Is this idiom an offshoot of an older idiom? I have heard something that sounds similar to this, but the words were slightly different.
asked Apr 15, 2011 at 21:47
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6Possible duplicate: What is the etymology of “…kick ass and take names”?– CallithumpianCommented Apr 15, 2011 at 22:17
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Related (from you): What is this idiom: “I'm going to start taking names and…”?– CallithumpianCommented Apr 15, 2011 at 22:35
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It's related, but that question generated the above statement. People seem to think that it answered that question, so I had to make another question.– language hackerCommented Apr 15, 2011 at 22:56
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Seems to me it's a variation. On police dealing with dangerous criminals -- or perhaps overzealous police -- there's the expression "shoot first, question the pieces later."– mfeCommented Apr 16, 2011 at 0:14
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"Kicking ass and taking numbers" is another way of expressing this. You are so awesome at a task that people are lining up to take you on.– user44641Commented May 21, 2013 at 17:52
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4 Answers
I believe that the phrase "kicking ass and taking names" also has a military origin. It comes from the act of subduing enemies, and then identifying them. After capture, military forces collect name, rank, and service number.
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4Do you have any references or uses that can be added to your answer?– MrHenCommented Jun 23, 2011 at 16:50
User "UnequivocallyAwesome" at Urban Dictionary claims it is a form of "Kick ass and ask questions later," which in turn is taken from "Shoot first, ask questions later," but UA has only this one entry and it has almost half as many downvotes as upvotes.
I don't think the two phrases (kick ass, take names; shoot first, question later) are related, but it seems the two have often been confused and combined. A search will turn up several different mashups of the two phrases.
See my answer to What is the etymology of “…kick ass and take names”? for earliest uses of that phrase.
Shoot first, ask questions later is an earlier phrase. I found it back to this 1919 US military publication:
Earlier examples of doing X, ask questions later exist however, as well as the general concept of asking questions later while in the heat of battle.
answered Apr 21, 2011 at 12:29
Phrase can be used in reference to someone or something that is having multiple successes in succession. kicking ass - Kicking someone or something's ass, beating, defeating an opponent at a task. taking names - Recording a list of future contestants who will have also be beaten or defeated in the defined task. "Aunt Betty-Joe was kicking ass and taking names at bingo last night."
Based on personal experience, "taking names" derives from the common practice in public schools in the United States of a teacher appointing a student to be classroom monitor when he or she had to absent herself temporarily from the classroom. Often the student monitor would be perched on a stool at the front of the classroom, and would write on the blackboard the name of any misbehaving student.
