# "Bitch" in other languages **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 11, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-in-other-languages/489074 "2009-03-11T14:06:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-in-other-languages/489074/41 "2009-03-11T17:47:36Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Interesting! (Though it does explain why it wasn’t on the Cliff’s Notes version of the chart I was looking at, which was Indo-European only.) > > Are there any theories about where the family came from, or why there would be a connection between Finnish, Hungarian, and a bunch of languages spoken in Siberia? (It’s the Hungarian that seems odd here – the others seem more northern/nomadic. That could just be my ignorance though – I don’t know diddly about Hungary, its language, history, or culture.) The theory, as far as I understand and remember it, is that these language started in the Urals (and the closest relative to Hungarian are Vogul/Mansi and Ostiak, languages spoken by a handful of people near the Ob river in Siberia. You can clearly see the relation with [numbers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansi_language) here. Compare with [Finnish numerals](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_numerals) where there is no overlap [unless “four” is related. I don’t know if that’s a real cognate or not.]) The Hungarians/Magyars apparently came down from the Urals and into the Carpathian Basin starting around the ninth century. There’s a nice little write-up [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_people) under "ethnic affiliations and genetic origins. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-in-other-languages/489074/42 "2009-03-11T17:48:13Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Thus "Hun"gary? > > (Does it count as a hijack when you’re the OP? My apologies about the detour into historical linguistics to those who are interested in the question I originally posed. :D) Exactamundo 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-in-other-languages/489074/43 "2009-03-11T17:48:50Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Thus "Hun"gary? The latest I’ve heard there is no or very little connection between the Huns and Magyars. edit: [Addressed in the Wikipedia article linked to above:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_people) > [@](#): > > The word “Hungarian” is thought to be derived from the Bulgar-Turkic Onogur, possibly because the Magyars were neighbours (or confederates) of the Empire of the Onogurs in the sixth century, whose leading tribal union was called the “Onogurs” (meaning “ten tribes” or “ten arrows” in Old Turkic).[20][21] > > The “H-” prefix in many languages (Hungarians, Hongrois, Hungarus etc.) is a later addition. It was taken over from the name of the “Huns”, a semi-nomadic tribe that briefly lived in the area of present-day Hungary and, according to legends originating in the medieval period, was the people from which the Magyars arose. The identification of the “Hungarians” with the “Huns” has often occurred in historiography and literature. Even today, Hun names like Attila, Réka, and Ildikó are popular among Hungarians. This identification began to be disputed in the late nineteenth century and is still a source of major controversy among scholars who insist that there could be no direct connection between the two. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-in-other-languages/489074/44 "2009-03-11T18:02:16Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > There’s a nice little write-up [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_people) under "ethnic affiliations and genetic origins. Thanks – I’ll read that later. (Despite all evidence to the contrary, I’m supposed to be getting some work done here this afternoon.) ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-in-other-languages/489074/45 "2009-03-11T18:08:04Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > 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. Just out of interest is there a different word for the brother of your wife? Both are called brothers-in-law in English. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-in-other-languages/489074/46 "2009-03-11T18:09:46Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Just out of interest is there a different word for the brother of your wife? Both are called brothers-in-law in English. “You’re a sister-fucker!” “No, _you’re_ a sister-fucker!” “Oh, yeah, right. Sorry about that.” ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-in-other-languages/489074/47 "2009-03-11T18:19:01Z")
While out drinking with a female Japanese co-worker once she told me that to call a Japaness woman a female dog would just get you a dumb, confused look because the culture does not equate this as an insult. She told me that to properly insult a Japanese woman you need to call her a big cow. I then asked the big cow to bring me another beer; and yes, she was offended!😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-in-other-languages/489074/48 "2009-03-11T18:31:51Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > While out drinking with a female Japanese co-worker once she told me that to call a Japaness woman a female dog would just get you a dumb, confused look because the culture does not equate this as an insult. She told me that to properly insult a Japanese woman you need to call her a big cow. > > I then asked the big cow to bring me another beer; and yes, she was offended!😃 The more common disrespectful word for a woman is “ama”, which means “woman” but in a disrespectful way. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-in-other-languages/489074/49 "2009-03-11T20:14:26Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > In Dutch, _teef_ means both female dog and disagreeable woman. But calling a woman a “teef” to her face..them’s fighting words. Dutch has two words for c_nt. One, “trut” is so old etmyologically, most people don’t realise it means c_nt. It is a moderate insult, often used endearingly. Calling someone a “trut” when angry, is rude, but not as rude as calling her “teef” (bitch). So the severity of the insult is switched compared to the English usage, where bitch is less bad then c\*nt. Our second word for \*cunt" is “kut” and that is seldom used as an noun. “Kut” is an adverb. You can have “kut weer” (nasty weather) or missed the kut train because the kut ticketmachine was out of order, _again_. Calling someone a “kut” is strange. A kut-_what?_ would be the first question asked. “Kut” is used the same way “fuck” is used in English, and only slightly less versatile. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Themenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ee59a6/32.png) [@Themenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Themenin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-in-other-languages/489074/50 "2009-03-11T23:10:29Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Great link – thanks! > > It looks like in addition to Greek, Hebrew, Polish, and Russian, as noted, the word is the same in: > > Armenian > Bulgarian > French > Latvian > Lithuanian > Norwegian > Polish > Romanian > Slovak Doesn’t work in French - you occasionally hear the word “chienne” applied to a woman, but it’s usually humorous, and at best ambiguous. “Pute” - whore, is probably the closest all-purpose feminine insult, also featured in the expression “fils de pute” - son of a gun ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-in-other-languages/489074/51 "2009-03-11T23:51:31Z")
In Latin, the word for female wolf doubles as a word for whore - _lupa_. In ancient Greek, kuwn means a female dog and a shameless woman. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-in-other-languages/489074/52 "2009-03-12T07:42:51Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Great link – thanks! > > It looks like in addition to Greek, Hebrew, Polish, and Russian, as noted, the word is the same in: > > Armenian > Bulgarian > French > Latvian > Lithuanian > Norwegian > Polish > Romanian > Slovak I strongly disagree that this is the case in Norwegian! The word for a female dog is _tispe,_ which I have never heard used to insult a female human. (Not even by a Northerner, and if they don’t use a swear word, it just isn’t used.) I hear teens and young adults using the English word “bitch”, and some people use _fitte_, a crude word for vagina… but never _tispe._ Norwegians tend to be very equal-opportunity with their insults. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-in-other-languages/489074/53 "2009-03-12T12:42:28Z")
> [@Themenin](#): > > Doesn’t work in French - you occasionally hear the word “chienne” applied to a woman, but it’s usually humorous, and at best ambiguous. “Pute” - whore, is probably the closest all-purpose feminine insult, also featured in the expression “fils de pute” - son of a gun Seconded. “chienne” (female dog) can be used as an insult, even sometimes in reference to sexual behaviour, but it’s not particularly common. As said, “pute” (whore) or “salope” (slut) would be better translation. Rather “salope”, actually, since it’s used mostly in the same way as “bitch” : either to say that the woman is sexually promiscuous (say, the girlfriend who cheated on you) or that she is a particularly unpleasant woman (the female boss who had you fired). Also the translation of “cunt” is “con” (or “conne” for a female). However, it’s isn’t perceived at all like “cunt” in the USA. It’s by far the most common insult. Plenty of people will say “what a cunt I am” because they just made some mistake, or “Don’t worry about what she said, she’s just a cunt anyway” , or “You’re such a cunt” because you made a bad joke, etc.. it’s used for both genders and without any reference to sexual behaviour. I generally translate it in English by “moron”. Also, I suspect that the vast majority of French people don’t even know that it refers to female genitalia. It became so common that the original meaning has been lost (maybe you would still find it in contemporary porn literature with this meaning, but I couldn’t tell for sure). I feel for the Frenchman who would have looked up the translation of “con” and would use “cunt” as liberally in the USA as he would use it in France. ---
**Author:** ![glas\_onion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9dc877/32.png) [@glas\_onion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glas_onion)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-in-other-languages/489074/54 "2009-03-12T13:09:35Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > One, “trut” is so old etmyologically, most people don’t realise it means c\*nt. It is a moderate insult, often used endearingly. > Calling someone a “trut” when angry, is rude, but not as rude as calling her “teef” (bitch). Sounds a bit like “twat”. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-in-other-languages/489074/55 "2009-03-12T13:36:53Z")
Excellent – thanks, folks – people who speak the language are so much more reliable a source than any website! Current version of the list – the word is the same in: Armenian Bulgarian Dutch [del]French[/del] Greek Hebrew Latvian Lithuanian [del]Norwegian[/del] Polish Romanian Russian Slovak Did I miss any? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-in-other-languages/489074.md?page=2)