February 28, 2005

Thogay powla nigiravak.

Posted by apostropher

About a year ago, I linked to Wikipedia's long, long list of obscure racial slurs because sometimes a fellow just gets to wondering how an Ashkenazi Jew would insult a Mizrahi Jew. Chakh-chakh is the answer, by the way, intended to "ridicule the preservation of the pharyngeal (guttural) pronunciations of Hebrew consonants ח ħêth and ע ‘áyin by Mizrahi Jewish immigrants." I mean, you just won't find that sort of knowledge randomly and I'm happy to have played my part in making this a more hostile world.

Anyhow, it's a useful resource, sort of, but it has limitations. Sure, it gives you a word - sometimes several - to hurl at just about any minority you could imagine, but it doesn't translate the truly offensive phrases for you. You know, the ones that generally involve some sort of unsavory conduct with ones parents or some such. Well, thanks to Metafilter, I am now able to present you with the Swearsaurus, which covers a dizzying array of languages, including Esperanto, though God only knows when that would be useful. It's a lot to remember, but you'll be glad you took the time when you find yourself in Afghanistan and want to know how to tell a Pashtun-speaker that his grandmother is dead but her hoo-hoo is still moving ("Ana de mura naighaie shori").

Also linked in the comments and more in the spirit of the original Wiki is the Profanisaurus, though it's only fair to note that it occasionally includes almost helpful definitions like these three:

bott v. A sex act performed by botters (qv).
bottee n. One who is botted by a botter.
botter n. He who botts.

I think I can figure it out, but still. Employ some quality control, you madarchods.

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Comments
1

Heh Heh - reminds of when Homer mistakenly got the subliminal dictionary tapes -
"My gastronomic rapacity knows no satiety!"
"Ah Marjorie, in the boudoir the gourmand metamorphises into the voluptuary!"
Yes, there's no end to discrimination, though some is a little more virulent than the other.
Father Frank said "Sure there's one born every minute, but that doesn't mean you have to kick his ass. Cut the schmuck some slack".
With that said I'm off to the profanisaurus to store some ammo for the next time my smart ass brother- in- law visits.

Posted by: waldo at February 28, 2005 08:47 PM
2

"the truly offensive phrases. . . You know, the ones that generally involve some sort of unsavory conduct with ones parents or some such."

are you making fun of west virginia????

~youknowwho.

PS: where's the apostrophe* in "ones" [sic]???

Posted by: at February 28, 2005 09:21 PM
3

You don't use apostrophes to indicate possession with indefinite pronouns - hence its and hers. And ones.

Posted by: apostropher at February 28, 2005 09:36 PM
4

Just to clarify, I was referring to this--"ones parents"--where the possessive is properly formed with " 's" (as is the case with "someone," "everyone," etc.); I wasn't referring to this--"ones that generally involve some sort of unsavory conduct"--where "ones" isn't supposed to be possessive.

Posted by: at March 1, 2005 05:50 PM
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