Careful Words

ass (n.)

ass (v.)

ass (adv.)

ass (adj.)

  He shall be buried with the burial of an ass.

Old Testament: Jeremiah xxii. 19.

  My thoughts ran a wool-gathering; and I did like the countryman who looked for his ass while he was mounted on his back.

Miguel De Cervantes (1547-1616): Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lvii.

Egregiously an ass.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Othello. Act ii. Sc. 1.

  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib.

Old Testament: Isaiah i. 3.

  The Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

Old Testament: Numbers xxii. 28.

  The ass will carry his load, but not a double load; ride not a free horse to death.

Miguel De Cervantes (1547-1616): Don Quixote. Part ii. Chap. lxxi.

O, that he were here to write me down an ass!

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Much Ado about Nothing. Act iv. Sc. 2.