Sexuality and Russian foul language

ALIN 552
Denis Samburskiy
Submission by May 8 2008
 1. Swearing is a window to emotion

Why do people swear? The language of swearing has been taboo for many

centuries although it always seems to be in active use by people of all genders, ages, IQ

levels, etc. This sensitive topic is not easy to write about, not to mention speak about, as

swear words are most powerful and leave no one unperturbed, except, perhaps, for those

who utter them. ‘Sticks and stones will break your bones/ But names will never hurt you’

is a popular verse of bullied children that acts as a protection charm. However, the fact

that this verse is often used speaks for itself – words do matter and we always care what

people think about us, as demonstrated by what language they use speaking to us.

Almost all languages of the world have expletives in one way or another. Some

have more, others less. These words intimidate, emphasize, ridicule and humiliate. They

are avoided by some people, but profusely used by others. Profanities are the reason for

countless brawls and scandals, lawsuits and fines; nonetheless, people come to use this

‘dirty’ stratum of language despite its obvious evil.

Steven Pinker gives an interesting explanation of cursing in his talk at

Authors@Google in September 24, 2007 (www.youtube.com). Being primarily a

psychologist, he first gives some insight into the cognitive neuroscience of this

phenomenon, i.e. how the brain is engaged when people hear or use a taboo word.

Swearing activates the right hemisphere of the brain that is the seat of our emotions, our

anger and our impulsiveness. When we’re very angry our right-brain is highly active and

may become too active to allow us to receive important information from our rational,

logical left-brain. The production of swear words activates the basal ganglia, the area of

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brain responsible for Tourette syndrome (uncontrolled exclamation of obscene words or

socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks). The perception of swear words engages

amygdala, two little almond-shaped organs, evolutionarily ancient and buried deeply in

the brain.

By conducting a simple Stroop test, it is easy to show that adults process words as

indivisible from their meaning. The Stroop test consists in naming the color in which the

words are printed. People have difficulty naming the red color of the word when it says

‘yellow’. Likewise, it is hard to name the color of an f-word ignoring what the word

actually means due to its powerful distracting effect. This is an indication that to every

literate adult reading is automatic and involuntary; it is not separate from processing the

meaning of the word.

Pinker describes swearing as ‘using language as a weapon to force a listener to

think an unpleasant (or at least an emotionally charged) thought. Thus, if we look at the

content of swearing, it falls into certain categories of the ‘unspeakable’:

a. Supernatural forces (Eng. Jesus Christ, damn, hell, goddamnit, etc ; Rus.

Bozhe moy, chyort, dyavol, etc)

b. Bodily effluvia (Eng. shit, piss, asshole, snot, bloody, etc; Rus. der’mo,

govno, ssat’, srat’, etc)

c. Disease, death, infirmity and danger (Eng. cripple, retard, croaked, etc;

Rus. podohnut’, obosrat’sya (from fear), kaleka, etc)

d. Sexuality (Eng. fuck, suck, cunt, prick, dick, etc; Rus. ebat’, huy, pizda,

blyad’, etc)

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 e. Disfavored groups/ slurs (Eng. nigger, kike, spick, fag, etc; Rus. zhid,

churka, uzkoglaziy, gomik, etc)

Swearing is triggered by various negative emotions that seek release from the

recess of our minds. Thus, religious profanity is based on the emotion of fear and awe.

Christianity laid a strict veto on mentioning God’s name in vain, especially for indecent

purposes. Historical studies of swearing show that it was most frowned upon in the

church-dominated Middle Ages. However, what is banned tends to flourish; human

nature doesn’t tolerate absolute prohibitions. By the end of thirteenth century, swearing in

France and England had become so prevalent that church authorities were seriously at a

loss (Wajnryb, 2005).

Russian blasphemous language has a different history. Despite the popular belief

that all most heinous curses in Russian are borrowings from Tatar and Mongol, linguists

hold dubious opinion about that. Etymological study discloses the Indo-European origin

of fundamental swear words, some of them going back many centuries to the pre-Indo-

European language (Plutser-Sarno, 2007). Uspenskiy, the respectable expert in Russian

obscenities, points out that Russian ‘mat’ was commonly used in pagan rituals and

ceremonies connected with fertility. Expletives were an essential part of those events, but

had a merely ritual character. At the same time, Russian profanities have an obvious anti-

Christian nature, which also proves their pagan origin. Christianity prosecuted any sign of

paganism, so swearing, as its integral part, was considered to be demonic behavior and

led to ominous consequences (Uspenskiy, 1996).

Bodily effluvia words bring on emotions of disgust and repulsion. This is a

natural defense mechanism, since epidemiologists teach us to steer clear from these

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liquids as they are abundant in parasitic organisms and bacteria. Allan and Burridge

asked a number of students and university staff in Melbourne, Australia, in 1989, to

provide ‘revoltingness’ ratings for body products (pus, snot, urine, sweat, etc). The

highest score went to shit and vomit (84 %), then menstruation blood (80% men, 47

women), belched breath (78%), snots and farts (70%), pus (67%), sperm and urine (58%),

and spit (50%). Things rated as not revolting were, from least to most innocuous: nail

parings, non-belched breath, blood from wound, hair clippings, breast milk, and tears.

Apparently, tears are most innocuous because they are not waste material, do not stain,

and the flow does not lead to death. Finally, the researchers concluded that revoltingness

ratings vary from society to society, but the notion of effluvia as a taboo topic is almost

universal (Allan & Burridge, 2006).

Words denoting death and diseases have frightened people since times

immemorial. There was a curse in Old English ‘A pox on you!’ or ‘A plague on both

your houses!’ In most languages of the world, wishing someone illness or death is an

explicitly spiteful way of expressing your rage and hatred. Russian also has plenty of

examples of these: Chtob ti sdoh! (I wish you death!), Holera ego zaberi! (May cholera

take you!), Chotb u tebya ruki otsohli (I wish your hands dried and fell off). However,

these expressions are out of date both in English and Russian; wishing someone death is

probably not as horrifying as it used to be.

On the other hand, words denoting sexuality have been favored in all times. The

highly popular words of male, female organs and their interaction are the core of both

Russian and English obscenities. Playing an essential role in life and its continuation, sex

is not a simple topic to talk about. There are various reasons for being reticent about it in

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various cultures (see discussion in the next chapter). However, the usage of words

depicting human sexual life and its attributes is the major display of societal freedom and

morale. English sexual taboos are gradually sliding off the highest pedestal, not only

because of their overuse in everyday speech and mass media, but also because the old

notions of virginity, sexuality and sin have had their day in Western cultures. It is

generally agreed that ‘fuck’ today is nothing like it was a few decades ago. Russian

obscene epithets seem to stay relatively put; however, the same liberalization trend is

setting in.

Lastly, derogatory terms for disfavored groups involve emotions of hatred and

contempt. They include many racial epithets and slurs that are aimed at showing one’s

superiority over these groups. Racist words may appear in large numbers in countries,

whose population is made up of people of various origins, e.g. USA. Russian is also

replete with racial slurs, used to address people from adjacent Caucasian, Asian countries

or others.

As we can see, foul language is multicolored and highly powerful, which explains

its immortality. Despite lengthy debates about full acceptance of swearing, this idea

doesn’t seem reasonable, as the essence of swearing is in its taboo nature. New foul

words and expressions are coined ceaselessly, however, the roots and milestones of

swearing remain the same.

2. Sexuality and swearing in Russian

Wajnryb (2005) claims that if we take over a hundred languages and compare

them in terms of diversity of swear words and profannities, we will find plenty of

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commonalities. The major patterns are undoubtedly sexuality and scatology. Sexually,

the focus is on sexual organs, and predominantly on the size of the male member. Words

for body effluvia (semen, urine, and feces) are as common as the places they come from.

Males are abused by a variety of words for stupid and unmanly (usually through

pejorative terms for gay). Females are defined largely through their sexual role and

biological function. Most languages abuse women through the accusation of promiscuity

(Eng. whore, slut, tart, tramp, slag, etc; Rus. blyad’, shlyuha, davalka, shmara, dirka, etc).

The logical question that people often ask is why sex should be subject to such

harsh verbal taboo. A sexual relationship is a natural biological phenomenon that mostly

brings positive emotions. However, as Pinker points out, sex is an emotionally fraught

activity; human experience proves that sex is often associated with such negative things

as exploitation, illegitimacy, incest, jealousy, spousal abuse, cuckoldry, desertion, child

abuse, feuding, rape, etc. Sexual activity is tabooed as a topic for public display and

constrained as a topic of discussion in most languages.

However, the background of sexual taboo in different cultures is varied. Sex,

eroticism and sex education are currently acute social and political issues in Russia. For

many decades Soviet society portrayed itself as absolutely asexual or sexless. Russian

sexuality is experiencing important changes nowadays, as if being finally rid of

ideological constraints that have kept it on the leash for so long. Is it a sexual revolution

like that of the 1960s in the West?

To answer this question, Igor Kon, a well-known Russian sexologist and

psychologist, looks back on Ancient Rus (1993). If we are to believe ideologists, Ancient

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Rus was a kingdom of sheer chastity, where there had never been sex until it was

imported (apparently, together with binge drinking).

However, foreigners were always astonished by the promiscuity and immorality

of Russian nature. Back in the seventeenth century diplomat Adam Oleary told about his

impression after visiting Rus’ this way: “Russians frequently talk of lusty passion and

voluptuousness, shameful vices, perversions and lewd behavior concerning themselves

and others, they tell all sorts of risqué stories, and the person who uses the most obscene

language and tells the most revolting jokes accompanied by vulgar gestures is the most

respected in the community” (Oleary, 1906).

Historically, attitudes to sexuality in Ancient Rus were contradictory. Ancient

Slav paganism had obscene language as its essential part. Sexuality was thought to have a

cosmic source. Mother Earth became fertile from celestial rain. Alongside the female

deities, there was also the phallic god, Rod (the Clan). Pagan people enjoyed plentiful

orgiastic festivals at which men and women bathed naked together, the men symbolically

fertilizing the earth and the women seeking rain. The typical phallic symbol – an animal,

usually a lion, denoted by his long tail or penis – is represented even in modern-day

ornamental church architecture (Kon, 1993).

According to Uspenskiy (1996), bawdy language roots from pagan prayers or

incantations because the source of most evil entities is pagan gods. In addition, Slavic

people might consider cursing primarily to profess damnation, the link with pagan cult

being clear cut here. Such usage of swearing was documented in south-Slavic and west-

Slavic writings. In an anonymous Bulgarian chronicle of 1296-1413 we can read: “Upon

hearing it, Bulgarians burst out laughing and swearing at Greeks, not only insulted them

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but also called them names and sent them back empty-handed’ (Uspenskiy). The word

‘опсоваше', used in this speech, has two meanings – ‘to swear at’ and ‘to damn’.

Another striking feature of Rus of those times is the fact that parents purposefully

taught their children how to swear from early years. Pososhkov, a great Russian

economist and writer, says about it: ‘Isn’t it insane that parents teach their child how to

swear before teaching him how to ask for things? Rather than show him where God is

and who He is, the father teaches how to call the mother names. And when the child

starts swearing, it brings the parents a lot of mirth; they urge him to swear at them and

strangers…’ (Uspenskiy, 1996).

When Rus adopted Christianity in the ninth century, it experienced many

profound changes in culture. Russian Orthodox bigots regarded sexual affairs and

everything associated with them as something devilish. Chastity, virginity, denial of sex

even in marriage were looked upon as something ‘sacred’. However, deviations from

these principles were permissible, but only in marriage and for the sake of reproduction,

not for self-indulgence (Pushkareva, 1989).

This trend is also evident in Russian fine arts. Russian Orthodox icon painting is

stricter and more ascetic than Western religious art. In West European church-painting of

the Renaissance period or even later Middle Ages, the entire human body is open to view,

with only sex organs hidden. In Russian icons only the face is exposed, the body being

entirely covered (with very few exceptions e.g. Bathsheba Bathing, Suzanna and the

Elders, the Baptism of Jesus).

With the exception of a brief period that began in the early nineteen hundreds – in

the ‘silver age’ of art – and ended under Stalin in the thirties, there has been such a taboo

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on sexual activity in Russia that there are virtually no acceptable Russian words to speak

about sexual life. The official words for genitalia and physical love are either euphemistic

or borrowed from clinic Latin. Erofeyev (2003) ironically notes that ‘in English, the word

‘fuck’ is simply a rude way of referring to the sexual act; in Russian, the act itself is

indecent’.

Russian ‘mat’ developed over the years as a rebellion against social obliteration of

the body and its functions. It was the Gulag of Russian linguistics, a vast and

sophisticated network of wit and sarcasm, informed almost entirely by sex. All Russians

knew about it but nobody was willing to publicly acknowledge it. It resulted in a kind of

cultural schizophrenia, as the authorities crossed out even the slightest hint of ‘mat’.

Catherine the Great once issued a special decree forbidding any use of the word ‘blyad’

(whore). And in Soviet times swearing in public led to fifteen days in jail.

In the post-perestroika period, first publications about Russian sex and erotic

tradition in Russian literature emerged as recently as 1991. So, in spite of the presence of

rich sources (folklore, chronicles, etc), knowledge of sex in Russia is rather fragmental.

Apart from the scarcity of knowledge, our ideological stereotypes are obstacles

too. One of the major dichotomies in the Western civilization has been a distinction

between public and private life. This distinction is two-sided: on the one hand, private is

seen as something secretive, concealed, invisible, whereas public is visible, obvious, and

accessible.

Kon points out that in different contexts public and private life can be treated

differently. In one case, public means socio-political, state activity in contrast to private,

where individuals are separate manufacturers. In another case, private means largely

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family life in contrast to political and economic life. In the third case, psychologically

speaking, private life is intimate. In western societies all these categories and inherent

phenomena are attributed to distinct socio-cultural status, they have different social

control and regulation.

In Russian culture, however, the distinction between public and private is vague.

Historians noticed long ago that Russian culture lacks something ‘intimate, personal,

hidden from others’ – the word ‘private’ does not even exist in Russian. The absence of

clear-cut definition of ‘private’ is historically connected with a long period of serfdom

and village communities. Throughout the most of Russian history, civil society did not

exist; it was either wholly or partially swallowed by a despotic state. There was no

guarantee of untouchable or secure private or personal life. A Russian person simply

could not say ‘My home is my castle’. His property, family and even he himself belonged

to the landlord. It slowed down the evolution of his self-awareness, confidence and

dignity.

Social insecurity of life was aggravated by cramped, commune living conditions.

It takes one look at the коммуналки (communal apartments) that people used to live in.

Living in such conditions made it virtually impossible to have private life; everybody

knew everything about everyone. Any deviations from accepted norms were prosecuted

and ostracized.

The society of Ancient Rus had a typically patriarchal structure. Women were

submissive and under total control of their men. You can hardly find any culture in the

West where wife abuse was a commonly accepted way of treatment. There is still a

saying in Russian ‘If he beats you, he loves you’; it sounds insanely brutal but many

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women take it for granted. Nonetheless, there were a number of women who played a

decisive role in Russian history: great Tsarina Olga, daughters of Yaroslav the Wise,

Tsarina Sophia, etc. Many powerful women are leading figures of Russian politics,

economics, and arts.

We know little of Russian sexual-erotic culture not because it did not exist, but

because tsarist and then Soviet censorship did not allow publishing relevant sources and

research. Russian scholars had to do it stealthily overseas. The collection Russian

Cherished Proverbs and Sayings compiled by Vladimir Dahl around 1852 was published

in the Hague as recently as 1972 (Kon, 1993). Gogol was obliged to omit the disdainful

exclamation ‘Nozdrya!’ – literally, ‘Nostril’ – from the novel ‘Dead Souls’ because of its

distant echo of the word ‘pizda’. Kon complains that his own book ‘Introduction to

Sexology’ was not published for ten years even though it was officially approved for

publication by two institutes of the USSR Academy of Sciences, backed by many

authoritative scholars and published abroad.

No matter how hypocritical official Soviet propaganda was, however much it

asserted that sex is only permissible in matrimony, and even then as seldom as possible,

the actual sexual behavior, attitude and values of Russian people have always been just as

contradictory, varying and changeable as those of the rest of humanity.

There is another social problem in Russian society that is a major obstacle to

sexual freedom. According to Kon, the attitude of society to sexual minorities is an acid

test that shows the scope of sexual culture. Russian experience in this issue is educative,

as it reflects the extent of narrow-mindedness and conservatism imposed by long-lasting

ideology.

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 After 1933, there are four main periods which reflect Soviet attitudes to sexual

minorities:

1934 – 1986 – legal prosecution, discrimination and silencing

1987 – 1990 – beginning of open discussion of the problem from scientific and

humanistic point of view

1990 – June 1993 – sexual minorities came out to fight for their rights, placing the

problem from medical to a political arena including the emergence of gay and lesbian

organizations and publications.

After the abolition of Section 121.1 of USSR Criminal Code that was the reason

for putting many gay and lesbian individuals into prison, the lives of sexual minorities

improved. The homosexual culture started to turn from underground clandestine gay

culture into a subculture that is aimed at grappling with homophobia and equality. It

entailed numerous publications and articles about gay culture that also stabilized the

existence of appropriate euphemisms for same-sex relations, e.g. goluboy, odnopoliy,

rozovaya, gey, etc.

However, the attempts of gay leaders to organize an annual gay pride in Moscow

bear no fruit. Moscow authorities give their actions an innocent explanation – they say

they should “thwart attempts to hold such events in a decisive and uncompromising

manner, because the absolute majority of [Russian] society does not accept gay people’s

lifestyle or their philosophy.”( www.theotherrussia.org). Hatred of Russian people to

sexual ‘deviations’ is reflected in countless pejorative words and expressions such as

‘pidor, pidaras, gomik, huyesos, etc’. These words harbor terrible abuse for men.

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 Sexuality in Russia is a sensitive topic and should be approached with caution.

This caution involves linguistic prudence and discretion. Words are weapon; they hurt,

destroy, chastise, mortify. They are a window that reveals the extent of social

development and culture.

On the whole, Russian sexual culture develops in the same way as in the West,

although there is a tendency for a delay of twenty or thirty years. Tolerance and reason

gradually take over and sexuality does not arouse so many irrational fears. Sexuality is

losing its primary link with danger of contracting venereal diseases, unwanted pregnancy,

and sexual abuse. Overcoming these fears is mainly possible through mass media,

literature and arts.

3. Sexual Core of Russian Obscenities

If we crudely generalize sexual vulgarities of European languages, they can be

divided into two categories:

 Anal-excretory (Scheiss-culture)

 Sexual (Sex-culture)

Following this principle, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian and others

definitely belong to the second group, whereas English, German, French, etc, to the first.

Russian obscene language is much more powerful than that of most other

languages in the world. The lesser taboo of European swear words is reflected in the fact

that a number of taboo words are included in academic dictionaries; they are well-

documented and explored.

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 Many European obscenities are not necessarily linked to sex, ascribing their

hideous characteristics to bodily effluvia. Thus, most widespread German swear words

refer to excretion (e.g. Scheisse – shit). English speakers make use of ‘shit’ and its

euphemisms (shoot, shucks, etc) more often than their Russian counterparts. That is why,

subtitlers of American movies prefer to use Russian blasphemous phrases ‘chyort’,

‘dyavol’, ‘sran’ Gospodnya’ (lit. devil, God’s shit) or ribald sexual ones ‘blyad’’, ‘eb

tvoyu mat’’ to translate the ubiquitous English sh** words.

Among Russian ‘sexual’ obscenities we can highlight three large groups:

1. Sending the cursed to the zone of female genitals, to the zone of

reproductive organs, bodily limbo (‘poshyol v…/go into the …). This is

no different from wishing somebody death. Female womb is

simultaneously a symbol of birth and death (Bahtin, 1990).

2. An allusion that somebody had a sexual intercourse with the mother of the

cursed (yob tvoyu mat’/…your mother).

3. Phrases that mention male genitalia (e.g. poshyol na huy/ go onto a dick)

put the cursed into a female sexual position, which is equal to depriving of

manly dignity and virility. (In Russian prisons such phrases can lead to the

death of those who use them, as they imply that the person being cursed is

a ‘petuh’ (lit. rooster) that means he has sex with other inmates. Prison

social rules require every phrase like that to be proved or the swearer has

to be punished for slander).

The etymology of 'mat’ may seem rather vague (сf.: мат, матюк, матное слово,

крыть матом, ругать матом, орать (благим) матом, матерщина, материть, матерная

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брань, ругаться по-матерному, бранить по матери, мать поминать, матерями

обкладывать и т. п). Some scholars may think that it derives from the Indo-European

*mater meaning ‘mother’ that can be seen in most Indo-European languages. However,

some sources illustrate that the history of Russian mat is somewhat different. Skvortsov

writes: “The literal meaning of mat is ‘loud voice, shouting’. It’s based on onomatopoeic

words like ‘ма’,’мя’, that is mooing, mewing, roaring of animals during mating season,

etc. So, the moral taboo lies within the etymology of the word proper!”

At any rate, words like «матный», «матерный» и «материнский» are treated as

coming from the same root in Russian and, thus, «мат» in the sense of `громкий голос;

крик` (loud voice, cry) is just a homonym for мат meaning `обсценная брань`

-obscene/bawdy language.

Firstly, the expression ‘еб твою мать’ has been called "матерный" (or else

"матный", "матюшный", "матюжный") for several centuries now. This phrase is

believed to be part of ‘пес еб твою мать’ (a dog fucked your mother), which indicated

the defilement of the mother by an unclean animal. (cf. English ‘son of a bitch’). This

only expression gives rise to a wide range of euphemisms: «ёб твою Господи прости»,

«ебать твою через семь пар потных портянок», «ебать ту Люсю», «ёб твою

ять», «ебать-колотить», «ебать!», «е,п,р,с,т!». All euphemistic phrases resulting

from taboo on any mentioning of ‘матерь’ in an obscene context are perceived as

"матерные" (obscene) – the taboo point to the object barred from mentioning.

Thus, all expressions that have appeared as the aftermath of the taboo of «... твою

мать» can be ascribed to "матерная" брань: «мать-перемать», «мать твою налево»,

«мать твою через тульский самовар», просто «мать!» Russian mat also has phrases

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that conceal both taboo words (ебать and мать/ fuck and mother): «етитский бог»,

«японский городовой», «ёкарный бабай», «ёк-королёк», «йогурт-пармалат»,

«ядрёный корень», «ядрёны пассатижи», «ёж твою ять», «блядь твою влево»,

«хлябь твою твердь», «любить-колотить», «ёлки-палки», «ё-мое», «ё-ка-лэ-мэ-

нэ», «ёкалыманджары», «пес твою раздери», just «ё!» and many others.

Scholars believe that the word ‘huy’ is connected with the Slavonic word ‘hvoya’

– in modern Russian, ‘pine needle’ – that is, something that pricks (cf. English ‘prick’).

The alternation ‘v+vowel = u’ is quite common in Russian (cf. навык/наука,

вязать/узы). Slavist Kovalev thinks that ‘huy’ has a Slavic root *XU, that meant ‘sprout,

offshoot’. Words ‘hvoya/ fir needle, hvost/tail’ come from this root. The word ‘huy’ is

etymologically close to the Lithuanian word skuj/fir-needle, and Albanian hu/stick, pole.

We can see the same semantic development as in Spanish carajo from Greek χαράξ/ pole.

So, this Russian word refers to a group of words of the common Indoeuropean root

*skēu-/sharp (Podval’naya, 1996).

The most common euphemisms of ‘huy’ are ‘her’, ‘hren’ and ‘fig’ (listed in the

order of declining intensity). ‘Hren’ stands for a bitter herb used in pickling or sauces

(Eng. horseradish) and just resembles ‘huy’ phonetically. Although ‘her’ is perceived

only as an acceptable substitution for ‘huy’, its etymology shows that it is actually a name

of an Old Russian letter ‘X’ or just a cross. Thus, ‘похерить’ meant ‘cross out’ or

eliminate something. At present, ‘похерить’ has the same meaning, but due to its remote

echoing the word ‘huy’, it is a mild swear word. ‘Fig’ is used very commonly as a way to

“make one’s feelings known” in polite society or in semi-formal situations, particularly

by women, or by gentlemen whenever women are present. The website Russian Cursing

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for Beginners calls ‘huy’ ‘a word with unlimited destructive power.  It obscures the sun

and blots out everything in its path.  Human life means nothing to it.  It can express total,

absolute, existential indifference towards everything and everyone.  Its nihilistic power

allows it to stand in for words such as “nothing,” “no one,” and “none at all.”’  This most

versatile and commonly used Russian obscenity has plentitude of forms. To name just a

few:

хуев, хуёво, хуерверк, хуерверхер, хуерик, хуевина, хуёвый, хуйня, хули, хуюшки, хуякнуть,
хуярить, захуяривать, хуястый, исхуйство, нехуй, смехохуечки, хуесос, хуедрыга, хуёвина,
хуёвничать, хуяк, охуенный, охуительный, хуеватенький, хуевато, хуета, хуетень, хуё-моё, хуиный,
однохуйственно, разнохуйственно, хуй-чего, остохуеть, по-хую, хуюньки, хуюшки, хуеньки,
вхуярить, дохуярить, захуярить, захуюжить, захуячить, исхуярить, исхуючить, нахуяривать,
отхуячить, схуячить, перехуярить, похуячить, прихуярить, прохуяритъ, расхуюжить, схуярить,
ухуярить, хуйнуть, хуюжить, хуячить, хуебратья, хуебратия, хуеглот, хуегрыз, хуемырло,
хуеплёт, хуила, ахуеть, охуеть, охуелый, прихуеть, хуерыжка…

The name of the female genital organ originates from pre-Indoeuropean *pisd-e,

meaning ‘to piss’. Although it may get less attention than the more commonly used and

therefore more notorious ‘huy’, it is arguably the most offensive word in Russian— much

as with the English “cunt,” which often sounds much worse than the “worst word in

English,” the ubiquitous F-word. It can be used to form a series of words dealing with

speech — with telling a lie and talking nonsense.  But it is also extremely versatile for

verb formation, both of action and motion. The brief list of derivations includes:

пиздануть, пиздорванка, пиздеж, пиздеть, пиздец, пиздобратия, пиздобратья, пиздорвань,

пиздострадатель, пиздюк, пиздюли, пиздятина, остопиздить, пиздень, пиздастая, пиздатая,
пизденыш, пиздодуй, пиздоебство, запиздеть, пиздолет, пиздомотина, пиздон, пиздорванец,
пиздорванка, пиздосос, пиздося, пиздуся, пиздуня, пиздунья, пиздун, пиздоход, пиздюлина, пиздюли,
пиздючата, пиздюшник, припиздень, распиздеха, распиздяй, распиздяйка, допиздеть, запиздеть,
испиздеться, выпиздеться, отпиздеться, перепиздеть, пиздануть, пиздоболка, пиздомол,
пиздомеля, пиздохаханьки, попиздеть, припиздеть, распиздеться, распиздон, пропиздон, впиздить,
впиздячить, впиздярить, запиздючить, испиздить, пиздить, пиздошить, пиздык, отпизденный,
отпиздярить, зепиздить, напиздить, перепиздить, припиздить, спиздить, выпиздить,
испиздюхать, пиздожить, пиздохать, пиздуй, пиздюрить, припиздюхать, опизденный, пиздарики,
пиздастый, пиздопротивный, пиздецовый, опиздюнеть, опизденеть, опиздюнелый, припиздень,
припиздь...

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 ‘Ebat’’ comes from ‘bit’’, meaning ‘to beat, strike’. The root ‘-eb-‘ is the most

versatile in terms of word formation; with the addition of various prefixes verbs can be

created with an array of meanings, most of them having to do with ‘fucking’ someone.

‘Yob’ is the masculine past tense form; ‘ebi’ is the singular imperative. The phrase ‘yob

tvoyu mat/fucked your mother’’ (that was mentioned earlier) is the basic Russian

obscenity. The verb itself may even be left out in the phrase: it is enough to put “your

mother” in the accusative case (твою мать!) to be perfectly understood.  In fact, it is not

uncommon for the word мать/mother (a more direct and uncouth form of ‘mama’) to

cause listeners to worry even in the most innocent contexts, sounding somehow vulgar,

especially when used in the accusative.  It’s better to substitute it for ‘mama’ instead (—

Вчера я всретил твою мать.  —Кого бля!?  —Твою маму./ I met your mother (rude)

yesterday. – Who the hell!? – Your mama). The succinct list of ‘-eb-‘ derivations is:

ебака, ёбарь, ебрь, ебач, ебун, ебец, ебица, ебало, ебальник, ёбаный, ебаяный, ебатория,
ебилитация, ёбла, ебля (действие), ебня (явление), ёбнуть, выеть, заеть, поеть, распроеть,
распроёб, ебешка, поебешка, ебический, поебать, выебываться, довыебываться, долгоеб, долбоеб,
дуроеб, ебанатик, ебанашка, ебаришко, ебливый, ебанутый, ёбнутый, ебукентий, еблантий, заёб,
заёбыш, заёба, уебыш, злоебучий, мудоеб, мозгоеб, недоебанный, разъебай, приеб, худоебина,
взъебка, поебка, поебушка, поебенка, доебаться, заебывать, ебаться, ёбс, еблысь, заебенить,
заебашить, въебенить, наебнуться, приебать, заебись, заебический, поебень, поебистика,
разъебать, разъебенить, въебывать, въябывать, проебать, скосоебиться, съебуриться,
съебаться, уебывать, уябывать, наебать, наебщик, наебывать, объебать, объебон, объебщик,
объебывать, ебозить, еберзить, объебушки, подъебка, подъебщик, подъебывать, ебатарь,
ебишка...

The uniqueness of Russian ‘mat’ is in its extreme flexibility that is based on these

three milestones: huy, pizda, ebat’. Male and female genitalia and their connection

represent the core, the nucleus of Russian obscene language, just as they represent the

biological origin of all life.

Now consider the following verse from the notorious Russian rock band

“Leningrad,” known for their pioneering use of mat-laced lyrics: Всё заебало!  Пиздец,

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на хуй, блядь! Which translates, approximately, as “I’m fucking sick of everything! 

Fuck, fuck off, fucking bitch!” An English speaker may see the frequency of the word

“fuck” in such attempts at translation and yawn.  This is how dull the world of English

cursing has become. The ubiquitous f-word does not surprise anyone anymore.

4. Long Live Russian ‘Mat’

For those English speakers who are tired of their every second word starting with

‘f’ will find Russian ‘mat’ a revelation with its variety and power. Russians treat their

obscene language as immeasurably more influential than English cursing.

However, the world of ‘mat’ is virtually inaccessible to foreigners studying

Russian. It is too situational and semantically changeable, too dependent on

morphological subtleties. Erofeev calls ‘mat’ ‘a linguistic theater, verbal performance of

art’ (New Yorker, 2003). It employs a wide range of suffixes and prefixes, toys with

phonetically similar words from the standard lexicon to create its images.

Analyzing mat, we can observe how it triggers negative emotions in images that

are culturally inappropriate. If someone says ‘yob tvoyu mat/ fucked your mother’, it

either subconsciously means ‘I’m your father. I’m stronger than you, and you have to

submit to me as I have power over you. I made you!’ or ‘I’m your mother’s lover. I’m not

your father, but your father lost the battle and I’m better than him.’ Anal-oral sex is

culturally inappropriate too; it is treated by many as perversion or deviation from norms.

‘Mat’ turns people into genitalia. ‘Mat’ disparages female sexuality. ‘Mat’ is a pejorative

publicity of homosexual acts, denial of human bisexual nature (Sigaev, 2004).

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 Sorokin (2001) said about ‘mat’ that ‘we cannot blame the language. It is like

water, it flows where it is hollow. Tabooing of mat, names for genitalia, is just a display

of artificial, unreasonable shamefulness’.

There is also the simple fact that the roots of Russian mat remain somehow more

taboo than any English curse word—most of which, including the F-word, are losing

their incantatory power from pure overuse.  It must be said that as mat continues to be

more widespread, on the street, in movies, and in books, it runs the risk of the same sort

of dilution.

From the filthy language of alcoholics and prostitutes, ‘mat’ has evolved into a

fashionable linguistic accessory. In certain circles it even ceased to be obscene. For the

youth of Moscow, for example, it is just an instrument that enables them to discuss

openly the matters of gender and sexual activity. They use it not to shock or punish or

humiliate; they use it because it is useful.

Reference:

Allan, K., & Burridge, K. (2006). Forbidden Words: taboo and the censoring of

language. UK: Cambridge University Press

Bahtin, M. (1990). Works of Francois Rabelais and folk culture of the Middle

Ages and Renaissance. Мoscow: Hudozhestvennaya literatura

Erofeev, V. (2003) Dirty Words. New Yorker, September 15, 2003.

Kon, I. (1993) Sexuality and Culture. USA: Indiana University Press.

Kovalev, G. (2005). Russian mat – consequence of taboo abolition (Cultural

Taboo and its impact on the result of communication), Voronezh

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 Sorokin, V. (2001). From newspaper Argumenti I Fakti, №49, с.23)

Uspenskiy, B. (1996). Mythological Aspect of Russian Expressive Phraseology,

from Anti-World of Russian Culture. Moscow: Ladomir

Wajnryb, R. (2005). Expletive Deleted. New York, NY: Free Press

Internet references:

Steven Pinker, September 24, 2004, Authors@Google from

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBpetDxIEMU

Gay Pride Parade Banned in Moscow, April 25, 2008, from

http://www.theotherrussia.org/2008/04/25/gay-pride-parade-banned-in-moscow/

Plutser-Sarno, A. What is Russian mat and how the Dictionary of Russian mat is

designed. From personal website http://plutser.ru

Russian mat for beginners (http://www.russiancursing.com)

Sigaev, S. (2004). Psychoanalysis of Russian Mat from

(http://www.zelen.ru/consult/consult75-mat.htm)

Kon, I. Sexual Culture in Russia, personal website

http://www.neuro.net.ru/sexology/index.html

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