|
 |
Vulgarities & Slang | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| peterlin Tetraglot Groupie Poland peterlin.jzn.pl Joined 6415 days ago 54 posts - 58 votes  Speaks: Polish*, Persian, English, Russian | Message 9 of 30 17 July 2008 at 3:47am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Yes, didn't I say so? You wondered why (some) Russians seem (overly, in your opinion) sensitive about the topic. I read your post, thought about it a bit and decided to write down my guesses/opinions/explanations about that. That's all there's to it. My semi-coherent thoughts on the subject.
Well, as far as I noticed, nobody has a "problem" with it. Some people have only wondered why would anyone consider this lexical field so important, that's it. Then you wondered about Russian sensibilities, then I tried to explain them (or rather explain how I see them). That's all. Nobody's trying to keep you away from bad words.
Relax, where have I told you what to do and what not do? Neither have I assumed anything about you personally (what I said was that maybe those Russians you saw protesting against that "Dermo" book were just annoyed with foreigners being mainly interested in swearing - nothing personal, and nothing about yourself here, but feel free to be offended if you wish) I'd really appreciate if you didn't try to present this exchange as your crusade for freedom of expression, as I don't see anyone restricting it. As for the vulgarities themselves, maybe you know this Russian slang website 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| LanguageGeek Triglot Senior Member GermanyRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6107 days ago 151 posts - 159 votes 4 sounds Speaks: German*, English, Hungarian Studies: French, Russian | Message 10 of 30 17 July 2008 at 4:12am | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
Sad how quickly this went OT. But I think we all know who totally abducted this interesting idea of a thread for his personal manifestation of " I say what I want to say"
The only problem is, just as peterlin so succinctly pointed out, nobody tries to muzzle anybody here. So just lean back a bit and relax :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6085 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 11 of 30 17 July 2008 at 7:04am | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
We could bring this up again. I find this useful.
Most people learn slang and vulgarties in order to make fast friends, but I think it's important to learn it in order to avoid mix-ups and to avoid potentially embarassing situations. One of my first (lowly) jobs in LA was at a copy center and although it wasn't meant for my ears, nor did I use these words, I managed to pick up quite a few lovely expressions. Chingar is a word rich in ambiguities. For instance, the verb "chingar" in Mexico means to f***. One of my friend's boyfriends was nicknamed "Johnny la Chinga". You can imagine what he was known for. Or you can also tame it into something more useful: me chingues -- "don't bother me" ¡No chingues! -- "you gotta be kidding!" ¡A la chingada! -- "oh my God!" (only stronger) ¡Que chingon! -- "that's really cool" (agressive) People speaking Spanish as a foreign language have to watch out for this one: Coño -- "cu**", and if you say "quieres salir con yo" instead of "conmigo" (with me) then you're in for it :D If anybody is interested in more I think the Wiki is loaded with 'em. My Latina friends were somewhat conservative (around me) and I've only heard vulgarity used by men. I'd be interested in knowing what is appropriate for women to say. I'm thinking of strong (-willed) Spanish women, here! --- not that I think I'll ever use it, but hey, you never know when it might come in handy. Edited by Sunja on 17 July 2008 at 7:27am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| SamD Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6659 days ago 823 posts - 987 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 12 of 30 17 July 2008 at 10:27am | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
It's always helpful to know what people around you are saying. As a foreigner, you're bound to make cultural mistakes and people will use these words and phrases around you.
It's also helpful to be able to avoid using words that sound like these words. Knowing this vocabulary can be helpful for defensive purposes if nothing else. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| zerothinking Senior Member Australia Joined 6372 days ago 528 posts - 772 votes Speaks: English* | Message 14 of 30 18 July 2008 at 6:47am | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
I think it's important to at least understand vulgarities so that you can comprehend it when someone is dissing you or swearing at you. In addition, knowing the profanities and slang means you'll probably be better at watching authentic films in that language. Sometimes it's important to be able to swear back, as a joke for instance as we always do in English.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| goltrpoat Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5994 days ago 29 posts - 29 votes Speaks: Russian*, English, German Studies: French, Latin | Message 15 of 30 18 July 2008 at 4:10pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
Peterlin, you have a way with words. Nicely put.
Chelovek, to go back to your question, is there anything in particular you're curious about? I'm assuming you're mostly interested in Russian. To provide some background, there are two sublanguages, if you will, besides the commonplace slang that you might actually hear on TV. First, there's mat (мат). As far as swear words go, it forms its own register; the reason you'll find that people are reticent to teach it to you is that registers do not map exactly across languages. It's one thing to jokingly tell someone to "f-ck off" in English, it's a very different thing to jokingly say "пошел на хуй" in Russian. The register is wider, if you will. The latter will cause people to form qualitative opinions about your background in semi-polite society, joke or not (one end of the spectrum), and could put you in a life-threatening situation on the other end of the spectrum, joke or not. People don't swear much in Russian prisons, from what I hear. Second, there's thieves' argot (феня). This is similar in intent to rhyming slang: it's a way to exclude outsiders. The difference is that it's an actual dialect (in my semi-informed opinion), rather than a particular register, or a coding system. The dialect goes back at least to the 1920s or so, and is, unlike most slang, relatively resistant to change. It's actually interesting linguistically (which is a fine reason to study it, of course), but I can just about guarantee that you will never use it. Certain words have seeped into the mainstream language (фраер, шмонать, халява, мент), but if you're guided by practical considerations, statistically I'd say you're more likely to need Cantonese than fenya. Quite honestly, reading Bulgakov, say, would give you a much better understanding of the cultural aspects of the language (a good deal of which is colored by history, like peterlin said), but it's not my place to figure out your goals for you. I'll certainly try to answer any specific questions, though, either here or over PM -- preferably here. Sorry if my original reply came across as a bit brusque. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| LanguageGeek Triglot Senior Member GermanyRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6107 days ago 151 posts - 159 votes 4 sounds Speaks: German*, English, Hungarian Studies: French, Russian | Message 16 of 30 18 July 2008 at 5:24pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
Interesting... I watched a video on youtube where a homeless person in Budapest insulted a traffic warden. Among countless expletives he also said "frájer". That is the same as "фраер". I still have no idea what it actually means in Hungarian. So I would be curious how the word is used in fenya argot.
I am convinced the word has a German etymology. In German a "Freier" is simply a man who purchases the services of a prostitute. It doesnt count as insult at all. To wit, the contrary, a "Stricher" ( a male prostitute) is a severe insult. If you say it to a young Turk you will get a fight :) Edited by LanguageGeek on 18 July 2008 at 5:33pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
