# Curse words from far away lands. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 9, 2001, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curse-words-from-far-away-lands/68224 "2001-06-09T23:22:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fnord1966](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ad7895/32.png) [@fnord1966](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fnord1966)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2001, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curse-words-from-far-away-lands/68224/1 "2001-06-09T23:22:00Z")
My best friends girlfriend is Vietnamese, I was wondering if anybody knows insults, or swear words in Vietnamese? English translations and phonetics would be appreciated. No this isn’t so I can be mean to her, I just like to shock people with the crap I know, and it will totally freak out my best friend. If this should be in the Pit, please move it there. ---
**Author:** ![Skwerl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Skwerl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skwerl)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curse-words-from-far-away-lands/68224/2 "2001-06-10T01:17:59Z")
The Alternative Dictionaries:[http://www.notam.uio.no/~hcholm/altlang/](http://www.notam.uio.no/~hcholm/altlang/) (It’s down at the moment, but it’s usually up.) ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curse-words-from-far-away-lands/68224/3 "2001-06-10T04:27:28Z")
Er… Ðu Má is offensive enough (I hope this works properly on the boards as it’s my first crack at using special characters - the u is supposed to have a dot under it I think, but I dunno how to do that). Pronounce the first word like “do” but with a downward tone that kinda levels out and then kicks back a bit, and pronounce the second like “ma” in English, only with an upward inflection. Actally, it means the same thing as “ma” in English, so I’ll let you work out what the other word means. 😃 There are Vietnamese speakers (I’m not one) on here who might do a better job, but I hope it’s a start. Mind how you use it. ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curse-words-from-far-away-lands/68224/4 "2001-06-10T05:46:08Z")
If you’re going to use these words as a “joke” around Vietnamese speakers, it’s important to understand that bad or obscene words are taken differently by different cultures. I would recommend you learn more about what you are saying and how it will be taken before you toss it out there. ---
**Author:** ![fnord1966](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ad7895/32.png) [@fnord1966](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fnord1966)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curse-words-from-far-away-lands/68224/5 "2001-06-10T05:49:11Z")
Oh absolutely, she has a really good sense of humor, she is actually American, but the rest of her family is from Viet Nam. I never do anything to insult people unless I know they can take it as a joke. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curse-words-from-far-away-lands/68224/6 "2001-06-10T05:56:59Z")
Years ago, in high school, I worked on a building site during the holidays. Most of the labourers were European - Czechs, Poles etc. As a rebellious teen I preffered them to the bosses. They used to swear at the foremen in their native languages while smiling. It was a great joke once they taught me what they were saying. I can’t remember the stuff they taught me but I remember my favourite (Czech I think) translated to “May you be fucked by a bolt of lightning.” Good luck in this important quest. ---
**Author:** ![Mats\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8edcca/32.png) [@Mats\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mats_K)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/curse-words-from-far-away-lands/68224/7 "2001-06-10T11:28:02Z")
May you be fucked by a bolt of lightning haha!! That’s a good one. Here’s one my friend in Greece said to me one day, it basically means “you’re making me crazy”. Mou zalises ta arhithia. “You’ve made my balls dizzy.”