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Russian swearing and name calling :)


russian_pianist

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Hello Everyone!

Всем привет!

What a title to the topic, don't you think it is eye catching?

But do not think, that this post will talk about some "really harsh" words. By the way, these words would be called "нецензурные" meaning that they should be censured from one's speech. In a less formal way these words are called "матерные слова" and you won't hear them in an educated person's speech. However, no country in inhabited by polite and highly educated people only, would not you agree? So, more often than not there will be some very expressive words and phrases you'd hear in the street. It is unlikely, that someone would address you in such an informal (to say the least) way, but it is better to know such words and never say them, than have no idea what they sound like.

Let's start at the beginning - the most innocent name calling kids do at school. Oh, all kids do that, no matter what language they speak, there are still words they use to describe their enemies and demonstrate their superiority.

Дурак - "durak" - is probably the most widely used, meaning that your opponent is not as clever as you expected him to be.

Корова - "korova" - unkind girls would call their chubby classmate, comparing her to a domesticated cloven-hoofed animal. (By the way, Enlglish and American kids use the same words, or very similar ones, in similar circumstances, as strange as it may seem).

Well, do you know any Russian swearwords? Do tell...

Have a great day/night!

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That's a great thread. It is indeed very popular to learn some swear words in every language that you come across.

As far as Russian goes, I found this list here with Swear words:

http://www.waytorussia.net/WhatIsRussia/Russian/SwearWords.html

What do you think about this list? Are those swear words accurate and up-to-date?

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My, oh my, linguaholic!

Seriously, you found quite a list of really harsh swear words.

Most of the words on that list (95% of them, if not more) are very, very, very bad to say, even if you feel like spicing up your language. It is useful to know the words to understand if someone is saying them to you, but please try to avoid adding them into your own speech.

If you are really upset with someone, it is better to use "дурак", "идиот" showing  your attitude towards a male or "дура", when talking about/to a female. This is quite enough, but do be prepared for the consequences :)

Have a great day!

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  • 2 years later...

I don't know any other language as rich with rude words as Russian. My native language, Estonian, is quite rich in swear words as well, but most definitely not as rich as Russians.

I mean there are so many ways to say a "b****" in Russian. I know at least 5 different words for that. 

But there are not as vulgar words, like "Чёрт" (Chort") which means hell or the devil. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 30/1/2014 at 8:22 AM, linguaholic said:

That's a great thread. It is indeed very popular to learn some swear words in every language that you come across.

 

As far as Russian goes, I found this list here with Swear words:

 

http://www.waytorussia.net/WhatIsRussia/Russian/SwearWords.html

 

What do you think about this list? Are those swear words accurate and up-to-date?

 

 

The contrast between the whole site, its pupose, its target audience and so on and the contents of the article is almost ridiculous. These words are indeed the actual swear words. But you should never use them. It's not like f-word in English, which is used very loosely though most likely will be beeped if it is a TV show. No. These are very strong, very harsh words. Probably like a c*nt-word for Americans. I can not imagine a Russian who has learned any foreign language and still use such words when he speaks Russian. It's just different kinds of people. One can say them and another one is willing to learn something. They don't overlap.

Though I must admit that the whole article and especially the sentence "Generally, adding “suka, blyad” to the end of each sentence is a good way to master swearing in Russian" made me laugh, because it is so true.

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  • 5 months later...


In Russia, there are a list of words that are called мат (mat), which is short for ма́терный язы́к [ˈmatʲɪrnɨj jɪˈzɨk]. Some of the words below are on the list. These words can actually get you in trouble in Russia, because they can be considered disorderly conduct (mild hooliganism). These words are censored in the media. Last months using https://ijtalk.com i have reached the basic level al least.

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  • 4 years later...

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