The Ancient Swear-Words Challenge!

Just a thought that popped into my head the other day. Surely, in the period depicted here in EB every people and culture had vibrant and colourful languages, and in those languages, they no doubt had vibrant and colourful insults! :laugh4:

Since the history books seem to gloss over this aspect of ancient culture, I'm putting forth a mini-challenge while genuinelly looking for some knowledge on how our distant ancestors verbally humiliated one another.

SO: Who here on this forum can come up with a genuine insult/cuss-word that was used in the BCE era? (1st and 2nd century AD is fine too) If you DO manage to find something, then please write it out first in its original language, and then translated, for extra joy. :2thumbsup:

If not, then the challenge also includes finding the ancient equivalent of today's modern insults. Direct translations of the various 4-letter profanities we use nowadays, basically.

This is strictly for fun. Unfortunately there are no prizes to be had except perhaps an enrichened vocabulary!

There are no restraints here. If you do find a genuine curse, or decide to translate, it can be as inventive, colourful, obscene, and offensive as you like.

Let's see who's up for this!

Ne ton kuna! = Dammit!

(Nu Eta - Tau Omikron Nu - Kappa - Upsilon - Nu - Alpha)

Good ol´Catul used a very ... err, rich language in his poems.

Here´s my favorite:

pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo
aureli patice et cinaede furi
qui me ex versiculis meis putastis
quod sunt moliculi parum pudicum.

Talk about pissed off artists...^^


As for 4 letter words:

merda, cacatus : s***

sentina: scum

In Armenia during EB's time frame, and in to the middle ages it was the biggest insult to call some one a merchant (arevtrakan). Sort of like a combination of lier, thief, and son of a bitch all at the same time.

Even today its an Armenian mindset that a good merchant or salsemen is a shister.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bavarian Barbarian

Good ol´Catul used a very ... err, rich language in his poems.

Here´s my favorite:

pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo
aureli patice et cinaede furi
qui me ex versiculis meis putastis
quod sunt moliculi parum pudicum.

Talk about pissed off artists...^^


As for 4 letter words:

merda, cacatus : s***

sentina: scum

---

"ex versiculis meis putastis"

is he talkin about a wife?

Say in what languages youre talking, plz.

Quote:

---

merda

---

That stills being the portuguese word for it :laugh4:

Quote:

---

pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo
aureli patice et cinaede furi
qui me ex versiculis meis putastis
quod sunt moliculi parum pudicum.

---

Latin?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bavarian Barbarian

Good ol´Catul used a very ... err, rich language in his poems.

Here´s my favorite:

pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo
aureli patice et cinaede furi
qui me ex versiculis meis putastis
quod sunt moliculi parum pudicum.

---

Heh, great one. I could translate, but to get the true meaning I would probably be banned from the boards for the first line alone.:laugh4:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by abou

Heh, great one. I could translate, but to get the true meaning I would probably be banned from the boards for the first line alone.:laugh4:

---

pm? plz?

for latin class

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by K COSSACK

pm? plz?

for latin class

---

:laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4:

No high school Latin class is going to teach that!

:yes: Does anyone know when the F word became popular. I am not talking about only in English, but in other languages as well. It seems that the equivelent of the F word is in all languages.


In Armenian kunel means "to F***"

kunem kez "F*** you"

kunem berant "F*** your mouth"


kunem lavt "F*** your good" ( has the meaning of F everything that is good and sacred to you)


Kunem Mayrt/kunem Moret/ kunem mamat "F*** your mother/mom"


so yeah there's some colorfull phrases using the F word

I think your "kunem" is the same "Konam" in Parsi ,Right???:wink:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by abou

Heh, great one. I could translate, but to get the true meaning I would probably be banned from the boards for the first line alone.:laugh4:

---

Catullus is absolutely brilliant. We did translate him in highschool, but not that one. :laugh4:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by abou

:laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4:

No high school Latin class is going to teach that!

---

well I'll copy this and hand it to my "foreign language instructor" (teacher)

but I'll have to beg....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by abou

:laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4:

No high school Latin class is going to teach that!

---

Actually, over here in the Netherlands... Catullus is part of the Latin curriculum at "highschool"...

Usually, it's about 'birds' though. ~;)

Some basic phrases for Roman conquerors:

Futue te ipsum.
Go F--- yourself
Mande merdam et morere.
Eat sh-- and die
Velim caput tuum devellere deinde in confinium gulae cacare
I'm gonna rip off you head and crap down your neck.
Te fututo, gaudeo
You having been f---d, I rejoice. (ablative absolute! Amaze your Latin teacher!)
Sentite aciem acrem ensis mortiferi, o larvae putidae, o bustirapi nefandi!
Feel the keen edge if the sword of doom, no-good stinking corpse-eating tomb-ghouls!
Mihi est in animo programmare simulationem imperii Romani quam iniuste, atrociter, imperite regam!
I will program a simulation of the Roman Empire and rule it unjustly, cruelly, and incompetently!

What the crafty barbarian should learn to say to Romans:

Me dedo. Hic nemo est quin Romam amet. Vos non victores sed liberatores salutamus. Si quid videtis quo delectamini, agite, capite sine mora!
An exercise for the class.

Bonus insult:

Mater tua tam obesa est ut cum Romae est urbs habet octo colles
Your mama is so fat when she goes to Rome it has 8 hills!

Abes etiam a consilio insultandi mihi nisi latine loqui scias

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kambiz

I think your "kunem" is the same "Konam" in Parsi ,Right???:wink:

---

In Armenian kunem actualy means f*** isnt konam in parsi meaning ass but has the meaning of f***

Ραδανιζειν - to bugger with a radish.

Why the Greeks had a particular word for this goes into some rather... interesting judicial practices. Not sure how offensive it was to them, but it's good for a laugh.

I love Aristophanes.

...And of course the crippled-classic-cliche:

Mater tua malus sus est. ~;)

Thanks for reminding me how I hate the Latin language. Please translate all your insults into a more common idiom. ~:0

LOL @ oudysseos

Your mamas so fat that when she comes to Rome it has 8 hills...

Fantastic. :beam:

Quote:

---

Mater tua tam obesa est ut cum Romae est urbs habet octo colles
Your mama is so fat when she goes to Rome it has 8 hills!

---

OMG! I so have to remember that one!

Now,theres only one thing left to do.Get this into Latin:

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries."

Great job with all these insults.I might try to use them sometime.

Awesome stuff indeed, oudysseos...I never thought I would log on to this forum tonight and learn how to say I'm gonna rip off your head and crap down your neck in Latin.

I love this community...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EasternScourge

Now,theres only one thing left to do.Get this into Latin:

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries."

Great job with all these insults.I might try to use them sometime.

---

Tua mater mus erat, et tuus pater similiter maiobacarum oluit.

I can't believe I still remember that. We were really, REALLY bored in Latin class one day... must have been almost ten years ago now. We actually translated the whole sketch... Though I should note that it's actually saying "your mother was a mouse" as we couldn't find a word for hamster.

The next year, when we did Catullus, one of the students came in with an orange book entitled "The Latin Sexual Vocabulary" and we had a great deal of fun.

Another fun one: Tuus senex etiam est.

For the Latin Poem, it's on Wiki'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullus_16
(If I shouldn't have posted this then I do apologise, please delete the think).

Caput capitis = dick head.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by oudysseos

What the crafty barbarian should learn to say to Romans:

Me dedo. Hic nemo est quin Romam amet. Vos non victores sed liberatores salutamus. Si quid videtis quo delectamini, agite, capite sine mora!

---

I surrender myself. There is no one here who does not love the Romans. We greet you not as conquerers but as liberators. If you see that which is destroyed by you, come on, capture it without delay!

I hope this is mostly correct. I really should be ablt to translate this better seeing as this is my seventh year of Latin in school...


What the craftier Roman should say to the crafty barbarian:

Tibi gratias ago, astute. Mecum Romam venies ubi Caesarem salutabis. Deinde ad Amphitheatrum Flavium ambulabimus ubi leones salutabis!

Veni Vidi Veni identidem

I came, I saw, I came again and again and again....lol.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rhipsaspis

For the Latin Poem, it's on Wiki'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullus_16
(If I shouldn't have posted this then I do apologise, please delete the think).

---

.
I love the links in the translation! :laugh4:

Totally anachronic but the Catullus reference makes it somewhat on topic I believe. Neyzen Tevfik (d. 1958) was a musician, poet and over all a satyr. Here's only the opening stanza of his famous curse-in-verse, "Sahne-i Ömrümden Nefs-i Emmâreme Hitâbım", which may even buy me warning points ~D:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Âlemin bâğızârını sikeyim
Sünbül ü verd-i hârını sikeyim
Andelîb-i nizârını sikeyim
Hâsılı nev-bahârını sikeyim.

sikeyim is the f-word, while the rest is high poetic language.
.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tellos Athenaios

Actually, over here in the Netherlands... Catullus is part of the Latin curriculum at "highschool"...

Usually, it's about 'birds' though. ~;)

---

Wouldn't you be sad, if you're loved one's pet died?
Poor bird... ~:(

(na die lessen latijn moest ik wel zeggen dat ik enigzins geschokt was toen de volgende les, de wiskunde juf vroeg onze passers boven te halen! :sweatdrop: )

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Moros

Wouldn't you be sad, if you're loved one's pet died?
Poor bird... ~:(

(na die lessen latijn moest ik wel zeggen dat ik enigzins geschokt was toen de volgende les, de wiskunde juf vroeg onze passers boven te halen! :sweatdrop: )

---

Ik snap hem niet!

So, any good Greek ones out there? ;D

OMG, I just read that poem from Catullus... lol. So much for decent antiquity...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Moros

Wouldn't you be sad, if you're loved one's pet died?
Poor bird... ~:(

(na die lessen latijn moest ik wel zeggen dat ik enigzins geschokt was toen de volgende les, de wiskunde juf vroeg onze passers boven te halen! :sweatdrop: )

---

:laugh4:

@Intrepid:

"Musje, Musje van mijn meisje..."
"Het musje van mijn meisje is dood"

(Musje heeft in het Latijn een tamelijk aparte bijbetkenis. De laatste opmerking van Moros moet nu toch echt genoeg zijn.)

Bollocks do I feel inadequate 'cos I only speak English

I guess Gaelic classes as ancient so:

Tha thu cho duaichnidh ri Šarr …irde de a' coisich deas damh

youswear.com is a marvellous resource :laugh4:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kurulham

Tua mater mus erat, et tuus pater similiter maiobacarum oluit.

I can't believe I still remember that. We were really, REALLY bored in Latin class one day... must have been almost ten years ago now. We actually translated the whole sketch... Though I should note that it's actually saying "your mother was a mouse" as we couldn't find a word for hamster.

---

Cricetus is the generic name for the European hamster. I'd make a reasonable guess that this is Latin.

When I was looking at the "What do units say?" thread, I did notice that 'tuas matres!' was there as a taunt. Though personally I doubt Legionaries shouted "yo' mommas!"

Seems like Catul has some new fans :laugh:

Btw, we did translate that poem in school (our teacher loved catul and hey - we´re all over eighteen^^), and one of the - rather shy, mind you - girls tried
to translate the first sentence. After a lot of stuttering, she went red as beet and ended with : "...your mouth will loose its virginity". It still makes me smile when i think about it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by oudysseos

Me dedo. Hic nemo est quin Romam amet. Vos non victores sed liberatores salutamus. Si quid videtis quo delectamini, agite, capite sine mora!

---

hehe, nice ~D

But one (perhaps stupid) question. If "Me dedo" means something like "I surrender(ed)" shouldnt it be "Me dedi" or "Me do"?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Baldrick

Bollocks do I feel inadequate 'cos I only speak English

I guess Gaelic classes as ancient so:

Tha thu cho duaichnidh ri Šarr …irde de a' coisich deas damh

youswear.com is a marvellous resource :laugh4:

---

God I love swearing in Gaelic! Mostly because I'm usually the only Irishmen who knows what it means.(Here in Texas that is.)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Intrepid Adventurer

Ik snap hem niet!

So, any good Greek ones out there? ;D

OMG, I just read that poem from Catullus... lol. So much for decent antiquity...

---

Πορνη... "Porne" or prostitute. I guess the word "porn" would have to come from somewhere. Must have been the lowest of the low, so far as prostitutes were concerned.

Εταιρα... "Hetaira" was one step up, in the level of a geisha or something. She could engage in clever conversation and whatever, besides her obvious :idea2: work.

Also in Plutarch there is this passage which talks of " Horns shooting up one's backyard" meaning his wife is having an affair. In present day greek "Κερατας" or "the guy with horns on" means the guy whose wife is f*cking left and right.

.
Aye! ~D Interesting choice of my teacher I guess, το κέρατο/ο κέρατας are of the first set of nouns I've learned. The charm is, it -almost- exactly lives in Turkish: kerata :laugh4:
.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by abou

:laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4:

No high school Latin class is going to teach that!

---

I was Googling "irrumabo" and "putastis" since neither are in my dictionary. And yes, Catullus is taught in high schools. We have an assignment to choose a Catullus poem and give a literal translation, and much to my teacher's dismay I chose Catullus 16. It's a pretty interesting poem. It's like the Peyton Place of ancient Rome...only a million words shorter.

I don't have my Aristophanes out here - it's something like 7,000 miles away and I really don't feel like sifting through a Perseus text - but he's chock full of good stuff. Make sure you don't get a Bowdlerized translation, though, of which there are way too many, or you'll miss everything. One I read turned "be set on fire and have a radish shoved up his arse" to "be singed and prodded with the adulterer's rod". Slight difference in connotation there.

(That was The Clouds, by the way, but several of his others are equally wonderful.)