A person who is noted for being mardy – that is to say demonstratively miserable. Being depressed doesn't count – the mardy
arse revels in unhappiness and broadcasts it via sulking, moaning, whingeing and (in the case of
children) crying at the drop of a
hat. An element of paranoia will generally be present; the mardy arse permanently feels hard done-to.
Perhaps the key difference between grumpy and mardy is that the former involves more anger and the latter more self-pity. However, in an almost bipolar way, the mardy arse will tend to be someone who mood-swings from mardy to lary – from surly/resentful to surly/aggressive – often when
alcohol has been added as a catalyst.
The term is a coarser and therefore more emphatic version of mardy
bum (the '
bum' in this sense referring to the buttocks, not a beggar or
hobo, and 'arse' being a less polite word than '
bum'). It may be heard in the same Derbyshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire zone of the English East Midlands where mardy is commonplace, though principally the city of Leicester.
Where's Jack?
Got
beat at darts, and buggered off home in a
mood.
Oh, he always was a mardy
arse!