Can I ask for some phrases in your native language?

Discussion in 'Authors' Hangout' started by Warden-Yarn15, Feb 22, 2021.

  1. SeriousBrainDamage

    SeriousBrainDamage Really Really Experienced

    That works, but yes, it's a little over the top.

    We use a lot "Dio" (God), "Si" (Yes),"Dai"(come on), "ancora" (more).
    Also another very important word is "cazzo", which is dick/cock (never got what's the right correspondence), but it is also used as "Fuck!" as in an interjection. "Cazzo!", "Cazzo, si! Scopami! Dai."
    But also, "Cazzo, ho perso le chiavi!" (Fuck, I lost my keys!)

    Also the common for "pussy" would probably be "fica", which I find a little more vulgar. Don't know if it's 100% correct though, as a non mother language speaker, I still see the overlapping between pussy(little cat) and pussy (female genitalia) as some kind of euphemism, so I perceive it as a little more tame word and easier to use in different contexts.

    I bet this sounds a lot like spanish to you all ;)

    Edit.
    Also, do not ever think to use "mamma mia" or something like that.
    We're not all Super Mario or Tony Soprano.

    Edit2.

    I was also missing the very popular "Vaffanculo", which would be "Fuck off" (more literal) or "Fuck you" (which would literally be "Fottiti", less used).
    "Fottimi/Scopami" would then be "Fuck me".
    Mind you, "scopati" doesn't exist.
    Lastly, the most common insult is "Stronzo", literally "turd", but used as a derogatory with the same function as "Asshole".
     
    Last edited: Jun 4, 2021
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  2. SeriousBrainDamage

    SeriousBrainDamage Really Really Experienced

    I don't mean to pry, are you by chance Scottish?

    I ask because lately I developed this oddly spefic interest for Scottish slang and it would be cool if you could give me some pointers.
     
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  3. Cuchuilain

    Cuchuilain Guest

    I am indeed.
    'Awa an' bile yer heid' - literally go away and boil your head. - A polite "fuck off", sort of the thing one's mother might say to an annoying child.
    There are a few regional variations. particularly east v west. e.g. a lot of statements in the east, but not the West are ended by the word ken? which is equivalent to ok?. (or do you understand / do you ken?) "She wis suckin ma boaby, ken" In the rural North and Western Islands, I find there is almost no slang at all. Very pure well pronounced English. The accent is mind blowing though. These are the areas where Gaelic is spoken too.
    In terms of mentality (apologies to anyone I'm generalising), Edinburgh is a bit more cosmopolitan, arty and optimistic feeling. Glasgow is more industrial and serious. It rains more in Glasgow!
    Again, the North and Islands is different. Although a small country, these areas are remote, and can take a significant time to get to. On one of the main islands, I discovered there are really only 4 things that happen in the year. 1) a music festival, 2) a yachting regatta 3) a highland games 4) a car rally. It doesnt matter if you dont like any of these things, because everyone looks forward to them for ages, everyone turns up for them because there is nothing else to look forward to and they party like crazy at them. Ceilidh's tend to be held, where extremely fast versions of traditional dances take place. Best to watch them first before taking part for risk of injury. And the locals tend to be very sexually forward to outsiders - I'm guessing they're trying to increase the gene pool.
    Let me know if there's anything more specific you had in mind.
     
  4. SeriousBrainDamage

    SeriousBrainDamage Really Really Experienced

    That's great to beging with, thanks!

    I did a little research on my own and I've got this impression that Scots are percieved as foul-mouthed and easy at swearing. I don't know if that's the case, and surely don't mean to offend with this, but this goes a little against the nature of the character I'm involved with.
    It is good to know that in some places there is no slang, that's somewhat a relief.

    Are there some specifical sex terms, not necessarly slang, even just words of common use or ways of saying that revolve around sex.
    As example, I found this word _bahookie_, which should mean butt or bum.
    Is that correct or it feel outdated/silly to use?

    By the way, you should apply for a job at the Ministry of turism.
    You made me want to vist the place ;)
     
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  5. Cuchuilain

    Cuchuilain Guest

    Yeah -bahookie is an expresson for one's posterior. However, its quite old fashioned and might be something one's grandmother might threaten with a slipper if naughty.
    We share a few expressions with those unnameables south of the border, e.g. the use of arse instead of ass, which is somehow more vulgar than ass.
    And, traditionally the fuck off gesture is 2 fingers rather than 1, but Americanism is taking over in that front, so either is used now.
    (Historical and possibly apocrayphally, although I quite like it, the 2 finger gesture of index & middle fingers was used by escaping POWs in defiance, suggesting that they still had use of those digits and would be back at a later date to use them on the busy end of a Bow. The threat is therefore "I'm going to kill you", rather than "I'm going to fuck you". It made sense in those days to remove those digits of POWs so that they could not be a threat again).
    For penis, I would probably use Boab or boaby. this can also be used for the act of sexual intercourse
    Vagina - I would use Fud or minge. Minge is probably suggestive of a less than healthy specimen and the adjective minging suggests something that smells like a well used fud that hasn't been washed for some time. To illustrate usage...

    "Haw Senga, Dae ye think ah should go doon tae the doctors fur some cream fur ma minge? Ah think ah've caught something aff Shug's boaby"
    "Aye hen, that's pure mingin. Ma fud's no seen ony boab since Hogmanay though."
     
  6. Cuchuilain

    Cuchuilain Guest

    I can offer no excuses for this...
    • Am ur. [Meaning: I am. literally: I am are]
    • Am urnae. [Meaning: I am not. literally: I am aren't]
    • Naw yurnae. [No you're not]
    • Am ur so am ur [Meaning: I am. Indeed, I am (insistent)]

    The west coast hard drinking foul mouthed stereotype is sadly relatively accurate to some degree, but usually tinged with a soupcon of humour.
    (In the brilliant trainspotting, Begbie is from Glasgow, the rest of the cast are Edinburgh)

    I'd recommend episodes of "Still game" for west coast/Glasgow cultural reference if you're interested.

    As regards the crystal clear, slang free pronunciation from the Western Isles (with a delightful musical lilt), I should add another cultural reference, there are communities there where presbyterian religion is taken very seriously and in particular Sabbath observance. e.g. a while back in Tobermory, they burnt their own pier down because the ferry company was threatening to run a service on a Sunday. Peter May's novel "Lewis Man" depicts one scene where two teenagers hook up on a Saturday night and disappear into a boat shed to fulfil matters. However, one of them checks their watch, notices its 5 to 12 and almost the Sabbath, so they both just give up and go home, rather than run the risk of actually having fun on a Sunday.
     
  7. DeviantChalice

    DeviantChalice Really Experienced

    Sorry to be a party pooper but sadly this is not true, and the only evidence to support it is a speech supposedly made by Henry V at Agincourt that the French were threatening to cut three fingers from captured bowmen (not two), but the obscene V-gesture only gained popularity in the last 19th century, and really only took off in the 1970s, to the extent that in the 1940s Winston Churchill was initially unaware that the V-sign was offensive with palm facing inwards.

    No one knows the true origin, alas. I like the theories that are to do with sex though.
     
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  8. SeriousBrainDamage

    SeriousBrainDamage Really Really Experienced

    Well, that might actually work just fine, if that's the case. The tone I need to give to character is rather comical and wholesome for the most part.
    More in general I'm actually trying to polish my vocabulary for more all around purposes than writing just smut.

    This is so wrong:D

    Dude, I come from a country where 20 different regions have 2o different slang and accents, so different from each other that they can be safely cathegorized as another language in several cases.
    No need to explain ;)
     
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  9. Cuchuilain

    Cuchuilain Guest

    I can attest to the gesture being ubiquitous since the 1960s at least. However I mentioned possibly apocryphal. I'm willing to round that to probably apocryphal, but since its not clear where it came from I'm going to suspend my disbelief and og with the liberated archer theory.
     
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  10. Cuchuilain

    Cuchuilain Guest

    It would be cool to have a story with multiple authors, each writing in full local vernacular. I wonder how it could be done. Maybe some sleuth following clues that lead them to areas all around the world?