"Bitch" in other languages

“Bitch,” in English, is a female dog – it is also, and more commonly, a seriously nasty woman.

What is a nasty woman called in other languages?

In Icelandic, Tussa, aka c**t. It’s pronounced pretty much like “tossah”.

Spanish, at least in Puerto Rico, is puta.

ETA: Directed at Worm:

Does that have the same kind of “verboten” quality that c*nt does in English? (I did read bits of the recent thread on that in IMHO, but don’t recall if you posted there.) I’m talking about a word that’s definitely not polite, but not “omigod I can’t believe you just said that” either.

In Hebrew, either “Klafteh” or “Kalba” – While “Kalba” simply means “female dog” in Hebrew, I’m pretty sure “kalfteh” isn’t really Yiddish like it sounds, but is rather a case of taking the Hebrew word and retro-fitting it into Yiddush form, so it sounds like a real insult! :smiley:

Most likely an emulations of the concept of “bitch” from English.

Interestingly, calling a woman a “cunt” in hebrew (“kussit”) means you think she is extremely attractive… :confused:

ETA (to answer Twix’s ETA to Worm) – no, “Kalba” is not *verbotten *at all, translating it as “bitch” is actually probably one of the few cases where translation loses almost nothing in terms of tone and connotation.

Not quite as “verboten”, but it depends a lot upon the circumstances and in what context you use it.

ETA: It’s still not a word I use around my parents and grandparents, but I woulnd’t use bitch around them either.

In Hindi it’s “kuthi” and it’s pretty crude but it isn’t the first insult I’d use for a woman by a long shot. I’d probably start with “churel” (witch) or “saali”; literally,“sister-fucker”, which doesn’t make much sense in English but is pretty vulgar in Hindi.

Note that the word for brother-in-law, “saala” is also an insult. Your brother-in-law literally being a sister fucker of course, but when said to to someone else it takes on a different meaning.

I do not think that word means what you think it means.

Interesting!

One question, though – does “kuthi” mean “female dog”?

Yep… In Hindi, -a = masculine, and -i = feminine.

:confused: (honestly)
Are you saying I don’t know what *verbotten *means? (I don’t htink this is the case); or that I don’t understand how unacceptable “bitch” really is? (a lot more likely, I’ll admit… I’d think it’s not something you’d likely call a woman to her face if you’re polite, but not :eek: inspiring if you’re talking about a woman?)

Or is this a whoosh and “kalba” means something else in another language…? :slight_smile:

Well, it’s verboten for one thing.

You said kalba loses nothing in translation in tone and connotation. Then you said it’s not verboten. Bitch certainly is verboten, so since I assume you know what bitch means I presume you don’t know what verboten means.

I’m guessing from the context that you thought it meant “incorrect”, but that’s not quite right. It’s more like “forbidden”- as in, “it is verboten to allow your 6-year-old nephew to watch hardcore porn.”

ETA: Re-reading your post, it appears we just have different views on how offensive bitch is. If I called the wifey a bitch I’d definitely get an “OMG I can’t believe you said that” response. Probably involving a fist.

Thanks, RNATB. I wouldn’t really use kutha for a man either; it just doesn’t seem to have that bite. For a man I’d probably say “niccama”, which basically means “useless” but far more potent. Or “haraamzaada”…which funnily enough, means “bastard child”, which…I am. Hah.

And most every word in Hindi has gender.

In Greece we use the word for a female dog (σκύλα) in a similar way. It is used mostly for women who behave badly or are simply ugly (or both). Also sometimes denotes promiscuity.

Urdu its similar to Hindi; “Cutia”. In Salman Rushdies Midnight Children, the unit our hero is a member of the Canine Unit Tracking Intelligence Agents or CUTIA.

Annamika, I think “sister-fucker” is “Bahan Chod”. “Saali” means sister in law.

But most S Asians would use “Bitch” anyway

There was a thread recently in IMHO on the use of the word c*nt – which you may correctly infer I will not say, or even spell out, I consider it so completely offensive under any circumstances. That is a word I consider “verboten.”

“Bitch,” OTOH, though rude as hell, isn’t a word I think twice about using in front of just about anyone other than an elderly aunt or a boss, esp. in reference to a third person. Admittedly calling someone that to her face can definitely be fightin’ words – but would your wife freak out completely if you described some incredibly obnoxious woman who made your life a living hell as a bitch?

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Let’s get back to which languages do, and which don’t, call nasty women female dogs.

In Russian it is suka.

In Polish, there’s pizda, meaning “cunt.” It’s probably not quite as offensive as “cunt,” but it’s a very strong word. There’s also kurwa, meaning “whore,” which is the all-purpose swear word in Polish, and can mean anything from the literal to something like “bitch” to a general intensifier (almost exactly like the English “Fucking.” Ale kurwa dobre piwo! “What a fucking good beer!”)

Hungarian has the word szuka, which means female dog and a disagreeable woman, but I’ve never actually heard the word used in conversation. Kurva (variant of above) is more common in my experience. I am not a native speaker, though, so you might want to check with one. (Also, I discovered from the above posts that it looks like the Hungarian word for dog, kutya, is related to the Hindi and Urdu words.)

The word for female dog? Is it used for a nasty woman?

I didn’t realize this, as I’ve never heard it around my family, but suka is also a Polish word meaning both “female dog” and an domineering woman.

You can also look here on wiktionary and check out the female canine and spiteful woman categories and see where words overlap.