From the NY Times
Of course a line like that just makes me curious.
What is it?
Is it, “I seem to be having this tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle?”
Probably something that means “We are out of Vodka”
Until we can get someone in here who knows the straightforward answer, I can only recommend that you do some reason on Russian mat and pick your favorite root there. I guess mine is khuy, since its English equivalent is my very favorite English word (so universal–so versatile–a noun, a verb, an adjective–also an infix. Love it!)
Then there is blyad (whore), but that is probably the most common foul word, not the most foul.
The only foul Russian word I know is dermo.
Don’t forget “gavno” which means “shit.”
I think Sattua and Simmerdown got it right.
Khuy (хуй ) is probably “the most foul word in the Russian language.” However, I don’t think that’s what the guy said. People use хуй as part of a longer expression or scribble it as graffiti, but in my experience they rarely mutter that word all by itself.
Someone who’s frustrated is more likely to use the word блядь. Besides its literal meaning, it can be used instead of “damn” or “well”. The NY Times article mentions another guy who “swear[s] for punctuation,” and блядь is often used for that too.
Another possibility is that he said, “ёб [твою мать],” but that seems unlikely (he probably wouldn’t say only ёб ).
“Der’mo” and “gavno” are two syllables, so they wouldn’t qualify.
I call bullshit on the NYT article. There is no single syllable word or sound that is the most foul in the Russian language. Russians can happily swear all day, using 272 syllables to cuss you up and down and end to end. Why just use one syllable?
Now, Russian does have an emphatic particle, “zhe” they can add pretty much anywhere they want. The sound itself doesn’t mean much, but it could be the difference between “fuck your mother” or “really fuck your mother.”
I know a few Russian swear words from playing against Russian guys in my hockey league. Since I don’t know how to spell them in Cyrillic, I’ll do my best.
Pider. (PEE-dehr). I think it means “homo.” Definitely addressed to someone and not an exclamation.
Bleearch. Usually pronounced as one syllable. No idea what it means, but this one seems more like “shit!” - not addressed to anyone.
Mudak (moo-DAK). Not sure what that one means either, but it’s directed at another person.
I think you’re mishearing the word блядь (bljad’) mentioned above.
I lived in Russia for a couple of years, including studying at Moscow State for two semesters and I have no idea what the NYT reporter is talking about.
it’s definately blyad. altho i have to say that being a native russian speaker but having never seen the word in print, I have always thought it was a t at the end not a d. wow.
in any case, the word isn’t pronounced anything like it might look like transliterated into english. for example it ends in a ‘soft-sign’ which transforms an otherwise English-like consonant into something a bit unique (and, well, soft). it rolls off your tongue much smoother than one might think.
Anyway, to expand on the topic of Russian curse-words: They’re really cool. There’s about three roots (which essentially mean penis, vagina, and sex) that are transformed into dozens of various, often beautifully specific, words through the magic of suffixes, prefixes, and general root-modification.
bljat’, however, isn’t one such root. It’s just a stand-alone interjection, but it serves a role that the other words rarely do.
Yob? I grew up hearing my father say “Yob tvoyu mat” (fucked your mother) when he was really pissed.