# 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:** 3
**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, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/42 "2008-01-05T16:42:13Z")
[QUOTE=Hypnagogic Jerk] Why? To make “tabernacle” a swear word, you really have to pronounce it “tabarnak” so there really isn’t a high risk of confusion. It’s also all in the context. You can talk about the “calice” of a flower and I won’t blink an eye, it’s not as if those words were naughty by themselves. I don’t think twice about “Mormon Tabernacle Choir”. [/QUOTE] Among the anglophones and anglophonophiles (to coin a term) I hang around with, the pronounciation of that word ends up being a bit more slurred. It doesn’t help that the spellings are identical. I guess I just switch back and forth so often that I notice it more. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/43 "2008-01-05T17:03:27Z")
[QUOTE=xnylder] Among the anglophones and anglophonophiles (to coin a term) I hang around with, the pronounciation of that word ends up being a bit more slurred. It doesn’t help that the spellings are identical. I guess I just switch back and forth so often that I notice it more. [/QUOTE] What, exactly, is the swear word in French, and what is its English analog? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/44 "2008-01-05T17:17:02Z")
[QUOTE=CookingWithGas] “Fanny” in American English means “butt” but in British English it means “pussy.” Is British English a different language? 🙂 [/QUOTE] Trust the Brits to drive on the wrong side of the road. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/45 "2008-01-05T17:19:56Z")
[QUOTE=bordelond] What, exactly, is the swear word in French, and what is its English analog? [/QUOTE] [There’s actually a Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_French_profanity) about Quebecois proanity (pardon the lack of accent aigu). Looks like “tabarnak” doesn’t correspond with anything directly in English … just a good ol’ multi-purpose curse word. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/46 "2008-01-05T17:32:39Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Trust the Brits to drive on the wrong side of the road. [/QUOTE] Excellent. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/47 "2008-01-05T17:59:49Z")
[QUOTE=xnylder] 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. [/QUOTE] I admit that I often giggled a bit at the Calvary Tabernacle church in Ancaster, Ontario. I think the first time we drove past it, my husband and I had actually been discussing swear words, so it just struck us both as very odd to suddenly see a church sign echoing our words: calvaire tabarnak! ---
**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, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/48 "2008-01-05T18:16:10Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Trust the Brits to drive on the wrong side of the road. [/QUOTE] At least we don’t change lane without indicating! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/49 "2008-01-05T19:21:43Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] ‘Bus’ in Norway means ‘tit’, as I recall, so a bus to the airport was an interesting notion. I had a friend who was sent to Scotland on a military detail years ago. The first barmaid he spoke to slapped him silly when he introduced himself: “Hi, I’m Randy.” [/QUOTE] My memory is going south, I swear. The word for ‘airport bus’ in Norway is ‘fliebussen’. “Bussen”, in German, is boobs. Or at least that’s what the voices in my head are saying. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/50 "2008-01-05T20:08:49Z")
Dunno if this counts, for they are cognates, but it is a problem when cubbing cartoons into Spanish. While “stupid” basically means silly or dumb calling someone “estúpido” is more la “dickhead”. So you get all this nice cartoon character calling Fliffy a “douchebag”. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/51 "2008-01-05T20:35:34Z")
I always laughed about the restaurants named [Chi Chi’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi-Chi's). Being invited to eat at TITS is almost as good as eating at the Y. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/52 "2008-01-05T20:36:50Z")
[QUOTE=CookingWithGas] Is British English a different language? 🙂 [/QUOTE] Yes. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/53 "2008-01-05T20:49:11Z")
I heard an apocryphal anecdote that the reason a computer is called an _ordinateur_ in French rather than a \*computeur \*is that they didn’t want to use a word that begins with syllables that sound just like _con_ (moron, asshole; literally cunt) and _pute_ (whore). [QUOTE=Balthisar] 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”). [/QUOTE] In most Romance languages, the equivalents of “male” and “female” are not usually used for people as they are in English. A francophone police officer will not describe a male suspect as “un mâle” but as “un homme” (a man) or “une personne de sexe masculin” (a person of the male sex). (I do sometimes hear “un mâle” in this sense in Quebec, probably under influence of English, but it’s considered incorrect.) We’ll talk about “un beau mâle” (a hunk), and there is of course the word “macho” in Spanish (which is simply the word for “male” - _un elefante macho_, a male elephant), but they’re not used in an unmarked way in the Romance languages in general. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/54 "2008-01-05T20:59:31Z")
Chaici sounds like the Korean word for cunt. I understand the show “Joannie Loves Chaici” went over really well there. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/55 "2008-01-05T23:40:26Z")
[QUOTE=Neidhart] 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. [/QUOTE] Kinda sorta. The word is _basz_ (infinitive _baszni_ [to fuck] most often heard in the expresssion _baszd meg,_ which is a general “fuck!”-type expression.) However, I’d say the English “boss” sounds more like the swear word than “bus.” The word “cookie” almost sounds like the Hungarian word _kuki_, which is the kid word for “penis.” The word “pussy,” while dirty in English, means “kiss” and is often used at the end of conversations or emails (although it’s pronounced more like “POO-see”). ---
**Author:** ![Chotii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Chotii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chotii)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/56 "2008-01-06T03:12:29Z")
I can’t believe that 'Machine Gun" has not come into this discussion yet. If you are in Mexico, and you talk about a ‘machine gun’, you will be laughed at. A lot. Sounds like ‘me chingan’. (They fuck me). ---
**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:** [January 6, 2008, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/57 "2008-01-06T07:25:00Z")
[QUOTE=xnylder] Among the anglophones and anglophonophiles (to coin a term) I hang around with, the pronounciation of that word ends up being a bit more slurred. It doesn’t help that the spellings are identical. I guess I just switch back and forth so often that I notice it more. [/QUOTE] I’m not sure what you mean, but my point is that while phrases like “Calvary Tabernacle Church” may sound a little funny, they’re not at all offensive, even if you happen to mispronounce them. What’s an “anglophonophile”, by the way? [QUOTE=bordelond] [There’s actually a Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_French_profanity) about Quebecois proanity (pardon the lack of accent aigu). [/quote] I don’t mind the lack of acute accent, but I will admit that I don’t really like the word “Québécois” – with or without accents – being used in English. I don’t expect people to stop using it though. [QUOTE=matt\_mcl] I heard an apocryphal anecdote that the reason a computer is called an _ordinateur_ in French rather than a \*computeur \*is that they didn’t want to use a word that begins with syllables that sound just like _con_ (moron, asshole; literally cunt) and _pute_ (whore). [/quote] Heh, maybe. The word “ordinateur” in this sense was created by IBM in the 50s, I wonder if they left some documentation. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/58 "2008-01-06T20:13:19Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] My memory is going south, I swear. The word for ‘airport bus’ in Norway is ‘fliebussen’. “Bussen”, in German, is boobs. Or at least that’s what the voices in my head are saying. [/QUOTE] They’re still not completely right. Norwegian for ‘the airport bus’ is ‘flybussen’, pronounced somewhat like ‘fleebussen’. German for boobs is ‘Busen’ with a longer and more rounded vowel. So a German might hear ‘boobs’ when a Norwegian says ‘the bus’, or not. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/59 "2008-01-06T20:18:49Z")
[QUOTE=CookingWithGas] “Fanny” in American English means “butt” but in British English it means “pussy.” Is British English a different language? 🙂 [/QUOTE] I heard Ted Koppel tell a story about when he came to the States as a young boy in the 1950’s. (Yes, Ted Koppel is a native Brit. I never knew till I heard this story.) It was his first day of school, and he’d made a mistake on his paper. So he raised his hand and asked, “Excuse me, but has anyone got a rubber?” British: rubber = American: eraser ---
**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:** [January 6, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/60 "2008-01-06T20:21:02Z")
[QUOTE=naita] They’re still not completely right. Norwegian for ‘the airport bus’ is ‘flybussen’, pronounced somewhat like ‘fleebussen’. German for boobs is ‘Busen’ with a longer and more rounded vowel. So a German might hear ‘boobs’ when a Norwegian says ‘the bus’, or not. [/QUOTE] Isn’t the German _busen_ also pronounced with a voiced “s” (i.e. “z”) sound? It looks to me like the Norweigian would be pronounced with an unvoiced s, but I’m only guessing at the double-s orthography. I don’t speak any Norweigian. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322/61 "2008-01-06T20:30:24Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] “Neck” sounds like “Nik” to Arabic speakers. “Nik” is the F-word. [/QUOTE] Uh oh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-english-words-are-rude-in-other-languages/432322.md?page=4)