Monday, October 1, 2007

Russian is a very practical language

especially if you're a cuss-mouth. A reforming cuss-mouth, that is.

You can actually be saying some very nice words in Russian and if you use the right tone and inflection, it feels just like a swear. All of the gratification, and none of the guilt.

I think that is what they call 'fat-free' in the diet world.

For example -

Spasiba (Spuh-SEE-buh ) actually means 'thank you'
Puzhalsta (Pu-ZHALL-sta) actually means 'please'
Kak Dyelah (COCK-day-ya-lah) means How're things going
Dasvedanya (DAS-vuh-DON-ya) is goodbye
Putin (POOH-tin) that's the Russian president's last name, on second thought that could actually be considered a swear

Of course, I've inflected all the wrong syllables above, but it fulfills the purpose of a guilt-free expression of anger/frustration.

You could say it with all the feeling of "Fiddle-dee-dee" or "Oh peanutbutter," but better to have a harmless word at the ready and teach your kids a foreign language at the same time.

I believe in the diet world that's what they call having your cake and eating it too.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

ROFL! I had no idea what I was missing out on in the way of pretend cussage.

Montserrat said...

HA! I'll have to try a couple of these out. Kak Dyelah feels good in my mouth.

Am'n2Deep said...

I find myself actually cussing in different languages, (as if this makes it any better). Thanks for the suggestion. I think I'll try it instead!

Lisa M. said...

*Laughing*

I have enjoyed this post!

Mrs. O said...

summer - just never go to Russia, you'll be slaughtering the language

Mrs. O said...

Montse - that's my personal favorite, at least the 'Kak' part

Mrs. O said...

Deep - (although I prefer am'n)
Oh yes, the french have choice expletives, but it's still swearing - somehow, saying "how're things going" takes the edge off.

Mrs. O said...

Lisa M - thx

Elizabeth-W said...

That is so funny. But when you say thank you in the other language, are you thinking thank you or something else?? I think intent ought to count in the grand scheme, you know? Spirit vs Letter of the Law and all that rot.
I used to have a friend in 5th grade and her mom would say "Salt and Pepper Shakers". It cracked me up so much because the venom associated with it was so clearly swearing :)