermore, that intensification by a grammaticalized version of a lexical item for posterior is not exclusively an English phenomenon, showing a cross-linguistic link.