a-word

English

a-word (plural a-words)

(euphemistic) The word ass or arse, asshole or arsehole.
(euphemistic, Christianity) The word alleluia, typically in the context of Lent since the Lenten liturgies of various Christian churches omit the alleluia.
- 2008, Mary Poplin, Finding Calcutta: What Mother Teresa Taught Me About Meaningful Work and Service, →ISBN, page 71:
  It was Lent; “alleluia” is not sung in the Catholic church during Lent. I told her Babloo liked songs with the “A-word.”
- 2009, Melinda A. Quivik, Serving the Word, →ISBN, page 43:
  My congregation is frustrated because we can’t sing carols during Advent, and now we can’t say the A-word [Alleluia] during Lent.
- 2022 April 1, Keith Dorwick, “Deeper and deeper into Lenten quiet”, in Peninsula Daily News‎:
  What we give up — the A-word. […] I added what we call the A-word in Lent, since we stop saying “a-l-l-e-l-u-i-a” for this season (Shhhh!).
Any word beginning with a that is not normally taboo but is considered (often humorously) to be so in the given context.
- 2010, Ken Siri, “Diagnosis and Evaluation—Formation”, in 1,001 Tips for the Parents of Autistic Boys, page 17:
  Specialists sometimes choose PDD-NOS instead of an autism diagnosis because they are afraid that the “a-word” frightens patients.

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