Swearing language. Russian swearing from ancient times to modern times

The history of the appearance of the first curses in Rus' is an old and dark matter. As often happens in such situations, there is no consensus, but there are several most popular versions. For example, they say that the Russians were taught to swear by the Tatars and Mongols, and before the yoke, supposedly, they did not know a single curse word in Rus'. However, there are several facts that refute this.

Firstly, the nomads did not have the custom of swearing. This is confirmed by the records of the Italian traveler Plano Carpini, who visited Central Asia. He noted that they swear words are not in the dictionary at all.

Secondly, the fact that the Russians actively used mats is evidenced by birch bark letters from the 12th-13th centuries found in Novgorod. Thus, on sample No. 330 (13th century) there is a rhymed teaser written, which is translated as “a tail **** another tail, lifting up your clothes.” On another document from Novgorod No. 955 (12th century) there is a letter from a matchmaker to Marena, a noble lady. Matchmaker Milusha writes that it’s time for Big Braid (apparently Marena’s daughter) to marry a certain Snovid and adds: “Let the vagina and clitoris drink.” A similar text is found in folk ditties, and in the mouth of the matchmaker this is a wish for the wedding to take place.

Thirdly, linguists, having analyzed similar vocabulary in modern Slavic languages, came to the idea of ​​the universal Slavic character of swearing. For example, the dictionary of Serbian swear phraseology prepared by Nedeljko Bogdanovich shows that not only the vocabulary, but also the models of obscene expressions in Serbian and Russian are very close. The same can be said about the models of swear words in the Slovak and Polish languages.

So, swearing is an integral part of Slavic culture. Why did these words appear in the language? The variety of swear words is based on the so-called obscene triad - three swear words that mean female and male genitals, as well as sexual intercourse. And this is not without reason. The function of childbirth was given high value, therefore, the words for the organs and the process of conception itself were sacred. According to one hypothesis, mate goes back to Slavic conspiracies: it was pronounced in Hard time, asking for help magical power, which is contained in the genitals. According to another version, swearing expressed curses and was used by sorcerers.

With the transition to Christianity, the shrines of paganism were destroyed, sign systems changed, and phallus-meaning vocabulary turned out to be taboo. But, as they say, you can’t erase a word from a song - the people continued to swear, and the church responded to this by fighting the swearers. It is important to note here that those words that we consider swear words today were not perceived as swear words in those days. How else can we explain that Orthodox priests actively used in their messages and teachings the word meaning light girl behavior?! It is found, for example, in the Message of Archpriest Avvakum to Princess Irina Mikhailovna Romanova (c. 1666) and in his “fifth” petition to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1669).

Only relatively recently - starting from the 18th century - did the current checkmate become a checkmate. Previously, these words meant or physiological characteristics(or parts) human body, or were even ordinary words. For example, the word that is now used to describe slutty girls is of high Slavic origin. Until the 15th century, it meant “liar, deceiver.” The Russian language has preserved the word fornication, the first meaning of which was “to be mistaken, to stand at a crossroads and not know the true path.” The second meaning is already physical, literally “to dissipate.” IN direct meaning the word was used until the time of Bironovism, when it was declared obscene. Dictionary of the Russian Language of the 18th Century" gives it with all its derivatives, stipulating that after the 1730s it became unprintable.

The curse word denoting the male genital organ corresponds to the word “dick,” which in ancient Russian meant “cross.” Accordingly, “to fuck” means to cross one another.

In the second half of the 18th century, there was a strict division between literary and colloquial vocabulary; swear words were banned. The use of obscene language in printed publications has become impossible. The rule remained until the end of the 20th century, and obscenity remained the lot of the “unofficial” part of the creative heritage of poets and writers: epigrams and satirical poems by Pushkin, Lermontov and other authors, containing shameful words, were not published by them and were generally not subject to publication in Russia (political emigrants from Russia began to publish them in Europe only in the second half of the 19th century).

IN modern Russia The attitude towards obscene vocabulary is twofold. On the one hand, there is an official ban on its use in the media and the press, and swearing in a public place can result in a fine. On the other hand, writers, musicians, and actors actively use swearing as a means of expression.

Russian obscenities is a system of words that have a negative connotation (curses, name-calling) that are not accepted by the norms of public morality. In other words, swearing is profanity. Where did Russian swearing come from?

Origin of the word "checkmate"

There is a version that the word “checkmate” itself has the meaning of “voice”. But larger number researchers are confident that “mat” comes from “mother” and is an abbreviated expression for “swearing”, “sending to mother”.

Origin of Russian swearing

Where did swearing come from in the Russian language?

• Firstly, some of the swear words were borrowed from other languages ​​(for example, Latin). There were versions that swearing also came into the Russian language from Tatar (during the Mongol-Tatar invasion). But these assumptions were refuted.
• Secondly, most swear words and curses came from the Proto-Indo-European language, as well as Old Slavic. Thus, swearing in the Russian language is still “one’s own”, from the ancestors.

There are also certain versions of the origin of where swear words came from in the Russian language. Here are some of them:

• Connected to the earth.
• Related to parents.
• Associated with the subsidence of the earth, earthquakes.

There is an opinion that the pagan Slavs used many swear words in their rites and rituals to protect themselves from evil forces. This point of view is quite viable. The pagans also used swearing in wedding and agricultural rites. But their swearing did not have any great meaning, especially abusive language.

Lexical composition of Russian swearing

Researchers have noticed that the number of swear words is high. But, if you are more careful, you will notice: the root of the words is often common, only the ending changes or prefixes and suffixes are added. Most words in Russian obscenities are in one way or another connected with the sexual sphere, genitals. It is important that these words have no neutral analogues in the literature. More often they are simply replaced with words with the same meaning, but in Latin. The uniqueness of Russian swearing is its richness and diversity. This can be said about the Russian language in general.

Russian swearing in a historical aspect

Since Christianity was adopted in Rus', decrees have appeared regulating the use of swear words. This, of course, was an initiative on the part of the church. In general, in Christianity, swearing is a sin. But the curse managed to penetrate so deeply into all segments of the population that Taken measures were completely ineffective.

Twelfth-century charters contain swear words in the form of rhymes. Swearing was used in various notes, ditties, and letters. Of course, many words that have now become obscene previously had a softer meaning. According to fifteenth-century sources, there was then a large number of swear words that were even used to call rivers and villages.

After a couple of centuries, swearing became very widespread. Mat finally became “obscene” in the eighteenth century. This is due to the fact that during this period there was a division literary language from colloquial. In the Soviet Union, the fight against swearing was carried out very stubbornly. This was expressed in penalties for foul language in in public places. However, this was rarely carried out in practice.

Today in Russia they are also fighting against swearing, especially on television and in the media.

Sidorov G.A. about the origin of Russian swearing.

Origin of Russian swearing. Magazine Life is Interesting.

And what Russian doesn’t express himself with strong words? And it is true! Moreover, many swear words have been translated into foreign languages, but the interesting thing is that there are no full-fledged analogues of Russian swear words in foreign languages no and are unlikely to ever appear. It is no coincidence that not a single great Russian writer or poet avoided this phenomenon!

How and why did swearing appear in the Russian language?

Why do other languages ​​do without it? Perhaps someone will say that with the development of civilization, with the improvement of the well-being of citizens in the vast majority of countries on our planet, the need for swearing naturally disappeared? Russia is unique in that these improvements never occurred in it, and swearing in it remained in its virgin, primitive form...

Where did he come to us from?

Previously, there was a version that the mat appeared in dark times Tatar-Mongol yoke, and before the Tatars came to Rus', Russians did not swear at all, and when swearing, they called each other only dogs, goats and sheep.

However, this opinion is erroneous and is denied by most research scientists. Of course, the invasion of nomads influenced the life, culture and speech of the Russian people. Perhaps such a Turkic word as “baba-yagat” (knight, knight) replaced social status and the floor, turning into our Baba Yaga. The word "karpuz" (watermelon) has turned into a well-fed little boy. But the term “fool” (stop, halt) began to be used to describe a stupid person.

Swearing has nothing to do with the Turkic language, because it was not customary for the nomads to swear, and swear words were completely absent from the dictionary. From Russian chronicle sources (the oldest known examples in birch bark letters of the 12th century from Novgorod and Staraya Russa. See “Obscene vocabulary in birch bark letters.” The specifics of the use of some expressions are commented on in the “Russian-English Dictionary Diary” by Richard James (1618–1619) .) it is known that swear words appeared in Rus' long before the Tatar-Mongol invasion. Linguists see the roots of these words in most Indo-European languages, but they became so widespread only on Russian soil.

So why, out of many Indo-European peoples, did swear words stick only to the Russian language?

Researchers also explain this fact by religious prohibitions that other peoples had earlier due to the earlier adoption of Christianity. In Christianity, as in Islam, foul language is considered a great sin. Rus' adopted Christianity later, and by that time, along with pagan customs, swearing was firmly rooted among the Russian people. After the adoption of Christianity in Rus', war was declared on foul language.

The etymology of the word "mat" may seem quite transparent: it supposedly goes back to the Indo-European word "mater" in the meaning of "mother", which was preserved in different Indo-European languages. However, special studies propose other reconstructions.

So, for example, L.I. Skvortsov writes: “The literal meaning of the word “mate” is “a loud voice, a cry.” It is based on onomatopoeia, that is, involuntary shouts of “ma!”, “me!” - mooing, meowing, roaring of animals during estrus, mating calls, etc.” This etymology might seem naive if it did not go back to the concept of an authoritative Etymological dictionary Slavic languages: “...Russian swearing, - a derivative of the verb “matati” - “to shout”, “loud voice”, “cry”, is related to the word “matoga” - “to swear”, i.e. to grimace, to break down, (about animals) to shake one’s head, to “whack” – to disturb, disturb. But “matoga” in many Slavic languages ​​means “ghost, ghost, monster, bogeyman, witch”...

What does it mean?

There are three main swear words and they mean sexual intercourse, male and female genitalia, all the rest are derivatives of these three words. But in other languages, these organs and actions also have their own names, which for some reason did not become dirty words? To understand the reason for the appearance of swear words on Russian soil, researchers looked into the depths of centuries and offered their own version of the answer.

They believe that in the vast territory between the Himalayas and Mesopotamia, in the vast expanses, there lived a few tribes of the ancestors of the Indo-Europeans, who had to multiply in order to expand their habitat, therefore great value given to childbearing function. And words associated with reproductive organs and functions were considered magical. They were forbidden to say “in vain,” so as not to jinx them or cause damage. The taboos were broken by sorcerers, followed by untouchables and slaves for whom the law was not written.

Gradually I developed the habit of using obscenities out of fullness of feelings or just to connect words. Basic words began to acquire many derivatives. Not so long ago, just a thousand years ago, the word denoting a woman of easy virtue, “f*ck,” became one of the swear words. It comes from the word “vomit,” that is, “vomit abomination.”

But the most important thing swear words is rightfully considered the same three-letter word that is found on the walls and fences of the entire civilized world. Let's look at it as an example. When did this three-letter word appear? One thing I will say for sure is that it was clearly not in Tatar-Mongol times. In the Turkic dialect of the Tatar-Mongolian languages, this “object” is denoted by the word “kutah”. By the way, many now have a surname derived from this word and do not consider it at all dissonant: “Kutakhov.”

What was the name of the reproductive organ in the old days? old times?

Many Slavic tribes it was designated by the word “ud”, from which, by the way, comes the quite decent and censored “fishing rod”. But still, in most tribes, the genital organ was called nothing more than “dick.” However, this three-letter word was replaced around the 16th century by a three-letter, more literary analogue - “dick”. Most literate people know that this is exactly what (her) was the name of the 23rd letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, which turned into the letter “ha” after the revolution. To those who know this, it seems obvious that the word "dick" is a euphemistic replacement, resulting from the fact that the word being replaced begins with that letter. However, in reality it is not so simple.

The fact is that those who think so do not ask the question, why, in fact, is the letter “X” called dick? After all, all the letters of the Cyrillic alphabet are named Slavic words, the meaning of most of which is clear to the modern Russian-speaking public without translation. What did this word mean before it became a letter?

In the Indo-European base language, which was spoken by the distant ancestors of the Slavs, Balts, Germans and other European peoples, the word “her” meant a goat. This word is related to the Latin "hircus". In modern Russian, the word “harya” remains a related word. Until recently, this word was used to describe goat masks used by mummers during carols.

The similarity of this letter to a goat was obvious to the Slavs in the 9th century. The top two sticks are his horns, and the bottom two are his legs. Then, among many nations, the goat symbolized fertility, and the god of fertility was depicted as a two-legged goat. This idol had an organ between its two legs, symbolizing fertility, which was called “ud” or “h*y”. In the Indo-European language this part of the body was called “pesus”, it corresponds to the Sanskrit “पसस्”, which in ancient Greek is translated as “peos”, Latin “penis”, Old English “faesl”. This word comes from the verb “peseti”, meaning the primary function of this organ is to emit urine.

Thus, we can conclude that swearing arose in ancient times and was associated with pagan rituals. Mat is, first of all, a way to demonstrate readiness to break taboos and cross certain boundaries. Therefore, the topic of swearing in different languages similar – the “bottom of the body” and everything related to the fulfillment of physiological needs. In addition to “corporal curses,” some peoples (mostly French-speaking) have blasphemous curses. The Russians don't have this.

And one more important point– you cannot mix argotisms with swearing, which are absolutely not swearing, but most likely just foul language. As, for example, there are dozens of thieves’ argotisms alone with the meaning “prostitute” in the Russian language: alura, barukha, marukha, profursetka, slut, etc.

Swearing, swearing, obscene expressions are an ambiguous phenomenon. On the one hand, there are poorly educated and uncultured people who cannot even put together two words without swearing, on the other hand, fairly intelligent and well-mannered people sometimes also swear. Sometimes these words themselves fly out of our mouths. After all, there are situations when it is impossible to express your attitude to what is happening in any other way...

So, let's figure out what this phenomenon is and where it came from.

Mat is a type of profanity in Russian and other languages. For the most part, swearing is condemned by society and is perceived negatively. And sometimes it can even be regarded as hooliganism. In addition, there are cases when swear words were used in the works of classical authors such as Pushkin (yes, yes! It’s hard to believe, but it’s true), Mayakovsky, etc.

If someone covers someone or something with an endless stream of swear words, and doing it in their own intricate way, then this is called a “three-story obscenity.”

Origin

There is an opinion that swearing was brought to our land by the Tatar-Mongol hordes. And that until this very moment in Rus' they did not know swear words at all. Naturally, this is not so. Because the position in the spirit of “everything nasty was brought to us from outside” is very convenient, and is so characteristic of many of us.
Nomads have nothing to do with this, because... they had no custom of swearing. This fact noted back in the 13th century by the Italian traveler Plano Carpini, who then visited Central Asia. He wrote that the Tatar-Mongols had no swear words at all, and on the contrary, Russian chronicle sources tell us that swear words were widespread in Rus' long before the Horde yoke.
Modern obscene language has its roots in distant linguistic antiquity.

The most important swear word is the word x**, the same one that can be found on walls and fences all over the world :)

If you take this iconic three-letter word, then the word “dick” also corresponds to it. In Old Russian, “pokherit” means to cross out cross by cross. And the word “her” means “cross”. We are accustomed to thinking that this word is used to designate the male genital organ, along with that same three-letter swear word. The fact is that in Christian philosophical symbolism, the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified is viewed not as an instrument of shameful execution, but as the victory of life over death. Thus, the word "her" was used in Rus' to mean the word "cross". The letter “x” in Russian is denoted in the form of intersecting lines, and this is not just so, because Christ, Christianity, temple, kher (cross). There is also an opinion according to which the phrase “Fuck you all!” was invented by defenders of Slavic paganism. They shouted it, swearing at the Christians who had come to instill their faith. Originally this expression meant a curse, to paraphrase we can say that they meant “Go to the cross!”, i.e. let you be crucified like your God.” But in connection with the victory of Orthodoxy in Rus', the term “cross” ceased to have a negative meaning.

In Christianity, for example, foul language is considered a great sin, and the same is true in Islam. Rus' adopted Christianity later than its Western neighbors. By this time, swearing, along with pagan customs, was firmly rooted in Russian society. With the advent of Christianity in Rus', the fight against swear words began. Orthodoxy declared war on swearing. There were cases when in Ancient Rus', foul-mouthed people were punished with whips. Swearing was a sign of a slave, a stinker. It was believed that a noble person, and an Orthodox one at that, would never use foul language. A hundred years ago, a person who used bad language in public could be taken to the police station. And the Soviet government waged a war against abusive people. According to Soviet law, foul language in a public place should have been punishable by a fine. In fact, this punishment was used very rarely. Along with vodka, swearing at this time was already considered a certain attribute of brave valor. The police, military, and senior officials were arguing. The top management has a “strong word” and is still in use. If a leader uses swear words in a conversation with someone, this means special trust.

Only in an intelligent environment was swearing a sign of bad taste. But what about Pushkin, you say, and Ranevskaya? According to contemporaries, Pushkin did not use rude expressions in his life. However, in some of his “secret” works you can find swear words. It was just shocking - a slap in the face to the refined society that rejected him. Oh, you are so polished - so here is my “peasant” answer. For Ranevskaya, swearing was an integral part of her bohemian image - image, as they say now. For that time it was original - internally a very subtle nature, outwardly he behaves like a man - he smokes stinking cigarettes, swears. Now, when obscenities are heard at every step, such a trick will no longer work.

In general, linguists believe that the roots of swear words are in many Indo-European languages, but they managed to truly develop only on our land.

So, three main swear words denoting male and female genital organs and the sexual act itself as such. Why did these words, which basically mean things inherent in all living beings, eventually become curse words? Apparently our ancestors attached great importance great importance reproductive function. Words that denoted reproductive organs were given magical meaning. It was forbidden to pronounce them in vain, so as not to damage people.

The first violators of this prohibition were sorcerers who were engaged in casting spells on people and doing other charming things. Afterwards, this taboo began to be violated by those who wanted to show that the law was not written to them. Gradually they began to use obscenities just like that, out of fullness of feeling, for example. At the same time, all this developed, and the main words acquired a mass of words derived from them.

There are three main linguistic versions of the introduction of swear words into the Russian language, based on research conducted in different time various historians and linguists:

1. Russian swearing is a legacy of the Tatar-Mongol yoke (one of the theories, which, as we have already found out, is untenable in itself);
2. Russian swear words once had two meanings, subsequently displacing one of the meanings or merging together and turning the meaning of the word into a negative one;
3. Mat was and is an integral part of occult and pagan rituals that exist in different languages ​​among different nationalities.

There is no single point of view where the word mat itself came from. In some reference books you can find a version that “swearing” is a conversation. But why is the word “mate” so similar to the word mother?
There is a version related to the fact that the word “mate” came into the Russian language after the appearance of the expression “send to mother.” In fact, this is one of the first expressions to become obscene. After the appearance of this particular phrase, many words that had previously existed in the language began to be classified as abusive and indecent.

Practically, until the 18th century, those words that we now classify as obscene and abusive were not such at all. Words that have become indecent previously denoted either some physiological features (or parts) of the human body, or were generally ordinary words.
Relatively recently (just about a thousand years ago), a word meaning a woman of easy virtue was included in the list of swear words; it comes from a quite common word in ancient Rus' the words “vomit”, which means “to spew out abomination.”

The verb “whore” in the Old Russian language meant “to talk idle talk, to deceive.” In the Old Russian language there was also a verb fornication - “to wander.” There are two meanings of this word: 1) deviation from the straight path and 2) illegal, celibate cohabitation. There is a version that there was a merger of two verbs (blyaditi and fornication).

In the Old Russian language there was a word "mudo", meaning " male testicle". This word was little used and did not have an obscene connotation. And then, apparently, it came down to our times, turning from rarely used to commonly used.

Addition to the article from Artyom Alenin:

The topic of swearing in Russia is a very fertile and popular topic. At the same time, there are a lot of untrue facts and rumors regarding swearing wandering on the Internet. For example: “Once upon a time, scientists conducted an experiment. They swore at the water and then poured it on the wheat seeds. As a result, of those grains that were watered with water with a curse, only 48% sprouted, and the seeds watered with holy water sprouted by 93%.” Naturally, this is all a lie and fiction. You cannot “charge” water with just one word. As they say, no one has yet canceled the laws of chemistry and physics. By the way, this myth was once perfectly dispelled in the show MythBusters.

They very often try to ban swearing. Various laws are constantly coming out that limit the use of swear words in the media. But you don’t need to do this! The reason lies in the following aspects.
Firstly, swearing is not necessarily an offensive word. Work at a construction site for a week and you will understand that swearing is a great way to communicate. Especially swearing helps to communicate with citizens of the union republics who, apart from swearing, do not understand anything else :)

In addition, without using swear words, you can insult a person and even drive him to murder or suicide. So what needs to be banned is not swearing, but insults and humiliation in the media.

Secondly, mat is a word that reflects a very deep feeling. We associate swearing with sharp negative feelings like rage or anger. Therefore, it is impossible to prohibit swearing - for this you need to change your consciousness. Theoretically, if a child is fenced off from swearing from childhood, then he will not swear. However, he will still come up with words to express his anger.
The sensory background of swearing is also evidenced by the fact that a person with amnesia, even if he does not remember the language, can still swear.

Our legislators are smart people, and therefore there is no article punishing swearing. But there are logical articles about slander and insult. Moreover, these articles were recently canceled because the responsibility for them was too low (public apology). But then these articles were returned again. Apparently the state realized that the absence of at least some kind of punishment would let people off the “chain.” This is especially true for swearing in the media.

Interestingly, in Europe and the USA it is not swearing itself that is prohibited, but insults (which is logical). At the same time, one should not think that English language no swear words. According to statistics, there are more swear words in English than in Russian. There is also a lot of swearing in Dutch and French(with their famous "kurwa", which is now in Polish and other languages).

Thank you for your attention!

P.S. The fact that we talk so loyally about swearing does not mean that you need to swear on our website :) So write comments in the usual civilized style.

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And what Russian doesn’t express himself with strong words? Moreover, many swear words have been translated into foreign languages, but the interesting thing is that there are no full-fledged analogues of Russian swear words in foreign languages ​​and are unlikely to ever appear. Linguists have long calculated that there are no other languages ​​on the planet with as many curse words as in Russian!

In oral form

How and why did swearing appear in the Russian language? Why do other languages ​​do without it? Perhaps someone will say that with the development of civilization, with the improvement of the well-being of citizens in the vast majority of countries on our planet, the need for swearing naturally disappeared? Russia is unique in that these improvements never occurred in it, and swearing in it remained in its virgin, primitive form... It is no coincidence that not a single great Russian writer or poet avoided this phenomenon!

Where did he come to us from?

Previously, a version was spread that swearing appeared in the dark times of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, and before the arrival of the Tatars in Rus', Russians did not swear at all, and when swearing, they called each other only dogs, goats and sheep. However, this opinion is erroneous and is denied by most research scientists. Of course, the invasion of nomads influenced the life, culture and speech of the Russian people. Perhaps such a Turkic word as “baba-yagat” (knight, knight) changed social status and gender, turning into our Baba Yaga. The word "karpuz" (watermelon) turned into a well-fed little boy. But the term “fool” (stop, halt) began to be used to describe a stupid person.

Swearing has nothing to do with the Turkic language, because it was not customary for the nomads to swear, and swear words were completely absent from the dictionary. From Russian chronicle sources (the oldest known examples in birch bark letters of the 12th century from Novgorod and Staraya Russa. See “Obscene vocabulary in birch bark letters.” The specifics of the use of some expressions are commented on in the “Russian-English Dictionary Diary” by Richard James (1618−1619) .) it is known that swear words appeared in Rus' long before the Tatar-Mongol invasion. Linguists see the roots of these words in most Indo-European languages, but they became so widespread only on Russian soil.

Here to stay

So why, out of many Indo-European peoples, did swear words stick only to the Russian language? Researchers also explain this fact by religious prohibitions that other peoples had earlier due to the earlier adoption of Christianity. In Christianity, as in Islam, foul language is considered a great sin. Rus' adopted Christianity later, and by that time, along with pagan customs, swearing was firmly rooted among the Russian people. After the adoption of Christianity in Rus', war was declared on foul language.

The etymology of the word "mat" may seem quite transparent: it supposedly goes back to the Indo-European word "mater" in the meaning of "mother", which was preserved in various Indo-European languages. However, special studies propose other reconstructions.

So, for example, L.I. Skvortsov writes: “The literal meaning of the word “mate” is “a loud voice, a cry.” It is based on onomatopoeia, that is, involuntary cries of “ma!”, “me!” - mooing, meowing, roaring of animals during estrus, mating calls, etc.” Such an etymology might seem naive if it did not go back to the concept of the authoritative Etymological Dictionary of Slavic Languages: “...Russian mat, - a derivative of the verb “matati” - “shout”, “loud voice”, “cry”, is related to the word “matoga” - “curse”, i.e. grimace, break, (about animals) shake your head, “curse” - disturb, disturb. But “matoga” in many Slavic languages ​​means “ghost, ghost, monster, bogeyman, witch”...

What does it mean?

There are three main swear words and they mean sexual intercourse, male and female genitalia, all the rest are derivatives of these three words. But in other languages, these organs and actions also have their own names, which for some reason did not become dirty words? To understand the reason for the appearance of swear words on Russian soil, researchers looked into the depths of centuries and offered their own version of the answer.

They believe that in the vast territory between the Himalayas and Mesopotamia, in the vast expanses, there lived a few tribes of the ancestors of the Indo-Europeans, who had to reproduce in order to expand their habitat, so great importance was attached to the reproductive function. And words associated with reproductive organs and functions were considered magical. They were forbidden to say “in vain,” so as not to jinx them or cause damage. The taboos were broken by sorcerers, followed by untouchables and slaves for whom the law was not written.

Gradually I developed the habit of using obscenities out of fullness of feelings or just to connect words. Basic words began to acquire many derivatives. Not so long ago, just a thousand years ago, the word denoting a woman of easy virtue, “f*ck,” became one of the swear words. It comes from the word “vomit,” that is, “vomit abomination.”

But the most important swear word is rightfully considered to be the same three-letter word that is found on the walls and fences of the entire civilized world. Let's look at it as an example. When did this three-letter word appear? One thing I will say for sure is that it was clearly not in Tatar-Mongol times. In the Turkic dialect of the Tatar-Mongolian languages, this “object” is denoted by the word “kutah”. By the way, many now have a surname derived from this word and do not consider it at all dissonant: “Kutakhov.”

In the Indo-European base language, which was spoken by the distant ancestors of the Slavs, Balts, Germans and other European peoples, the word “her” meant a goat. This word is related to the Latin "hircus". In modern Russian, the word “harya” remains a related word. Until recently, this word was used to describe goat masks used by mummers during carols.

Thus, we can conclude that swearing arose in ancient times and was associated with pagan rituals. Mat is, first of all, a way to demonstrate readiness to break taboos and cross certain boundaries. Therefore, the theme of curses in different languages ​​is similar - “bottom line” and everything related to the fulfillment of physiological needs. And among Russians this need has always been great. It is possible that even, like no other people in the world...

Don't be confused!

In addition to “corporal curses,” some peoples (mostly French-speaking) have blasphemous curses. The Russians don't have this.

And one more important point - you cannot mix argotisms with swearing, which are absolutely not swearing, but most likely just foul language. As, for example, there are dozens of thieves’ argotisms alone with the meaning “prostitute” in the Russian language: alura, barukha, marukha, profursetka, slut and the like.