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In the late 18th century, the word "donkey" started to replace "ass", almost certainly to avoid confusion with the word "arse", which, due to sound changes that had affected the language, had come to be pronounced the same way (ęs). The pronunciation of "ass" was eventually restored to /ęs/ in order to reserve the distinction, but not without the curious consequence of American English losing the word "arse" entirely and handing over its meaning to "ass". |
