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Schweinehund - please explain! | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| phouk Diglot Newbie Germany Joined 6038 days ago 28 posts - 48 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: Russian | Message 9 of 14 14 May 2009 at 12:53am | IP Logged | |||||
Schweinehund, used as an insult, is a rather boring word, neither very strong nor very common. The more common and, to the language connaisseur, much more interesting expression is der innere Schweinehund, or your inner pig dog.
May I ask back how "****" became the primary swear word in the US? After all, it refers to a pleasant, healthy and popular activity. Even Americans love to ****, don't they? Totally not seriously Yours. Edited by phouk on 14 May 2009 at 12:56am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Snesgamer Groupie Afghanistan Joined 6611 days ago 81 posts - 90 votes  Studies: English*, German, Spanish, Norwegian, Scottish Gaelic | Message 10 of 14 15 May 2009 at 8:19am | IP Logged | |||||
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Just a cultural difference. In German, it seems that any insult referring to the person as an animal are considered to be some of the most offensive.
I'm sure there are some American/British insults that the Germans find to be equally as lame in comparison. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| ushrark Bilingual Diglot Newbie Netherlands Joined 5599 days ago 20 posts - 18 votes Speaks: English*, Dutch* Studies: French, German, Spanish, Russian | Message 11 of 14 09 April 2010 at 9:18pm | IP Logged | |||||
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When i saw the title i lol'd for 5 minutes
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| hvorki_ne Groupie Joined 5386 days ago 72 posts - 79 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Icelandic | Message 12 of 14 10 April 2010 at 7:46pm | IP Logged | |||||
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My German teacher explained that it basically meant "bastard", so I kind of assumed that a pig-dog in the literal sense (a cross between a pig and a dog) would be a horrible thing- not least because it'd be bestiality and probably a crime against nature. That actually works with most animal combinations. Don't know, though, it is hard to say.
And, yes, calling someone an animal is an insult in most languages- no matter how beloved the animal is. Unless it's a simile (eg. "beautiful as a swan") where it's clearly a compliment, but then the animal bit could be cut out and the meaning remains, and you're not calling them an animal, you're comparing them to a favorable trait the animal is known for. The only time an animal-related term alone becomes a compliment (at least in English) is when it's been so far removed from the original meaning that many forget it originally referred to an animal.
It might be better to not completely censor words, "f***" would be much easier to understand. There are a lot of 4-letter swear words in English, hard to tell which is which. The same could go with p**** and c*** (both of the c*** words :P)- don't Americans love those just as much as f***? And the same question goes to b****- Americans certainly love dogs, female or otherwise. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| ReneeMona Diglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 5335 days ago 864 posts - 1274 votes Speaks: Dutch*, EnglishC2 Studies: French | Message 13 of 14 18 April 2010 at 2:01am | IP Logged | |||||
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I don't know about Germany, but here in Holland it's a taboo word not because of it's meaning but it's context: it's very heavily associated with Nazi Germany. Ask any Dutchman to impersonate a typical Nazi and there's a good chance they'll yell "Ruhe, schweinhund!" at you.
I read somewhere once that Nazi's never even used this word but that Americans made it up to use in their WWII films. If this is true, I find it hard to believe that the association is so wide spread in the Netherlands but either way, calling someone a schweinhund in the Netherlands isn't just calling them a pig-dog, you're also bringing up all those nasty WWII memories/associations and you're kind of calling them a fascist as well. Swearing is usually not a big deal in Holland but this one is a real social taboo. I once called my mum this during a teenage temper tantrum and she slapped me across my face. Edited by ReneeMona on 06 May 2010 at 2:44pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
 Fasulye Heptaglot Winner TAC 2012 Moderator Germany fasulyespolyglotblog Joined 5847 days ago 5460 posts - 6006 votes 1 sounds Speaks: German*, DutchC1, EnglishB2, French, Italian, Spanish, Esperanto Studies: Latin, Danish, Norwegian, Turkish Personal Language Map | Message 14 of 14 18 April 2010 at 5:24pm | IP Logged | |||||
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There is an interesting German idiom, which has to do with the word "Schweinehund":
- seinen inneren Schweinehund überwinden Meaning: to overcome one's laziness or bad habits For example: People who are real couch potatoes could say: "Jetzt werde ich mal meinen inneren Schweinehund überwinden und ein bisschen Sport treiben." So "den/seinen inneren Schweinehund überwinden" has a clearly positive meaning. Fasulye Edited by Fasulye on 18 April 2010 at 5:26pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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