I really think Anglo Saxonic insults are a notch below the ones from Latin languages. An Italian or Spanish person insulting another is almost like a song because the words are often intoned as part of a sentence of insults and thus sound poetic. In”casa del papel” it is possible to hear it[1]. Also notice the insult is almost like a small story and told with lots of energy. I think Dr Cox from the series scrubs touches a bit what I mean but he is bounded by the family rating of the show. I am confident that character going all in would be hilarious.
One thing I miss while in Poland is Insulting and being insulted freely and humorously for the laughs and filling awkward moments. In Portugal you only get insulted by friends and it is a sign of friendship. Very Cordial conversations make the opposite very clear.
In my previous work in Poland people learned to enjoy releasing a “puta que te pariu” because you could vocalize it mostly with consonants that released air in bursts and left you out of air and thus expelled the anger.
My favourite insult for something fancy is that something is made of “pele de cona de Andorinha”, or “skin from the pussy of a swallow bird”. Many of these are remnants of colonial war era bravado, but the imagination is incredible.
Hope the comment does not offend anyone, but if it does, think of all the things in the world that do more harm than words and enjoy the human experience for all its planes.
Being Greek, I can definitely agree. We have such phrases as "scratch your balls with a pickaxe" for when someone is telling tall tales, or "flowers on my dick and bees all around" for when you don't care. "Blatherskite" somehow pales in comparison.
I didn't know "crepehanger" was rare or unusual. My mother used often enough that it seems like a ordinary, but lower frequency, word to me. Although in my head I thought it was two words.
To place it a bit more, my mother was born in 1931, and both of her parents immigrated from Ireland to Chicago around 1920. I assume she got the phase from her parents, who presumably brought it with them.
"Gobshite" is another word that I'm 99% sure came over on the boat with my grandparents. Although it seems like the root words are something like "mouth shitter", the invective tended to be used more like "idiot" or "jerk".
Gobshite, while it might appear to be "mouth shitter", isn't used to describe a braggard bullshitter or liar, as the components might suggest. It's more commonly used to describe a person who's both stupidly incompetent and contemptible, as in:
"Why is the system down?"
"Dave pushed the updates to the production server again."
"F*king gobshite."
Gobdaw is a less offensive variation, typically used by those who say fe_k instead of fu_k.
I didn't realize "gobshite" is supposed to be rare, but I guess all the British shows I've seen are to blame. Thinking about it, I probably couldn't name a single person in real life that I've heard say that word.
All that, and no mention of wazzock, probably my favourite mild insult and relatively unheard it would appear (it was was quite popular in parts of the UK's north in the 80s & early 90s but I don't think it travelled internationally and has since largely fallen back out of use even here). It works particularly well with the common extension "great steaming" as a phrase of exasperation: "you great steaming wazzock" (for full effect: say slowly, in one sighing breath, emphasising each word more than the previous, and take a deep disappointed breath after).
> for full effect: say slowly, in one sighing breath, emphasising each word more than the previous, and take a deep disappointed breath after
I tried that and saying the last word made me exhale enough to force me to immediately take a disappointed-sounding breath, so I guess it works as designed?
If you don't feel the final breath feels intentional enough, too much like you are just out of breath, add a head nod. Though I find that sort of exasperation gets the message across better if looking directly at the subject of it.
> Bonus points if you can insult someone without swearing
Back in school (for me this is a _long_ time ago) there was a pupil who considered herself "all that" and let everyone know whenever possible. Our Spanish teacher once told her she "looked particularly bovine this morning" which she took as a complement… (in fairness to her, a chunk of the rest of the room didn't get it immediately either).
I regret to report I have not, though they've been on my list for some years. But the joke sounds, by reputation at least, very much of the sort O'Brian would enjoy.
a 120-ton Spanish galleon that sailed the Peru–Panama trading route during the 16th century. This ship has earned a place in maritime history not only by virtue of being Sir Francis Drake's most famous prize, but also because of her colourful nickname, Cagafuego ("fireshitter")
Okay, but in entire fairness, I did say "any empire would give". If she wasn't actually commissioned under the name as the Merriam-Webster blog suggests, I believe this qualifies as having successfully weaseled out.
Certainly it makes a lot more sense as a nickname! Those have vastly broader range than commissioned names typically do. In any case, I appreciate your effort in finding a more reliable reference, especially one that adds such color and provenance to a swear I grew up around and have favored since earliest childhood.
My family always uses it when talking about the dog going caca. It used to confuse me when I was a kid but we’d say shishi for pee. Family is mixed so it’s not really pidgeon but more just mixed. A Korean friend heard me say shishi once and said they say the same in Korean, which was surprising to learn but like caca it’s probably a fairly universal word
Turkic languages - Tatar, Uzbek, Uighur, Turkish, etc. are on some crazy level when it comes to insults. You can never translate them to another language literally - they sound so bizarre and disturbing. Yet, the natives use them like pistachios - they often don't bear the same literal meaning in their language.
One thing I miss while in Poland is Insulting and being insulted freely and humorously for the laughs and filling awkward moments. In Portugal you only get insulted by friends and it is a sign of friendship. Very Cordial conversations make the opposite very clear.
In my previous work in Poland people learned to enjoy releasing a “puta que te pariu” because you could vocalize it mostly with consonants that released air in bursts and left you out of air and thus expelled the anger.
My favourite insult for something fancy is that something is made of “pele de cona de Andorinha”, or “skin from the pussy of a swallow bird”. Many of these are remnants of colonial war era bravado, but the imagination is incredible.
Hope the comment does not offend anyone, but if it does, think of all the things in the world that do more harm than words and enjoy the human experience for all its planes.
https://youtu.be/KnYTEk-YGNo?si=YYf9lJZdLqaa5rB_