How to translate this swear word?

[Agentt]

I don't recomend vile, since it seems like you are looking for a noun. How about jerk, dastard, scoundrel, tramp, wastrel, bully, monster, or garbage? There's also sort of a tradition in English to combine insults with body parts, like with poopyhead, meanieface, stickyfingers, smartmouth, dumbass, shortstains, stinkybutt. I recommend poopypants, you can never go wrong using poopypants as an insult.

*sobs*
-Mother, I have been betrayed. Thrown away like trash! Mother, oh, mother, help me, or I may drown in the river of my tears.

-Daughter, what did that poopyhead do now?

 

[ThrillingHuman]

Sonova

 

[Southdog]

I have always preferred whore-son. Encapsulates both being an illegitimate child (bastardry) and their parents being despicable (mother a whore, father a whore-lover.) Other variants include "son of a whore," for more modern english phrasing

 

[Cipiteca396]

The translations I got from google were; meanness, spitefulness, unfairness, pettiness, bastard, (action that) debases, devalue...

So bastard seems to be the best fit. Scum, disgrace, cur, bitch, (other animals like rats and snakes), fraud, fucker, waste, shameful (thing), whore, brute, wretch, brat, -
I got bored. Uh, good luck.

 

[Jemini]

Is it like Kisama?

Yep! Just like that

So, technically, Kisama means "you," but in a very rude context.

Kisama would be translated loosely to mean "You dirty" or "you bastard." Keeping the word "you" since that's the necessary part, but adding a harsh word in the target language to the word "you" in order to give the other-language reader a proper idea of the missing cultural context.

In the case of the word you're giving examples of here, I would say you should do a similar thing. It doesn't sound like there is a literal meaning that you're aware of, but that just makes it more versatile. This means you can substitute in just about any word in the target language so long as the word doesn't have it's own context to mess things up.

"Bastard" would be a fairly easy go-to from what I've heard you say while using it in context, but you can probably run an entire gambit from swears such as "A-hole" or non-swears such as "slacker." Just anything that has a degrading context in the target language and is being used for purely it's insulting sense rather than it's literal meaning.

 

[Vnator]

At that point take some creative liberties! Like how about scum sucking son of a bitch!

 

[CupcakeNinja]

So, my language has this one cuss word.
It's more peculiar than others, in the sense that it has no meaning.

Like, we have a word which translates to bitch, one that is motherfricker, one that is sisterfricker, we have shameless,free loader, useless and brother in law.


Okay, the brother in law one doesn't make much sense when translated literally.
A more appropriate translation would be 'lowly being.'

But this word, it has no meaning.
It was invented for the sole purpose of insulting someone, it just has no other meaning.

So, I was just wondering, how would you translate such a word?

It has no direct meaning so you can make up whatever meaning you want.

If its simply "an insult" and not any specific insult, like saying your mother is a slut, then yes. It can be anything. Otherwise go by context. Who is the recipient of the insult? In what way are they being insulted? Their dog? Sister? Wife? Some aspect of themselves? Go by that and there will be a word or series of words for that in english.

Some words also just have a negative connotation. Like informal and formal language, some words, tho they mean the same, can be called rude compared to it's more polite counterpart. I think somone mentioned "kisama" which is a good example of that

 

[Ai-chan]

So, my language has this one cuss word.
It's more peculiar than others, in the sense that it has no meaning.

Like, we have a word which translates to bitch, one that is motherfricker, one that is sisterfricker, we have shameless,free loader, useless and brother in law.


Okay, the brother in law one doesn't make much sense when translated literally.
A more appropriate translation would be 'lowly being.'

But this word, it has no meaning.
It was invented for the sole purpose of insulting someone, it just has no other meaning.

So, I was just wondering, how would you translate such a word?

Your Highness - referring to someone who does nothing, expects everything and is a freeloader
Garden Carp - referring to someone who is comfortable with staying in seclusion while being fed without doing anything for himself
Esteemed Manor Lord - referring to someone who acts like he's the master of the estate without actually being the master of the estate

Spawn / Mud spawn - referring to a child of a prostitute, can be used as insult in place of bastard
Dirtbag - probably no much of an insult to europeans, but it is an insult to asians as asians hate 'trailing mud in the house'


A insult must have a context, there must be an origin to one such insult. If the insult has neither context nor origin, it cannot be an insult. The target or the surrounding people wouldn't understand it. For example, the insult 'sisterfucker' probably wouldn't be an insult to some nomadic tribes, since they would take their dead brother's wives or their own sisters as wives when the need comes.

It has no direct meaning so you can make up whatever meaning you want.

If its simply "an insult" and not any specific insult, like saying your mother is a slut, then yes. It can be anything. Otherwise go by context. Who is the recipient of the insult? In what way are they being insulted? Their dog? Sister? Wife? Some aspect of themselves? Go by that and there will be a word or series of words for that in english.

Some words also just have a negative connotation. Like informal and formal language, some words, tho they mean the same, can be called rude compared to it's more polite counterpart. I think somone mentioned "kisama" which is a good example of that

Kisama is actually what you would say to a higher ranked aristocracy. It's something like 'your grace' or 'your excellency'. An example is, "Has Your Excellency eaten today?" This isn't out of place if you say it to an actual aristocrat. However, it becomes a cynical insult to some if you say it to the average joe, implying that he's acting like an aristocrat when he's not. Nowadays it has evolved into 'bastard' or 'asshole' but it can still be used if you happen to meet an aristocrat. Kisama is not what you use for addressing the emperor or the imperial family, though.

 

[TheTrinary]

Karen

 

[SternenklarenRitter]

Karen

I don't recommend using this one. 'Karen' as an insult refers to mean snobby entitled rich ladies who play up traditional gender views of ladies being fragile, meek, and in need of men in power (store managers, officers, random muscular hot guys) to protect them from peasants (mostly men who work retail or people of minority skin tones). I don't believe it is used often internationally, it is mostly endemic to the states. However, there is a rather long history of using women's names in this context dating back ~160 years. Because which name is in vogue tends to shift every decade or so (mostly alongside shifts in USA-in race relations), an author using this word will tie their work to the time they write in, and the word 'karen' will probably loose most of the connotations it has today by 2030 and be poorly understood.

 

[SakeVision]

I don't recommend using this one. 'Karen' as an insult refers to mean snobby entitled rich ladies

most karens are piss poor

 

[SternenklarenRitter]

Let me rephrase that. 'rich ladies' -> ladies who value the affectations of wealth and overt displays of it. Examples include makeup, fancy cars, jewelry, clothes, shoes, and those atrocious plastic covers some people put on furniture when they think preserving it is more important than enjoying it. They don't have to actually have money or expensive trappings, it is enough if they try to look wealthier than they are. An excellent example of this behavior is a character actually named 'Karen' from 'Wishing for a Better Life' published on this site (content warning gay werewolves). This character was median income at best, but they put great effort into 'looking rich'. Thanks SakeVision for helping me be precise.

 

[Agentt]

most karens are piss poor

Let me rephrase that. 'rich ladies' -> ladies who value the affectations of wealth and overt displays of it. Examples include makeup, fancy cars, jewelry, clothes, shoes, and those atrocious plastic covers some people put on furniture when they think preserving it is more important than enjoying it. They don't have to actually have money or expensive trappings, it is enough if they try to look wealthier than they are. An excellent example of this behavior is a character actually named 'Karen' from 'Wishing for a Better Life' published on this site (content warning gay werewolves). This character was median income at best, but they put great effort into 'looking rich'. Thanks SakeVision for helping me be precise.

Glad to see a scientific debate led to a fruitful result

 

[Psycholor]

Let me rephrase that. 'rich ladies' -> ladies who value the affectations of wealth and overt displays of it. Examples include makeup, fancy cars, jewelry, clothes, shoes, and those atrocious plastic covers some people put on furniture when they think preserving it is more important than enjoying it. They don't have to actually have money or expensive trappings, it is enough if they try to look wealthier than they are. An excellent example of this behavior is a character actually named 'Karen' from 'Wishing for a Better Life' published on this site (content warning gay werewolves). This character was median income at best, but they put great effort into 'looking rich'. Thanks SakeVision for helping me be precise.

You can always tell when someone is actually poor/middle class. Real rich people don't give a fuck how they look, they dress for comfort.

 

[SternenklarenRitter]

Poor Karens, their efforts only make them look desperate.

 

[AliceShiki]

So, my language has this one cuss word.
It's more peculiar than others, in the sense that it has no meaning.

Like, we have a word which translates to bitch, one that is motherfricker, one that is sisterfricker, we have shameless,free loader, useless and brother in law.


Okay, the brother in law one doesn't make much sense when translated literally.
A more appropriate translation would be 'lowly being.'

But this word, it has no meaning.
It was invented for the sole purpose of insulting someone, it just has no other meaning.

So, I was just wondering, how would you translate such a word?

Mmmmmmmmmmm... Other people already said it, but... You can use any word that you want for this one.

Like... To give an example using Japanese (like, yeah, I know people already mentioned kisama, but bear with me), that is a highly contextual language... You just don't have many insults in Japanese, yanno?

Ai chan gave an in-depth explanation of kisama just now, but like... Ever heard an anime character scream "Teme" when they're really angry at their opponent... Well... That technically is just a very rude way of saying "You."

Yeah, you heard it. Teme is basically saying "You" in a really really rude way... Try imagining your opponent being like "Oh I'm so going to kill you, you damn motherfucking son of a bitch, I'll send you to the depths of hell!" and then your return to his phrase is like... "You...!"

... That seems kinda dumb? Well, that's because Japanese is not English. Teme has an insulting connotation to it, so even if it doesn't have a particular meaning to it by itself, it's still quite insulting.

So well, when translating a passage with Teme in it from JP > EN, you just won't translate Teme as "you", because it doesn't fit. Sure, the literal translation would be that, but that's not what the word actually means in the context, so it should be translated as a context-appropriate insult... And well, then the exact word will depend on the translator and on the context. There is no right translation for Teme, you just put whatever fits better inside the context... And in 99% of the times, you probably won't translate it as "you", because it simply isn't the right word for it when trying to translate the meaning of the sentence.


And that leads me back to my original point... Put whatever word you want as the translation of your local insult. Just make sure that it is insulting and that it fits the context... The exact word doesn't quite matter. It can vary on each time you translate it even~