Swearing in Japanese

[Té Rowan]

An odd, if rather irrelevant, fact is that most Icelandic swearwords are of religious origin. What few dedicated swearwords I can dredge up from the bottom of my mind are English loanwords. And, yes, 'bitch' translates to 'tík' (female dog). Mind, I have no idea whatsoever when demeaning women by calling them female animals began up here. I just think it's stupid enough to make military intelligence look, well, intelligent.

[Shadou]

Bitch simply means female dog. I can confirm that simply by checking its translation, it only translates into "tik" ie. female dog...
It probably started it´s route towards being a curse word by being used a nonobvious word for prostitutes, then meandered onwards from there.

If you're using an english to whatever language translation to determine the meaning of the word, I'd like to introduce you to a little concept called 'lost in translation'. Though to be fair, it seems like even in english, the 'in heat' distinction has been lost.

[Noy Telinú]

Yeah, in English it's just female dog. But breeder people usually onlysay it when they're trying to breed then.

[Spokavriel]

Maybe its that way in England but people bitch about things quite often. Without talking about dogs.

[Noy Telinú]

Sow! Sow! (that's female pig... Right?) I want to do that now as my next insult to a woman who lusts over guys! ^_^

[Spica75]

If you're using an english to whatever language translation to determine the meaning of the word, I'd like to introduce you to a little concept called 'lost in translation'. Though to be fair, it seems like even in english, the 'in heat' distinction has been lost.

As far as i can tell, that distinction never existed, at least not as an integrated part of the definition.

And as a pro translator, yes i know quite well about the "lost in translation" issue. And then of course:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bitch
1
: the female of the dog or some other carnivorous mammals

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bitch
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bitch
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/bitch

All agree.

[LawOhki]

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bitch
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bitch
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/bitch

All agree.

Dictionaries rarely explain the prevalence or main usage. Anecdotal but in my area, bitch is rarely if ever used to refer to a female dog. (I can't remember the last time I heard it in that context) It's primarily used as an insult.

[Spica75]

Dictionaries rarely explain the prevalence or main usage. Anecdotal but in my area, bitch is rarely if ever used to refer to a female dog. (I can't remember the last time I heard it in that context) It's primarily used as an insult.

That is what dictionaries are for. Find even ONE dictionary that specifies "female dog in heat". I doubt you can find that.
And i KNOW it´s primarily used as an insult in common language, but that´s because a very small minority of people overall breeds dogs.
Its primary usage is still in the meaning of a female dog.

Or do you for example suggest that the primary definition of "hell" should be based on its use as a curse?
And please don´t even think about answering "yes" to that before you thought it over and realised how silly it would be(and i shudder to think of how applying that would affect quite a few misused Swedish words...).

[LawOhki]

That is what dictionaries are for. Find even ONE dictionary that specifies "female dog in heat". I doubt you can find that.
And i KNOW it´s primarily used as an insult in common language, but that´s because a very small minority of people overall breeds dogs.
Its primary usage is still in the meaning of a female dog.

Okay there "pro translator".

[Spica75]

Okay there "pro translator".

Yes? Being paid repeatedly to do work of a specific kind usually means being defined as a pro.
It´s about 20 years since i did my first paid translation work.

[Noy Telinú]

So... Can you translate English swear words into Japanese or the other way around? O_o

[Té Rowan]

And what if Spica's specialty is technical documents?

[Noy Telinú]

Then I am still gonna be confused if swearing in Japanese is a thing.

[Spica75]

So... Can you translate English swear words into Japanese or the other way around? O_o

Literal translation can often be done, but to get an "equal value/meaning" swear word out of it? That can be problematic to do even between two VERY closely related languages like Swedish and Norwegian.
Cant say i´ve tried to do it so exactly how hard it is to do, how many you can do it with or how close in meaning you can get them, impossible to say.

My Japanese is also totally amateurish and i simply do not have anything close to the skill needed to do that sort of analysis. (i translate Swe <<->En)

Then I am still gonna be confused if swearing in Japanese is a thing.

Make it simple for yourself, accept that it´s possible to swear in Japanese, one way or another.

[Noy Telinú]

Well... That depresses me...

But you got me curious, can you translate what the sweetish chef says or is that gibberish?