hulk432 wrote:I never understood that. When someone says that phrase, does that someone mean that the rat's ass is actually warm or does that someone mean that he's attracted to it and thinking about the topic at hand gives him a boner as a rat's ass would?
I gotta know.
First of all, you have to realize that American Colloquialisms are not always accompanied by the benefit of poetic foresight. And yes, many do often depend on some degree of cultural exclusivity.
So, "hotter than a rat's ass" could just be an indication the guy really wasn't thinking clearly as it charged from his brain. Or, they could find some inherent, local value in fucking rats up the ass wherever they're from. Some sort of social custom or ritual.
Alternately, I suppose it's entirely possible he was making a scientific observation based on the fact that rats, dragging their asses across the ground as they do, build up considerable frictive energy in their rodent-booties as a direct result, which in turn builds up heat energy. Thus: hotter than a rat's ass.