# Any English words obscene in other languages? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 18, 2010, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-english-words-obscene-in-other-languages/543664 "2010-06-18T12:48:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-english-words-obscene-in-other-languages/543664/121 "2010-06-28T15:53:32Z")
> [@DarrenS](#): > > A little more on topic: poor, poor Sean [Connery](http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-french/bullshit), especially given that he owned property in France. Just to add to injury. As his real name is Thomas and Sean is the Gaelic form of John, would that make him John Thomas Connery? ---
**Author:** ![SGT42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@SGT42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SGT42)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-english-words-obscene-in-other-languages/543664/122 "2010-06-29T12:43:05Z")
> [@DarrenS](#): > > Adding to the anecdotes: a British friend of mine brought his French fiancée home to meet his family. After dinner etc. they all settled down to watch a good old fashioned British football match on TV. Halfway through the match, the referee made a bad call, and his fiancée, obviously trying to fit in but not realizing that “con” doesn’t have the same force as its English counterpart, yelled, “What’s wrong with you, you blind old c\*\*\*?!” Stunned silence. It is interesting to compare the similarities and differences between languages. In Portuguese the word “babaca” has the same meanings than the French word “con” (vagina and dork). In Italian the word “coglione” means testicle and dork. While those languages use the female and the male sexual organs, English uses the word asshole. What could have originated those similarities and differences? ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-english-words-obscene-in-other-languages/543664/123 "2010-06-30T05:21:09Z")
I’m not sure why, but my Laotian friends would always crack up over the mention of the, at the time, popular cartoon character [He-Man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He-man) from Masters of the Universe. I’m not sure what He Man means phonetically in Lao language, but they sure did get a kick out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-english-words-obscene-in-other-languages/543664/124 "2010-07-01T02:37:45Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > I’m not sure why, but my Laotian friends would always crack up over the mention of the, at the time, popular cartoon character [He-Man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He-man) from Masters of the Universe. I’m not sure what He Man means phonetically in Lao language, but they sure did get a kick out of it. Lao is very similar to Thai, and I can tell you that sounds almost exactly like for the Thai for: “dog’s cunt.” _Hee maa_. And I don’t mean “vagina” or any sanitized version. It’s the “cunt” and nothing else. Since that also sound close to the Thai term for “snow” – _he ma_, presumably from “Himalaya”, you have to be very careful. Fortunately, it does not snow much in Thailand. ---
**Author:** ![Hallucinex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba9def/32.png) [@Hallucinex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hallucinex)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-english-words-obscene-in-other-languages/543664/125 "2010-07-01T04:46:52Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > “Yep” (and some pronunciations of “yup”) sounds exactly like the Russian imperative form of “fuck” as in “go fuck [yourself/your mother/your dog/Stalin/etc]” Oops, I think I may have offended a few people :eek: ---
**Author:** ![wayward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a87d85/32.png) [@wayward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayward)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-english-words-obscene-in-other-languages/543664/126 "2010-07-02T11:46:20Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Ahahahahah. And “cunt” isn’t even as objectionable in the UK as it is in the US. Brilliant. In fact she got it _almost_ perfect. That’s practically a textbook example of how to use the word in the UK. Just not one to use in front of the in-laws… ---
**Author:** ![wayward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a87d85/32.png) [@wayward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayward)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-english-words-obscene-in-other-languages/543664/127 "2010-07-02T12:23:12Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Is Australia foreign enough? Because here in the states, even a nice young lady might root for her favorite team, by cheering them on. In Australia, that would mean something rather different… If she was rooting for her team, would she be full of spunk? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-english-words-obscene-in-other-languages/543664.md?page=6)