# What English words are rude in other languages? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322 "2008-01-04T22:11:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/1 "2008-01-04T22:11:00Z")
There’s plenty of books or times in TV when a foreign word or place name is made fun of because it sounds like something rude in English. I’d be interested in knowing about the reverse; what English words or places sounds like something dodgy in other languages? ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/2 "2008-01-04T22:15:52Z")
Dutch: cut - kut (cunt) - always good for a giggle in first year English classes. lull - lul (dick) ---
**Author:** ![Tool\_of\_the\_Conspiracy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tool\_of\_the\_Conspiracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tool_of_the_Conspiracy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/3 "2008-01-04T22:58:36Z")
I don’t know the languages well enough to know how rude these are… French: cul (cull) = bottom/butt German: mist = manure (and gift = poison) ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/4 "2008-01-04T23:05:30Z")
If I understand correctly, having Bob or Libby Dole as president would’ve been a major source of mortifying situations when dealing with Iran, as “Dole” sounds like the Farsi world for penis. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/5 "2008-01-04T23:10:14Z")
“Fanny” in American English means “butt” but in British English it means “pussy.” Is British English a different language? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/6 "2008-01-04T23:15:56Z")
“Neck” sounds like “Nik” to Arabic speakers. “Nik” is the F-word. The US military disbanded the Iraqi Army in order to form the New Iraqi Corps (NIC). They changed their minds. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/7 "2008-01-04T23:19:35Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] The US military disbanded the Iraqi Army in order to form the New Iraqi Corps (NIC). They changed their minds. [/QUOTE] You have got to be nikking kidding me! How far did they get? Was there, like, stationery made up? Did you just whoosh me? ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/8 "2008-01-05T00:15:29Z")
A travel guidebook I read warned people never to say the word “bus” (with a short _u_)in Hungary because it’s a serious obscenity in Magyar. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/9 "2008-01-05T00:49:24Z")
The Daily Kos must have achieved a certain notoriety in the Iranian blogosphere. _Kos_ is the Persian word for pussy. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/10 "2008-01-05T00:52:53Z")
When Tesco opened its first branch in Uganda, it ran into problems because the English words “shopping trolley” sound like the Swahili for “suck your mother’s cock”. Note: this is total bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/11 "2008-01-05T00:54:14Z")
[QUOTE=CookingWithGas] Is British English a different language? 🙂 [/QUOTE] No, it’s the American one that’s different. Ours is normal. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/12 "2008-01-05T01:51:42Z")
[QUOTE=CookingWithGas] “Fanny” in American English means “butt” but in British English it means “pussy.” Is British English a different language? 🙂 [/QUOTE] A sight gag they should have on the Simpsons: Arriving in Heathrow, the Simpsons pass a sign that reads : “To all Americans: ‘fag’ means cigarette here” ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/13 "2008-01-05T02:00:02Z")
Yep. In Russian its the imperative for of “fuck.” As in, “yep tvayoo mot” = go fuck your mother. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/14 "2008-01-05T02:01:37Z")
I remember the Commodore Vic-20 was named something else in Germany because “vic” is a naughty word. Heck, not too long back, Microsoft got into hot water in Venezuela for the use of the Spanish word for female – hembra – in its registration routine because there it’s not used to mean female in the nice sense, but rather in a pejorative sense (“bitch”). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/15 "2008-01-05T02:04:13Z")
In Thai, “coy” sounds very close to the word for “dick.” Not “penis,” but “dick.” “Jim” if pronounced with a certain tone seems to refer to a vagina or female masturbation, can’t remember which. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/16 "2008-01-05T03:11:32Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] “Neck” sounds like “Nik” to Arabic speakers. “Nik” is the F-word. [/QUOTE] The word “kiss” is similar, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/17 "2008-01-05T04:33:38Z")
Strictly speaking, it’s not an English word but… the Buick Lacrosse couldn’t be marketed as such in Quebec because it sounds like the verb \*crosser \*which can mean “to cheat” or _se crosser_ which means “to masturbate”. I’d hesitate to use tabernacle in anything but a very clearly religious context, because in Quebeçois it’s a strong swear word. Hearing the name “Mormon Tabernacle Choir” makes me go :dubious:, for example. Don’t say the word “chin” twice in a row in Japan; there, it’s baby talk for penis (roughly equivalent to “wee wee”). Here in Quebec, it’s a typical phrase you use when clinking glasses together in a toast. So there’s a trilingual opportunity for misunderstanding. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/18 "2008-01-05T04:43:11Z")
In Israel “Coos” means cunt, so don’t ask for cous cous at a restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/19 "2008-01-05T04:51:05Z")
[QUOTE=Superfluous Parentheses] Dutch: cut - kut (cunt) - always good for a giggle in first year English classes. lull - lul (dick) [/QUOTE] One more: the Christian name “Bill” sounds like the Dutch word " bil" meaning bum or buttock. " President Buttock Clinton of the United States of America". ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/20 "2008-01-05T06:12:26Z")
“Car” is Albanian for dick/cock. You have no idea how much hilarity penis ensues with the innocent inquiry of “Do you have a car? Can you give me ride?” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322.md?page=2)