Mat (Russian Profanity) - Key Words and Expressions

Key Words and Expressions

The first volume of the Great Dictionary of Mat by the Russian linguist and folklorisy Alexei Plutser-Sarno treats only expressions with the stem хуй (khuy), numbering over 500 entries; 12 volumes are planned.

The key elements of mat are:

• хуй (khuy) (Russian хуй) — penis, or for equivalent colloquial effect, dick. The etymology of the term is unclear. Mainstream theories include: from Proto-Indo European (PIE) *ks-u-, related to хвоя (khvoya, "pine needles"), attributed to Pederson, 1908.; from PIE *hau-, related to хвост (khvost, "tail"), attributed to Merlingen, 1955; from Mongolian hui, meaning "sheath" or "scabbard". This was the etymology endorsed by the Soviet government and attributed to Maxim Gorky, who claimed it was a loan word, imposed during Mongol yoke; from Latin huic (lit. "for that", used on prescriptions for genital diseases) via rederivation, similar to Russian zont from Dutch zondeck. Old Russian "ud/uda" (from PIE root *ud- meaning "up, out") became taboo in mid-18th century, requiring the euphemisms khui and kher.
  • An example of an expression, constructed entirely of different derivatives from the root хуй: Хуяк! Хуя нахуевертили! Хули нахуй, хуилы, нахуярили дохуя хуецкой хуевины? Охуели нахуй, хуеплёты хуевы? Нехуй хуевничать, расхуяривайте нахуй хуетень (Khuyak! Khuya nakhuevertili! Khuli nakhuy khuily, nakhuyarili dokhuya khuetskoy khueviny? Okhueli nakhuy, khueplyoty khuevy? Nekhuy khuevnichat, raskhuyarivayte nakhuy khueten!)!

Translation: "Wow! Look at what you did! Why the hell did you idiots load up such a huge amount of this crappy stuff? Are you totally crazy, stupid morons? Enough being lazy, unload this crap faster!"

• • Another such example: Шёл хуй по хую, нашел хуй на хую, взял хуй за хуй и захуярил нахуй (Shyol khuy po khuyu, nashel khuy na khuyu, vzyal za khuy i zakhuyaril nakhuy.).

Translation: A cock walked on a cock, a cock took a cock by a cock and threw it very very far away.

• • "Иди на хуй" (Idi na khuy), literally "go to the dick", equivalent to the English "go fuck yourself."
• пизда́ (pizda) — cunt
  • from PIE *pizda ("vulva"), cf. Lithuanian pizda and Albanian 'pidh.
  • "Иди в пизду" ('Idi v pizdy), meaning "go to the cunt", with the snide welcoming about running.
  • пизде́ц (pizdets) — "deep shit", "absolute fail" is often used as an exclamation. Also means death or end of something.
  • пизде́ть (pizdet) — to lie, to say bull shit, more seldom is used as "to talk".
  • пи́здить (pizdit) — "to steal" or "to beat somebody".
  • cпи́здить (spizdaty) — "to steal" or "to snatch".
  • пиздaтый (pizdaty) — "pussy-like", "awesome", a superlative and/or admiring term that can be applied to any object or event.
• еба́ть (yebat) — to fuck. From Proto-Slavic jebati and Proto-Indo-European *h₃yebʰ-e-ti, cf. Ancient Greek οἴφω (oíphō) and Sanskrit यभति (yanhati).
  • "Ёб твою мать!" (Yob tvoyu mat), meaning "Oh my God!", "Really?!", "Gosh!", literally "fuck your mother".
• блядь (blyad) — whore, from PIE root cognate with English "blind"; the word was not banned from literary use at the time of Avvakum, who used it to describe various heresies and various expressions based on these terms (as the form of word блудить, bludit, "to stray or fornicate"). Also, the 15th century merchant-traveler Afanasii Nikitin used it simply as "concubine," without any obscene connotations. However, in contemporary Russian usage блядь (or бля; blyad or blya) are hardly considered neutral words.

Others:

• муда́к (mudak) — "stupid ass", "git". Also historically means "castrated piglet". Another often-used derivative is mudilo (муди́ло) which only bears an abstract offensive meaning and is somewhat equal to "motherfucker." Sometimes, mudak and mudilo are used as equivalents of "moron," e.g. Вася - полный мудило, ему жена изменяет, а он радуется (Vasya - polny mudilo, yemu zhena izmenyayet, a on raduyetsya,).

Translation: Vasya is a complete moron: his wife cheats on him, but he's still glad.

• му́ди, мудя (mudi, mudya) — "testicles". Rarely used and considered old-fashioned.
• су́ка (suka) — "traitor", "rascal", "scumbag"; despite original meaning "bitch" (female dog), the term is unisex and is often used to refer to men and has a dangerously pejorative connotation in the criminal world (see Suka Wars). English "bitch" about an unpleasant girl is maybe more equivalent to Russian стерва (sterva), which is a rude word but not a major profanity (accepted in written texts).

Additionally, the following words are considered almost as offensive, and can also be regarded as mat:

• елда́ (yelda) — "big dick". Rarely used and considered old-fashioned.
• гондо́н (gondon) — Russian slang for "condom", but it is a tabooed word and may be used figuratively, as an insult, with the meaning "unpleasant male";
• хер (kher) "cock"; somewhat less offensive than "khuy"; the actual meanings of хер is the old Russian name of the letter Х Kha, which became strongly associated with the actual ҳуй (cf. the term "F-word" in English). The old word "похерить" (pokherit) which used to mean "to cross out," "to delete", now tends to be contaminated with the relatively new meaning of "хер" (i.e., obscene "penis"), thus achieving an obscene meaning, also.
• манда́ (manda) — cunt
• козёл (kozyol) — "male-goat." Very offensive address to a man with noticing his low social or criminal status and any kind of sexual deviation. Often used to traitors and men who did something bad and unexpected.
• pidoras (пидора́с), a bastardization of pederast, meaning a homosexual male in Russian. The condensed forms pidor (пи́дор), "pedrila" (педри́ла), "pedik" (пе́дик) are also used. More often than not (though not necessarily), refers to a passive pederast. Often used as a general term like "asshole" or "motherfucker";
• zalupa (залу́па) means "penis head" (from old Russian "lupit'" - here, "to peel off" (like "lupit' yaytso" - "to peel off egg shell"); therefore, this is "what you can see when the foreskin is pulled back or removed"). "Zalupatsia" means "Playing the great man, giving oneself airs"; in A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Solzhenitsin, one of the inmates protests against something ("This is not sovietic!") and is punished for that; his comrades comment: "There was no need to Zalupatsia".
• drochit' (дрочи́ть) — "wank" (oneself or someone). drochit'sya' (дрочиться) - "to masturbate" (oneself). From Old Russian дрочити (to pet, to pamper)
• trakhat' (тра́хать) — to screw,hit,attack or assault.