This post is about all the bad words that you're unlikely to learn in a language class. You have to do the research on your own or have some Arab friends who will teach you. As far as I'm concerned words like this should be taught. You don't have to use them, but it's good to know them so that you at least have an idea of what people are saying either to you or just around you. This is a touchy subject when talking about the Arabic language specifically. I've noticed that many Arabs want everyone to think that Arabic is a modest and pure language. By many it is viewed as the language of God after all. So a lot of people take offense when words like this are taught. It's not like in English where no one really cares if swearing is taught to foreigners. I don't think Americans view it as blemishing our reputation if people know that there is profanity in English, but lots of Arabs take it personally. The truth is that
every language on Earth has profanity. So, view this post as a purely academic endeavor.
First are some phrases you can say when someone wrongs you. For example, you're carrying something and someone bumps into you causing you to drop and break it. You can say these in response. They aren't considered vulgar and are very mild but still said when angry:
- يقطع عمرك (yaqta' 'omrak) - May God kill you. (يقطع means "cut", and عمرك is "your life")
- يخرب بيتك (yikhrib beytak) - May God destroy your house. (God is implied in this and the previous phrase)
- الله لا يعطيك العافية (allah la ia'teek al'aafia) - May God not give you health. (I was in a restaurant in Amman and one waiter said this to another when his friend spilled a drink. He was joking, but it can be said in anger too. This is also said commonly without the negation. الله يعطيك العافية - God give you health.
- العمى (al'ama) - Literally 'blindness'. It's used like 'damn'.
Next are the vulgar words that shouldn't be said around anyone:
- كس (kis) - vagina
- شرموطة (sharmoota) - whore (plural is شراميط shraameet)
- زب (zib) - dick/cock (plural is زباب zbab)
- بز (biz) - tit (pural is بزاز bzaz)
- طيز (teez) - ass
- عير ('ayr) - dick/cock (There's a funny video of a news anchor mistakenly saying صباح العير instead of صباح الخير , basically 'dick morning' instead of 'good morning'. Just type in صباح العير in You Tube.)
- خرى (khara) - shit
How these are used in phrases:
- كس اختك (kis ikhtak) - you're sister's vagina (like English 'fuck')
- يا ابن الشرموطة (ya ibn asharmoota) - you son of a whore
- مص زبي (mus zibbi) - suck my dick
- الحس طيزي (ilhas teezi) - lick my ass
- عيري فيك ('ayri feek) - my dick is in you
- كل خرى (kul khara) - eat shit
This list doesn't not include all Arabic curse words. There are a lot more. This is just intended to give exposure to what's out there. There are some Disney videos
here that are dubbed over with cursing that are actually pretty
funny. If anyone can tell me what dialect that is I would be grateful. It sounds like a mix between Levantine and Gulf dialect because they use
بدي for "I want" but the accent sounds like Gulf and they say
ك as 'ch'.
Posts
