Kinda With 'Em On The Sticky

[bloodyrosemccoy]

Those of you who have been with me for a while may know that I’m an absolute fan of swear words. They are one of my favorite areas of linguistic and anthropological study. I maintain that you can learn a lot about a culture by what they find taboo. And there is no more interesting outlet for linguistic creativity than the cuss.

 

Naturally, a lot of my conlangs have some fun swear words, and recently I started thinking about them again after demanding that ysabetwordsmith post some of hers.  So I thought I’d highlight one of my favorite curse conlangs here—Rredrra, the language of arhods (like Ghil, in my Doctors! stories, but he’s too classy to use most of these words). So I present to you: Rredrra swearing!

 

I wanted to give you the unusual stuff, so I left out most of the scatological swears, but rest assured that Rredrra has a lot of ’em. They’re mostly the usual kind, though, so who cares?

 

The odd thing about Rredrra curses is that they do not wax very creative with sexual vituperation. This can tell you a little more about them, as well—arhodes have an annual mating season,* and it’s not long enough for them to get creative with their sexual antics before they stop thinking about it. But they have other, sometimes odd, ideas of what’s nasty, including:

 

Hygiene deficiency

Hesh ka!

“Soak me!”

Meaning: Interjection like “My god!” or “Good grief!”

Strength: mild

Explanation: Arhods are not really meant to be based on cats. They do have some things in common with various cat species, but from a a mishmash of types, and these common elements are only superficial.** But there is one thing I based very much on all the cats I’ve known: arhods absolutely hate being wet. Really hate it. Obsessive-compulsive ones even have trouble with their bimonthly shower, although most feel dirtier without it. But most arhods get to the point where they dislike thinking or talking about it and find it a mildly unpleasant subject, enough so that it’s made its way into the lexicon of curses.

 

Some arhods don’t mind it; and of course some find it necessary in their jobs. They’re regarded as “strong-stomached” individuals, the kind an arhode version of Mike Rowe would have on his show. But it confuses Galactic citizens to see a happy, wet arhod in much the same way it confuses me to see a cat that does not rise straight up in the air when placed in contact with water . I thought that was a law of physics.

 

Vırrothan stek vidharyufa bel/mel! / Stek bel/mel!

“Sand cake her/his fur!”/“Cake her/him!”

Meaning: Curse like “Screw ’em!”

Strength: moderate

Explanation: Being wet sucks, but being caked with something is even more unpleasant. Have you ever fallen in the mud or swum in the ocean and then let yourself dry and been dirt-caked? Yeah, they find that really nasty.

 

ñorjif vıkirres

“To dig for ‘clams’” (vıkirres = a mollusk living under the sand; rather like a clam)

Strength: moderate

Meaning: Doing something dirty and craven; doing something dishonorable.

Explanation: To be so lazy as to disregard one’s own hygiene.  Shows a willingness to dig for clams to eat—getting muddy and sandy in the process—instead of hunting.

 

befŕ bra jag

“fleet of ‘fleas’” (jag = small tick- or flea-like parasite that sucks blood; often carries diseases)

Strength: moderate

Meaning: Scruffy, degenerate person; has taken on a more general meaning, rather like “son of a bitch” or “asshole” in English

Explanation: Just because you have fur doesn’t mean you need to have fleas.

 

dwŕk-heshipte

“shit-soaked”

Meaning: another modifier; can be like “fucking” or “bloody”

Strength: strong

Explanation: Come on, this is just gross.

 

shogot

“sticky”

Strength: strong

Meaning: Has the same versatility as “bloody” or “fucking” in English.

Explanation: And this is the biggest nightmare of all for my finicky aliens.

 

Stupidity

dhozhag

“stupid”

Strength: mild

Explanation: Arhods also feel that stupidity—especially willful stupidity—is a reprehensible trait. They value intelligence and critical thinking very highly.

 

Shen rroboloz kena ashuyi bel/mel.

“The blood stops at her/his neck.”

Meaning: S/he’s intensely stupid.

Strength: mild

 

jorza

“savage”

Meaning: on par with “goddamn”

Strength: mild

Explanation: Denotes mindless savagery—another thing Rredir arhods especially look down upon.

 

vyumenaryugh

“clawbrain”

Meaning: Someone who only thinks with their giant velociraptor-like claws; barbarian; savage. On par with English “motherfucker.”

Strength: strong

Explanation: I told you they dislike mindless savages.

 

Miscellaneous

burradhe

“mating season”

Meaning: a very bad time; the brunt of the storm

Strength: moderate

Explanation: Mating season is one of those ideas that does not have a very good neutral term because the subject itself is a bit uncomfortable for some. It is rather like the English struggle for natural terms for “menstruation” or “copulation.” Words for it fluctuate. There is the highly formal, medical, and somewhat uptight (shetare, like referring to “copulation” or “menstruation”—something only used in situations where one must be very dry); the supposedly neutral but still rather uncomfortable in polite company (iyolyi, like saying “having sex” or “on her period”); and a very long list of cruder, coarser terms (burradhe, like “screwing” or “on the rag”). Mating season also has a number of creative euphemisms, which are hard to keep track of.

 

Burradhe rrustovish pe lefine.

“Mating season started early.”

Meaning: Disaster struck; the shit hit the fan.

Strength: moderate

Explanation: Mating season is nothing less than a controlled disaster for arhod society. Its predictable nature is one of the few blessings it confers; if it ever came early, it would be a catastrophe.

 

Variations can include “mujif eten burradhe”—“hurrying before mating season”—which is like a slightly coarser version of the expression “racing against time.” Using a more neutral term for “mating season,” iyolyi, would change the strength in the same way it would saying “the stuff hit the fan” instead.

 

ghiteif bra weski

“rescuer of paper”

Meaning: greedy person; small-minded person; someone who would save money instead of a person’s life if a building were on fire.

Strength: strong

Explanation: Refers to an event during a disaster in a Rredir city, when a fire got out of hand and destroyed entire sections of the city and many of those who had the resources to deal with the emergency opted to do things cheaply in order to keep as much money as they could, resulting in multiple deaths.

 

engai

from Maksoun’s ancient Kesta language; literally means “single-name”

Meaning: redshirt; useless person; person whose only purpose in existence appears to be to die in a way that elicits no emotional response from anyone else; used like “bastard”

Strength: mild

Explanation: This is one of the most popular curses in The Galaxy. It made its way into Galactic Common, and from there has spread through languages of many different planets and species. It is based on an old word from the most prominent religion on the planet Maksoun, a religion that holds that God is an author and that the universe is just a setting for God’s story,*** and many people are judged on their perceived roles in the story. An expendable character is one we have no interest or emotional involvement in and is thus easily dismissed.

 

 

*This is not, in fact, based on that one Star Trek episode where Spock goes all crazy with pon farr and smacks Kirk around. Rather, it is inspired by that one Futurama episode where Dr. Zoidberg goes all crazy with male jelly and traumatizes a water aerobics class full of pregnant women. That that one episode of Futurama was inspired by that one episode of Star Trek is mere coincidence.  (Also, HA you had to click the link to read this.  Sorry.

 

**For a very good portrayal of aliens that are based on a certain type of cat, you could do worse than C.J. Cherryh’s Chanur Saga, whose hani are a quite convincing species of sentient lions. Cherryh comes up with an impressive, believable, and clearly well-researched society based on the social structure of lions on Earth. While her individual characters need work in the Department of Interpersonal Relationships, the society is brilliantly extrapolated. The only argument I have is that they are portrayed as having vertical slitted pupils, when in fact lions and other big cats have round pupils. Of course, you could argue that these are aliens, but they are so based on lions I'm guessing they hunt in the day, which would mean round pupils.

 

***Those of you keeping score may like to know that this is Shuliu’s planet, and she’s a lapsed member of this religion herself. This is also what quite a lot of my characters say when I translate their dialogue as “bastard” or “bugger.”  This phrase's popularity and origin also suggest, as do so many things in this universe, that the GU citizens suspect the fourth wall. Or, as gondolinchick01put it, "Most meta religion EVER."

Comments

[gwalla.livejournal.com]

I had a cat who didn't actually mind getting damp. She liked to jump into the bathtub as it finished emptying and snuggle down near the drain, because it was warm from all the hot water. Of course, sometimes she'd think a bathtub was empty or nearly empty when it was actually quite full and jump in, which she enjoyed considerably less.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

*grin* My horrible undead cat actually enjoyed getting baths (she couldn't clean herself when she got older). She'd protest and howl vociferously--while leaning into the sink's hot water.

This was a product of age. When she was younger she would do the Vertical Ascension from any body of water. It was like she was getting raptured.

[kadharonon.livejournal.com]

I read the Chanur Saga last semester, because my best friend loves Cherryh. And now I love Cherryh, or at least the portions of it that involve Pyanfar Chanur.

Of course, this semester, we are in a Science Fiction class together, and have been babbling back and forth about the scientific implausibility of the zombies in a short story we read for class. She related the myth that whenever someone thinks too hard about the science in a sci-fi novel, God kills a catgirl, and said that I clearly cared far less about catgirl wellness than she does.
My response was that as long as the catgirl wasn't Pyanfar, I was okay with this.
Then came the argument about whether or not the hani count as catgirls...

Um. Yes. Babble!

Conlang swears for the win. Especially engai. Because that needs to exist as a swear.

*several days later*

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Cherryh's good. The trouble is that I brought only the first omnibus to Africa. WHO IN THE SEVEN HELLS MAKES AN OMNIBUS LIKE THAT?! It contained:

-The Pride of Chanur
-Chanur's Venture
-The Kif Strike Back

It did NOT contain Chanur's Homecoming WHAT THE HELL.

So I have yet to find out what happens to our heroes. But the background stuff is cool.

My only real trouble with the characters is that they aren't very patient with each other's problems. It's like, "You feel bad? Well, KNOCK IT OFF." (Although with Hilfy I started to feel the same way. Wanted to hit her after a while.)

Re: *several days later*

[kadharonon.livejournal.com]

I have the same Omnibus. I bought mine in Germany, though. It makes very, very little sense, but thankfully I didn't get around to reading it until I got back to school and had access to the SSFFS library, where we have all kinds of wonderful stuff. Like more Cherryh. (Also, access to Constance, who got me hooked on Cherryh by gushing about it all the time.)

And then I walked downtown here and managed to find Chanur's Homecoming and whatever the fifth one is called in a used bookstore.

They're in a kif-eat-hani world! Who wouldn't be a little bit impatient with personal problems if you had to spend time dealing with creatures that, quite frankly, make you feel constantly creeped out? Not to mention those crazy mahen, but at least THEY have fur.

I forget whether you've met the Dinner yet or not. I love watching the Dinner go flying through the ship as they go into or come out of jump.

Re: *several days later*

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

They're loose on the ship, but we haven't jumped yet ... right now they're the "gods-be little black things in the corridors ..." I keep thinking of the voles on Deep Space Nine. ;)

I keep thinking of the kif as one of Jim Henson's crazed acid critters, like the Skeksis from the Dark Crystal. Makes 'em even creepier. But I do have one complaint--they describe the ships as all grey because the kif are colorblind. But if you're colorblind, wouldn't you have a variety of things that ARE colored naturally because you never bother to make them grey? For all we know the kif ship looks like Munchkinland.

Granted, that would make things less creepy, and probably nothing in their world is naturally that technicolor, and they DO have weird creepy pinkish lighting but still--it's something that always bugged me about aliens who are color blind. It's like they're grey BECAUSE they're color blind. (It bugged me so much that I've included a mutation in the blind, cave-dwelling fuzzworms so that a few of them are, instead of midnight blue or dark green, a bright Barbie pink. Since none of their natural predators can see that spectrum, it never died out. So THERE.)

Re: *several days later*

[kadharonon.livejournal.com]

Heee! Excellent mutation. I want a bright pink fuzzworm!

I think it's actually justified later, the kif not having bright colors; something along the lines of the mahen selling them brightly colored things and then the kif getting just retribution. So they must be able to tell somehow. Perhaps once they figured out that other species value color, they came up with some technology that lets them sort of "see" it?

And OH! I ALWAYS saw the kif as looking vaguely like Skeksis, but Constance has never seen it and we haven't found a time to sit down and watch it yet so that she can come to this conclusion as well.

[kittikattie.livejournal.com]

I think I mentioned in your last conlang post that my language, Akuu'mai'ian, has curse words and that most of them are conveyed through tone. Only one is a true curse.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I think you did say that. Something about a mud lizard, wasn't it?

[kittikattie.livejournal.com]

*nods* Yes, sameri'i. named such because they're poisionous and being bitten by one before modern medicine was sure death.

I have more nature words in my language than curses--which is kind of weird as the character that speaks the language curses left and right.

[pixel39.livejournal.com]

I just redefine existing words as curse words. ;-)

Seriously, though, "bother" is a much stronger word than "fuck". To me, anyway.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

:D That works, too. I like using random words as curses.

I say "bother," but it's not very strong.

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

Wow-- muchly cool. I can tell you've put a lot of thought into this.

I picked up a dictionary of Polish swearwords at my bookstore the other day and was truly jaw-dropped to find out just how many cuss words they had--and how many of them translated literally to mean intercourse or male genitalia.

[nuvujaq.livejournal.com]

"Shen rroboloz kena ashuyi bel/mel."
^Great! :D Really hilarious way of saying to someone that they're stupid!

"Burradhe rrustovish pe lefine."
^Haha, super! :D Actually "the shit hit the fan" has always been one of my favourites in English.