# Let's talk curse words in foreign languages **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 28, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069 "2011-10-28T13:38:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/41 "2011-10-29T05:02:08Z")
Castilian Spanish has some interesting insults and dirty phrases. Coño - “Cunt.” Can be used to refer to the body part or as a general exclamation the same way we use “shit!” Que te joden - “May they fuck you,” equivalent to “fuck you” in English. Not sure who “they” are in this scenario… Hostias - “Hosts” as in the Eucharist. Used as a general exclamation. Me cago en la puta hostia - “I shit on the whore host.” Another exclamation. Hecho a mierde. - “Made of shit.” Something that is really messed up. Que te cagas - “That you would shit.” Something that is really good, surprisingly enough. Gilipollas - “Asshole.” This one I could never figure out the direct translation, but it seems to have something to do with dicks. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/42 "2011-10-29T09:06:12Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > And, I think also, Lech Tizdayin (or Ti’zayin?) Go fuck yourself. > (I’d like to see that in writing in Hebrew to get the exact wording right. Alessan?) לך תזדיין. _Lech Tizdayen_ Literally “go fuck”, it’s the basic “fuck you”, and the bread and butter of Hebrew insults. > [@Terr](#): > > Yes, but for hardcore swearing, Israelis switch to Arabic. Arabic, Russian, Yiddish, English, Ladino - Israelis take their insults where they can find them. A simple phrase like \*Lech kibinimat, ya manyak \*(“go to hell, asshole”) consists of four different languages. Of course, some of the best Israeli insults feature no profanity at all. One of the most scathing ways of saying “fuck off” is \*Lech chapess ta’chaverim shelcha \*- “go look for your friends”. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/43 "2011-10-29T10:22:45Z")
Cantonese: _Lun_ - literally ‘penis’ but has the effect of ‘fucking’ when inserted as a modifier, or into multisyllabic combinations, e.g. _chi sin_ - crazy (literally ‘crossed wires’); _chi lun sin_ - fucking crazy _gum yat ho yit_ - it’s hot today; _gum yat ho lun yit_ - it’s fucking hot today _chau yuen_ - ugly (literally ‘stinky face’); _chau lun yuen_ - fucking ugly _Diu_ - fuck _Diu leh_ - fuck you _Diu leh lo mo - fuck your_ (old) mother _Die leh lo mo chao hai_ - fuck your mother’s smelly cunt The above is actually relatively mild and you hear _diu_ and _diu leh lo mo_ spoken in the street constantly. More serious are: _Pok gai_ - fall down (unclear to me if this means ‘you’re the kind of person who would fall down’ or ‘fall down dead’) _Ham ga tsan_ - I curse all your family to death (this is the Canto nuclear swearing option) Italian: _Puttana_ - whore, bitch _Cazzo_ (pron CAT-so) - literally penis, but is the ‘fucking’ equivalent, used in the sense of ‘fuck’, ‘fuck it’, ‘fucking’, ‘fuck me’ etc. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/44 "2011-10-29T11:31:53Z")
Whilst watching a DVD, when a character rips off a string of obscenities, I often rewatch the clip with the foreign subtitles. You know, just to keep fresh on the topic. The Spanish “pendejo” is often translated as “asshole”. It actually means pubic hair. And “cabrón” usually winds up as “bastard” though it is a derivative of the Spanish word for goat. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/45 "2011-10-30T02:50:38Z")
Scheiße Kopf Shit Head. Thanks Mom. ---
**Author:** ![Sofis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Sofis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofis)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/46 "2011-10-31T06:32:05Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > I always figured it’s a euphemistic alteration (like “gosh dang it to heck”) of “Satan”, making it somewhat less innocent. I could be wrong, though. I would have guessed “skit” as the origin of “sjutton”. I’m pretty sure “attans” comes from “Satan”, though. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/47 "2011-10-31T07:25:35Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > \*\*Scheiße Kopf > > Shit Head.\*\* > > Thanks Mom. Readers old enough to remember Catch 22 by Joseph Heller know this. One of the main characters was Sgt. Scheisskopf (later promoted to Lieutenant, IIRC). ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/48 "2011-10-31T07:52:15Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > To be honest, Swedish swearing is pretty crap all round. None of the words can really be spat out with the same venom as English swears, which is probably a large part of the reason why many Swedes swear in English. That and sounding cool, obviously. And why Swedish-speaking Finns swear in Finnish. “Och så va’ ja’ som voi vittu va’ han är saatana yks vitun idiootti”. Ours are just awesome, full of rolling R’s and vitrol. And, of course, the ubiquitous “vittu” (cunt), which in usage is approximately equal to “fuck” but then goes so much further. Voi vittu = “oh cunt” = oh fuck. Haista vittu = “smell a cunt” = fuck you. Suksi vittuun = “ski into a cunt” = fuck off. Vedä vittu päähäs = “pull a cunt over your head” = fuck off. Mitä vittua = “what the cunt” = what the fuck. Vitun XXXXX = “XXXXX of the cunt” = fucking XXXXX. vittupää = “cunthead” = a stronger form of “asshole” Olla naama norsunvitulla = “to have a face like an elephant’s cunt”= to be really sour and unpleasant about something vituttaa = literally “to want/need cunt” = to be really pissed off about something vittuuntua = literally “to become like a cunt” = to get really pissed off about something vittumainen = “like a cunt” = shitty, unpleasant And of course, “vittu” can just be used as an interjection to add force to a sentence, or sometimes to construct one entirely. One of the best ones I’ve heard is “Vittu mitä vittua vittu” by a very frustrated teenager. Others: saatana = Satan, used also in the form “saatanan XXXXX” which is approximately “goddamn XXXXX” perkele = Satan (originally a pre-Christian god) (“Vittu saatana perkele” is a popular string of swears.) helvetti = Hell, “mitä helvettiä” = what the hell paska = shit kusipää = “pisshead” = asshole kyrpä = cock (to be really pissed off at something is to have a cock growing on your forehead, “kyrpä otsassa”) mulkku = cock, usually used to describe an unpleasant man jumalauta = “God help” = approximately “God damn it” perse = ass, “voi perse” = approximately “oh shit” And combinations of the above: paskanvitut, persehelvetti… We get quite creative. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/49 "2011-10-31T08:18:00Z")
> [@Pyper](#): > > Que te joden - “May they fuck you,” equivalent to “fuck you” in English. Not sure who “they” are in this scenario… It’s _que te jodan_. They can be anybody, so long as they make it painful. There’s also _que te folle un pez_ (may a fish fuck you… think about it: you’re screwed, maybe even pregnant, and given how fish have sex, didn’t even enjoy it) and its sisters, _que te folle un pez espada_ or _que te folle un tiburón_ (may a swordfish/shark fuck you… oral sex, given the choice of fishes) > [@](#): > > Hecho a mierde. - “Made of shit.” Something that is really messed up. _Hecho una mierda_. Like shit, not made of. > [@](#): > > Gilipollas - “Asshole.” This one I could never figure out the direct translation, but it seems to have something to do with dicks. Both _gilipollas_ and its sister _soplapollas_ would translate directly to “dick-sucker”; that is, faggot. > [@minlokwat](#): > > And “cabrón” usually winds up as “bastard” though it is a derivative of the Spanish word for goat. But the literal translation “big goat” is not what the word means, bastard in the I’m-not-talking-about-his-parents-marriage-status-sense is very close to the actual meaning. The Italians say _va fa’nculo_, we say _que te den (po’l culo)_. Same thing, go take it up the ass. _Maricón_ used to mean faggot, but a curious consequence of the separation it’s experimenting between the sexual meaning and the unacceptable behavior meaning is that it’s now gotten a female version, _maricona_. Maricona has no sexual connotations, but it definitely has the unacceptable behavior meaning. And I’ve heard some people claim that _maricón_ and _mariquita_ are actually different: the first one (Mary-with) gives, the second one (Mary-without) takes; most people just consider _maricón_ as the actual insult and _mariquita_ (which also means ladybug, fun fun) as its euphemistic version which you would actually be able to use in front of your grandmother. Mnd you: insults created on the fly, preferably with no actual profanity, are what’s considered the height of Spanish cursing. A Southern lady saying “bless your heart, darling” is much more to our liking than some yob going “fuck you fucker and this fucking fuck!”… seriously, baby boy, didn’t your momma make enough money under the streetlamp to send you for schooling, that you know a single swearword? ---
**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/50 "2011-10-31T09:10:21Z")
> [@auRa](#): > > And why Swedish-speaking Finns swear in Finnish. Although I salute the Finnish creativity when swearing, Northern Norway also holds its position pretty well, and is IMO a lot more colorful than imported English swearing. It’s probably an urban legend that this message was found on the voicemail of the support center of one of the larger computer brands here, but it’s anyway a good example of good Northern Norwegian swearing: > [@](#): > > Nu e æ førrbainna, altså. Fy faen, førr nokka skjit. Kem i hælvett e det som har fuinne opp det herre satans makkverket. Det går da fan-steiki-helvete ikkje ant å hoilde på å kuke med det here vekkesvis.. Main har da førr faen ainner ting å gjøre, einn å sette der å fettle og baille med den satans musejævelen. Kainn du innst inni grønnskodde tykjeræva førtelle ka som e vitsen med nokka jernskrammel som står der og gneill og hyle med en masse hælvetes lyda og blinke og blafre uta fan, og passord og ledninge og knotta som tyt ut som han tykjen overalt. Æ måtte bærre ha fådd tak i en av dokker, dokker helvetes kuklæsta av nån support-gakkgakka, så skuill æ vel fansøkki ha rævkjørt dokker dit dokker høre heime, satans utvrengte fette av nån hæstkuka. Kom fan ikkje hit å lur mainnskit på folk, å førtælle ka æ skal trøkke, din satans gjeddpeis. Va det opp te mæ skulle dokker ha vært på ishave og ronka kobbekuk, førbainna søring…, så kunne dokker ha sotte å konnfigurert dokker sjøl så utahælvettes langt opp i de utpulte ræven dokkers at dokker måtte sjite utav øran neste gang dokker måtte på dass, og når dokker va færdi me det, så sku æ pærsonli ha kommen å formatert trynan dokkers, å innstallert skanken oppi baillhånka dokkers sånn at dokker kom tel å pesse røde serienummer. Skulle det ennu spenne liv i dokker etter dette, så sku æ ha plugga og pløyd dokker så utavhælvettes langt inn i det største rævhållet æ har funne. Og da sku det ha lokta mainnskjit av dokker heilt te dokker daua. Førr faen steike innst inn i det heiteste utsvidde hælvette for satan, la mæ få tak i omså bare en av dokker. Æ har da vel førr helvete slette hauet av hysjævla før. Æ kommer te å måkke heile den førbainna skiten i eska og sende ho i retur æ vil fan ikkje ha han. Så kan dokker te helvete sette der å ronke aleina i den helsikes telefon dokkers. Don’t ask me to translate, it’s quite untranslateable 😃 Generally, Norwegian swearing has less emphasis on the scatological and incestuous words (e.g. motherfucker has entered Norwegian swearing only as a translation of the English term) and more on the religious terms. Terms like fuck, whore and motherfucker are rather uncommon in Norwegian swearing and are usually used in English by younger people who try to sound cool and can’t swear well. Also, the implications of “shit” in English isn’t commonly understood, because Norwegian “skitt” means “dirt”, not “shit” (“shit” is best translated with “dritt”, but even that word is IMO not as offensive as “shit” in English). Some examples: Faen - the Devil (often used as “fy faen”) Satan - the Devil Helvete - Hell Faen i helvete - the Devil in hell Satan i helvete - the Devil in hell Faen brenne i helvete / Faen steike i helvete - The devil burn in Hell Jævel - devil (originally a minor one, _the_ Devil is “Faen” or “Satan”) Jævla - devilish Rasshøl - asshole Jævla rasshøl - devilish asshole Kuk/kukk - cock Hestkuk (from the northern parts) - Horse’s cock (i.e. bigger than the usual one 🆒 ) Fitte (most probably appropriated either from Finnish “vittu” or perhaps English “cunt”) - cunt Drittsekk - sack of shit Jævla drittsekk - best translated as “fucking sack of shit” Jævla dritt/jævla møkk - best translated as “fucking shite” Forpult - fucking Slightly less offensive: Herregud - Ohmygod Fanden - less colloquial form of “faen” Fanden og hans oldemor - The Devil and his grandmother Skitt - crap (see above) Typical Northern Norwegian swearing words: Peis - Cock Tykje - the Devil Kuke - a verb derived from “kuk” Faen søkke - the Devil sink Utpult - fucked too much/too hard Mainnsjit - shit (literally “man’s shit”) Fett/Fette - cunt (also as an adjective some times) ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/51 "2011-10-31T12:38:49Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > I always figured it’s a euphemistic alteration (like “gosh dang it to heck”) of “Satan”, making it somewhat less innocent. I could be wrong, though. Could be. Swedish cursing generally of invoking the devil. However we also use “attan” a variation av _arton_ (eighteen) and “tusan” (thousand). So it could also be the number of devils we want to bring forth. > [@medicated](#): > > Of course, swearing in Russian could probably take up an entire thread. > [@Terr](#): > > Swearing in Russian is a form of art. Just knowing the words is not enough. You have to know all the different declinations of the words, and their shades of meaning, and string them together in an aesthetically pleasing manner. A friend of mine once opened a door in the iconostasis in the orthodox cathedral in Tallinn and surprised a priest who was siting there, reading a book. My then girlfriend, who knows Russian and was around, reported that he didn’t actually swear as such, but he was not far from. ---
**Author:** ![aesop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@aesop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aesop)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/52 "2011-10-31T14:50:59Z")
One of the juicier Hungarian curses has an interesting history. In the time of the Turkish occupation the \*lopat \*was the stake upon which people were impaled. Hence: “lopat a segedbe” meant “(may you get) a stake up your ass.” Over the years lopat fell out of use (the Turks were eventually driven from Hungary) and the homophone “lofasz” or “horse cock” took it’s place. So if your peeved at someone in Hungary, you wish that he gets a horse’s cock up his ass. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/53 "2011-10-31T15:51:09Z")
> [@Pyper](#): > > Coño - “Cunt.” Can be used to refer to the body part or as a general exclamation the same way we use “shit!” Interestingly, “con” – meaning cunt, and a cognate of it as well, just like the Spanish word – is also used in French, but almost never in the actual sense of vagina or vulva. It’s used as an _adjective_ (there’s also the feminine form: “conne”) and is actually a very mild insult. It’s something you can affectionately/teasingly call someone you like, which would never be the case with the English word. > [@auRa](#): > > helvetti = Hell, “mitä helvettiä” = what the hell Good thing you said what it meant, because otherwise I’d have thought it meant Switzerland. Maybe Hell is in Switzerland? ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/54 "2011-10-31T16:12:34Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Lots of penis-oriented profanity in Hebrew: > > Zayin - “cock” - like hell > Zayin Ba’ayin - “cock in the eye” - no fucking way > Eizeh Zayin - “what cock” - well, that sucks > Al Hazayin Sheli - “one my cock” - I don’t give a shit > Kol Hazayin - “all the cock” - tough shit > Lo Sam Zayin - “doesn’t put a cock” - doesn’t give a shit > Nishbar Li Hazayin - “my cock brok” - I’ve had enough of this shit There was a very funny story in a book my parents were reading- I think it was the biography of a prime minister. Begin, maybe? Anyway, whoever he was, he was giving a speech about the arming of various nations, and how he wanted to arm each and every Israeli citizen. Something like that. Anyway, he was using the older, original meaning of _zayin_, weapon. So the younger people in the audience (which was most of them) were practically on the floor laughing, with only a few old people in the front clapping. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/55 "2011-10-31T16:32:38Z")
> [@auRa](#): > > Voi vittu = “oh cunt” = oh fuck. I have to confess that I have once exclaimed “Voi Jumalan vittu!” when someone overturned her beer glass onto my lap. My cousin who was there commented that he had never heard that expression before but he doubted you could say anything worse in the Finnish language. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/56 "2011-10-31T21:21:16Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > Calling someone a cow, “kráva,” is much worse than calling someone a cow here. However, calling someone “you ox” (ty vole, pron. “tee VO-lay”), while technically insulting being that oxen are big, ugly and stupid (and therefore a funny thing to call a close friend), is as ubiquitous in slang as the American “man,” as in “What’s going on, man?” or “Oh, _man_!” Actually, I don’t know if ‘ty kravo’ is such a terrible insult. I guess it could be, but I’m more familiar with its usage to express surprise or bewilderment; it’s not really directed at anyone in particular but rather means something like ‘holy shit, look at that!’. > [@DocCathode](#): > > spaceba. But could I please get a pronunciation guide? the pronunciation is pretty much as-is, except for the word that **raskolnik** represents as xye (?), which is close to what the Cyrillic looks like but completely random as far as transliteration goes; a closer approximation would be khuy, where the ‘kh’ is something like the guttural sound at the end of loch > [@medicated](#): > > Of course, swearing in Russian could probably take up an entire thread. > [@Terr](#): > > Swearing in Russian is a form of art. Just knowing the words is not enough. You have to know all the different declinations of the words, and their shades of meaning, and string them together in an aesthetically pleasing manner. I’m sorry, but swearing in Russian is pretty much like swearing in any other language. This is exactly the sort of bollocks that people who don’t really speak any other language than their own propagate about their own language. They have absolutely no way of knowing whether it is true, but they like to believe they’re right because it makes them feel special. As you can tell, though, I don’t buy it. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/57 "2011-10-31T21:51:11Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > I’m sorry, but swearing in Russian is pretty much like swearing in any other language. This is exactly the sort of bollocks that people who don’t really speak any other language than their own propagate about their own language. They have absolutely no way of knowing whether it is true, but they like to believe they’re right because it makes them feel special. As you can tell, though, I don’t buy it. I speak three - Russian, Hebrew and English, and have a smattering (especially swear words) of others. And yes, Russian has the most elaborate system of swearing that I have seen. It is not “poetic” like Yiddish, nor very inventive, like Arabic, but it is the only language I know of where you can have a dialogue using ONLY swear words, and both people will understand what was spoken about (and the subject spoken about was not related to body parts, sexual acts, or effluents). Example: here is a paragraph in Russian based only on words derived from the slang word for the male sexual organ: “Na khuya ty zdes’ nakhuyaril do khuya? A nu raskhuyarivay na khuy!” Which can be translated as: “Why did you pile up so much stuff here? Clear it up immediately!” ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/58 "2011-10-31T22:08:58Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > I speak three - Russian, Hebrew and English, and have a smattering (especially swear words) of others. And yes, Russian has the most elaborate system of swearing that I have seen. It is not “poetic” like Yiddish, nor very inventive, like Arabic, but it is the only language I know of where you can have a dialogue using ONLY swear words, and both people will understand what was spoken about (and the subject spoken about was not related to body parts, sexual acts, or effluents). > > Example: here is a paragraph in Russian based only on words derived from the slang word for the male sexual organ: > > “Na khuya ty zdes’ nakhuyaril do khuya? A nu raskhuyarivay na khuy!” > > Which can be translated as: “Why did you pile up so much stuff here? Clear it up immediately!” I’m sorry, but this example does not persuade me that Russian stands out, and saying “It’s the only language I know that…”, when you only know three languages, is just not convincing. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/59 "2011-10-31T22:11:38Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > I’m sorry, but this example does not persuade me that Russian stands out, and saying “It’s the only language I know that…”, when you only know three languages, is just not convincing. I fluently speak three. As I said, I am familiar with swearing in quite a few more. And you’re welcome to come up with an equivalent example in another language. ---
**Author:** ![grama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@grama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grama)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069/60 "2011-10-31T22:48:00Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > I fluently speak three. As I said, I am familiar with swearing in quite a few more. And you’re welcome to come up with an equivalent example in another language. “Puta la weá weón esta weá está como las weas” I’m not very good at translating, but it’s roughly something like “damn it man, this [thing] is really bad / sucks” And i’m pretty sure i can come up with more elaborate examples. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-curse-words-in-foreign-languages/601069.md?page=4)