Re: OT: Slang, curses and vulgarities

>>>> Gary Shannon<fiziwig@...> 01/28/05 12:47 PM >>>
>Have any of you taken any of your conlangs down the
>path toward slang, curses, cuss words and vulgarities?
>I was just wondering because it seems like every
>natlang has it's dark underbelly.  (Often hidden from
>view, however. After two years of high school German
>and a year of college German I was left with the
>impression that the German people were hyper-polite
>and had no way to cuss each other out or hurl vile
>insults at each other.  Such things are never
>mentioned in "polite society" and certainly not taught
>in a high school language class.)
>
>But what about in conlangs? Can a you curse like a
>drunken sailor in your conlang?  Seems to me that's an
>important part of any language.
Only two that I know of currently in emíndahken:
sje’adee
malePfx.male-animal
[no real gloss in english: would be the male equivalent of ‘bitch’]

saa’adee
femPfx.female-animal
‘bitch’

Like in english, these are perfectly good words when speaking about
animals, but when directed at a human they become very insulting.

James W.