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I near sixty. It has meant arsehole since I was a kid, with one exception. Namely, the soda jerk. That usage was still part of the vernacular when I was young.

I am not sure what timeframe they are using for reference.

And yet "rude" itself has also changed -- from meaning "unsophisticated" to meaning something more along the lines of "obnoxious".

Is not saying hello when you see someone that you would normally be expected to say hello to not considered "rude"? It is to me, but it's not obnoxious...

There's a reason I said "more along the lines of" -- I was having trouble coming up with a definition which was precise without being circular.

In any event, I'm sure you can agree that "rude" no longer means simply "unsophisticated".

Steve Martin's movie "The Jerk" is the older usage, and it's dated to 1979.

But wasn't he a bumpkin that turned into an asshole once he struck it rich?