# What name is an insult in two languages? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 13, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-is-an-insult-in-two-languages/459863 "2008-08-13T17:08:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-is-an-insult-in-two-languages/459863/21 "2008-08-14T12:39:33Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] Or perhaps [Schmuck.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Schmuck) Poor Peter’s surname is so “offensive to public decency” that he can’t sport it on a vanity plate! [/QUOTE] [German jewelers](http://www.juwelier-deutz.de/images/home01.jpg) would be concerned to hear that. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-is-an-insult-in-two-languages/459863/22 "2008-08-14T12:47:49Z")
Putin? Sounds like french for “whore” (_putain_), and I imagine it’s got a few meanings now in Georgian. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-is-an-insult-in-two-languages/459863/23 "2008-08-14T13:17:57Z")
[QUOTE=ignis\_glaciesque] The word in German is actually ‘dick’. There is no word ‘Disch’ in German. [/QUOTE] Thanks. Guess it ain’t as much of a stretch as I thought it was. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-is-an-insult-in-two-languages/459863/24 "2008-08-14T13:22:44Z")
Are you sure he didn’t mean that if you translate it directly, it’s an insult? I was thinking “Goldwater”. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-is-an-insult-in-two-languages/459863/25 "2008-08-14T14:05:15Z")
[QUOTE=Švejk] actually, the verb ‘douchen’ means to take a shower in Dutch… [/QUOTE] Thank you for that piece of useful info! I missed a call from my gf this morning. Just called her voicemail and left the message that I missed her call because I was douchen. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-is-an-insult-in-two-languages/459863/26 "2008-08-14T14:08:12Z")
Strange - my local - SF Chronicle - did not have the part about the last name in the letter… Regardless, I don’t know the answer. Joe ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-is-an-insult-in-two-languages/459863/27 "2008-08-14T15:29:18Z")
Not sure, but most short names that end in an “a” or an “i” end up meaning something in Fulfulde. My dear friend Maya had to deal with the fact that her name meant “in the process of dying” to everyone she met. Amazingly, “Zachary” means “penis” in Fulfulde. ---
**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:** [August 14, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-is-an-insult-in-two-languages/459863/28 "2008-08-14T15:48:13Z")
[QUOTE=Wallenstein] Putin? Sounds like french for “whore” (_putain_), and I imagine it’s got a few meanings now in Georgian. 😉 [/QUOTE] In French, they transliterate the name as “Poutine,” which, as you may know, is a famous Québécois dish of French fries, gravy, and cheese curds. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-is-an-insult-in-two-languages/459863/29 "2008-08-14T15:58:20Z")
Peter O’Toole. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-is-an-insult-in-two-languages/459863/30 "2008-08-14T16:42:18Z")
[QUOTE=Sigmagirl] Peter O’Toole. [/QUOTE] I’ll see your Peter O’Toole and raise you a Dick Van Dyke. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-is-an-insult-in-two-languages/459863/31 "2008-08-14T19:04:24Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] Or perhaps [Schmuck.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Schmuck) Poor Peter’s surname is so “offensive to public decency” that he can’t sport it on a vanity plate! [/QUOTE] “With a name like [Smucker’s](http://smuckers.com/) it has to be good!” You know, it wasn’t until about a month or two ago that I understood that slogan. I had just never really thought about the underhanded implication of it. It just seemed like an expression. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-is-an-insult-in-two-languages/459863/32 "2008-08-14T19:13:27Z")
I’d say Putz (having had a neighbor by that name), but I suspect that there are many names that fulfill this proposition in various languages. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-is-an-insult-in-two-languages/459863/33 "2008-08-14T19:19:12Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] Maybe Raper? [/QUOTE] There is some type of car or RV dealership close to the Ohio/Indiana border. They advertise everywhere like they want you to know how many Rapers there are in the area and what the Rapers can do for you. My wife’s aunt and uncle are the Weiner’s. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-is-an-insult-in-two-languages/459863/34 "2008-08-14T19:49:42Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] There is some type of car or RV dealership close to the Ohio/Indiana border. They advertise everywhere like they want you to know how many Rapers there are in the area and what the Rapers can do for you. My wife’s aunt and uncle are the Weiner’s. [/QUOTE] wiener? weiner woul be pronounced why-ner ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-is-an-insult-in-two-languages/459863/35 "2008-08-15T02:23:41Z")
[QUOTE=whole bean] wiener? weiner woul be pronounced why-ner [/QUOTE] That is what he family claims. We claim differently when they aren’t around. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-is-an-insult-in-two-languages/459863.md?page=1)