Randomness

[Elessar]

Firefly just switched to Chinese for cussing. I found it a little annoying when the DVD subtitle would say "speaking Chinese". You had to wonder about a culture where most conversation is conducted in English except that the cussing and complaining is in Chinese... I mean, what's the deal with that?? If I were Chinese I think I might be offended.

Well, here's the thing about Chinese though... cultural idioms and slang often can't really be translated, so, they could fall back on that. If someone today were speaking English but Mandarin were their native language and they wanted to use a native swear, they couldn't translate it.

Similarly, I think it's actually pretty common in foreign cultures for people to be speaking their own language, and then switch over and say "**** you!" just for the sake of the commonality of the phrase.

[Alelou]

Umm. Having just watched the end of the Chris Rock special on HBO, my ears are ringing with that particular untranslatable term. Still, I suspect there's an equvalent for that sentiment in just about every language. Seems like there's a hand signal equivalent for it wherever mankind exists...

[Aquarius]

Firefly just switched to Chinese for cussing. I found it a little annoying when the DVD subtitle would say "speaking Chinese". You had to wonder about a culture where most conversation is conducted in English except that the cussing and complaining is in Chinese... I mean, what's the deal with that?? If I were Chinese I think I might be offended.

I don't know if I'm surprised to hear this or not. I mean, Joss Whedon is no stranger to playing with language (a-la Buffyisms, which are often just as fun as the show itself)...but Chinese?

[Aquarius]

Umm. Having just watched the end of the Chris Rock special on HBO, my ears are ringing with that particular untranslatable term. Still, I suspect there's an equvalent for that sentiment in just about every language. Seems like there's a hand signal equivalent for it wherever mankind exists...

Basically, in any human culture, all the swears refer to fornication and elimination, or at least the body parts used for such things. This is of course, excluding religious blasphemy. Any way, with that in mind, there's always gotta be at least a rough translation available into any other language.

[TPoptarts]

Generally speaking, I wish more writers (pro and otherwise) would follow Orson Scott Card's advice against made-up euphemisms. "Frak" is one of the few that don't completely bug me; for the most part though, they just sound silly to me when I encounter them, especially the ones in the Star Wars novels.

Well I guess it depends on the word. I actually like using sci-fi words in real life but I wouldn't use "frak" for example because it sounds too close to the real word and then it's no fun. But I like to use frell, dren, mivonks, tralk, snurch (it ain't even a cuss word I just like it) etc in real life. Hell a lot of words in modern language started out as "made up" words and made it into the dictionary like "d'oh" for example I don't know I just like using alien words. And I like to make up words too.

Before I started using alien words I used to cuss in Russian... you don't wanna know what kinda (LONG) Russian nickname my friend and I had for this stupid lady we hated.

Oh and once I told someone to go frell himself in Vulcan.

[Escriba]

Basically, in any human culture, all the swears refer to fornication and elimination, or at least the body parts used for such things. This is of course, excluding religious blasphemy. Any way, with that in mind, there's always gotta be at least a rough translation available into any other language.

Speak for yourself, Basques do not have swears

[Alelou]

That must be why you blow up people all the time...



Just kiddin'

[Escriba]

That must be why you blow up people all the time...



Just kiddin'

Actually, it's quite true! Our Government should create an advertising campaign about it. I can see the slogan: "Swear more, kill less."

[Aquarius]

Generally speaking, I wish more writers (pro and otherwise) would follow Orson Scott Card's advice against made-up euphemisms. "Frak" is one of the few that don't completely bug me; for the most part though, they just sound silly to me when I encounter them, especially the ones in the Star Wars novels.

Well I guess it depends on the word. I actually like using sci-fi words in real life but I wouldn't use "frak" for example because it sounds too close to the real word and then it's no fun. But I like to use frell, dren, mivonks, tralk, snurch (it ain't even a cuss word I just like it) etc in real life. Hell a lot of words in modern language started out as "made up" words and made it into the dictionary like "d'oh" for example I don't know I just like using alien words. And I like to make up words too.

Before I started using alien words I used to cuss in Russian... you don't wanna know what kinda (LONG) Russian nickname my friend and I had for this stupid lady we hated.

Oh and once I told someone to go frell himself in Vulcan.

See, I'm the opposite. I say precisely what I mean. And if that's an f-bomb, then it's an f-bomb...unless there are kids around...or my grandma...or something like that. Then the generally accepted English euphemisms do just fine. I'm not one of those people who walks around saying "frak". For one thing, I've always felt that an important part of communication is being understood by the person you're talking to...and who's going to get that unless they happen to watch BG? That, and it's probably going to sound weird or silly to whoever I'm talking to, and I think that would diminish whatever I'm trying to say. This is another reason why I won't even adopt the Star Wars swears when writing Star Wars stories; if I'm writing something where Han Solo is mad enough to drop an expletive, then I want to convey that he's that mad, not make the reader laugh because he sounds ridiculous.

Now on the other hand, I have a few close friends where, at times, we've developed our own common language/terminology for things, but generally we only use these words with each other, because again there's no way to expect other people to know what the hell we're talking about. I have to admit that the word "crunked" has worked its way into my general vocabulary, but even that's a little different: it used to be street slang, and then one day my friend friend from work Maria and I decided it was a funny word so "we're bringin' it back!" It sorta caught on with the rest of the salon...and well, there it is.

[justTripn]

YOU are responsble for "crunked" ? Wow.

Well, it's not a swear, but I can only say "Thank God!" in Thai, because of a prohibition against "using the Lord's name in vain" when I was little. So maybe it's also easier to swear in a foreign language, because you escape the taboo for yourself?

Also about insults being universal. Not quite. I got into big trouble once in Thailand. One of my housemates, who was Thai, brought a dog into the house (without asking anybody first) to babysit for several weeks. A pain-in-the-butt dog who peed on bathmat. Every morning at about 5:00am, she would get up to take care of the dog, who would then start barking furiously and she would shout at him for barking, and her shouting (right outside my bedroom door) was worse than the dog's barking. So one morning I told her, in Thai, "Stop barking like the dog." I thought I was pretty clever. She didn't speak to me for ONE WEEK. It turns out it is a horrible insult in Thailand to compare someone to a dog. So since we worked together and she was so obviously not talking to me, people would say, "What did you do?" And I would tell the story and they would gasp and then go, "Well, still, you didn't know . . ."

[Alelou]

Hah.

I was once told that the very worst thing you can call a German is a pig-dog. Swein hunf or something like that.

Mmm. Come to think of it, this was from a German guy who turned out to be a weird stalker type so who knows how reliable that is.

[TPoptarts]

See, I'm the opposite. I say precisely what I mean. And if that's an f-bomb, then it's an f-bomb...

Well I say precisely what I mean too. For me "frell" IS an f-bomb... it means exactly the same. I don't use sci-fi (or Russian or whatever) words to like avoid taboo or whatever. It means exactly the same it doesn't change anything. For me anyway, I know there's people who do use different words to avoid using the real ones. I don't actually have a problem using the real cuss words... it's just that they're not nearly as fun to use as their alien equivalents and calling someone "Prostitutka Skinaya Pizdonaya Suka Blyet Davay Zhopa" is really no "nicer" or whatever than calling her the same in English muahaha... (it's not even entirely Russian, some of it is made up words from English/Russian combos )

I don't know. For me aside from the fun in using made up words, it actually kinda feels to me like alien/foreign words are even stronger than the English cuss words since the English cuss words are so widely and especially excessively and unnecessarily used that they've kinda lost their meaning. So an "f-bomb" isn't really a bomb anymore, it's a tiny little burnt out firecracker. Oh and trust me when I say "frell" people understand perfectly

[enterprikayak]

Hah.

I was once told that the very worst thing you can call a German is a pig-dog. Swein hunf or something like that.

Mmm. Come to think of it, this was from a German guy who turned out to be a weird stalker type so who knows how reliable that is.

Actually, Priso's dad likes this one.

I think it's pronouced "SVINE-hunt".

pigdog.

[Alelou]

I wonder if it's still horrible? Probably that same year I discovered to my chagrin that you really didn't want your auld auntie to catch you saying "bloody" in Scotland. But it seems to be utterly commonplace today.

Which reminds me that I picked up the habit of cussing in Spanish from my husband -- but since I heard them so casually at home it didn't occur to me that these were not phrases to use in your mother-in-law's kitchen. Boy, did her eyes get big.

[enterprikayak]

Abigail has thick rich hair on the sides and almost none on top.

I feel like I'm breastfeeding Kelsey Grammer.