Profanity in Russian. Obscene insults, argot and other types of profanity

Zhukova Oksana

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Profanity.

Surfing the Internet, especially various kinds of forums, conferences, blogs, etc., it becomes awkward when users use abusive expressions, swearing, obscenities, etc. Are you starting to wonder why people use obscene words and expressions? What is this – a cry from the heart, poor vocabulary, bad manners, self-expression, bad influence? We can say with confidence that every person speaks obscene words. But it’s one thing when you speak in order to enhance the connotation of a particular event or incident, situation; it’s another thing when people throw such words at each other. During the Russian language lesson, we were offered several topics for the project. Artyom and I immediately liked the topic about profanity. We always wondered where Russian swearing came from. It turned out to be not so difficult!

Mat (obscene language, barking obscene (obsolete)) is the most coarse type of profanity in Russian and in languages ​​close to it.

History of origin.

As historians note, the Slavic tribes, of course, swore, but their swearing was, in comparison with what happened next, sheer innocence, and their swearing was rather in comparison with domestic animals (cow, goat, ram, bull, mare, etc.). d.). But in 1342, Batu Khan attacked the Russian principality. And it is precisely for the swearing that we hear now that we can thank the Tatar-Mongols. Still, three centuries of yoke did not pass without a trace for Russia. What’s interesting is that in countries that have suffered the same fate, they swear in almost the same way. So, for example, the Serbian “ebene sluntse v pichku” is almost identical to our “e*at”. In fact, synonyms of swear words pronounced in Russian are reflected in both the Polish language and Hungarian - such a distant language of the Finno-Ugric group, and not at all of the Slavic group of languages. After the Mongols, everyone swore. Rich and wealthy nobles considered it beneath them to speak swear words, but the works of Pushkin, Nekrasov, and Gogol, who were not averse to using swear words, have reached us. All of them, in one way or another, learned to correctly express obscene thoughts from the actual founder of obscene poetry - Igor Semenovich Barkov - a classic of Russian obscene literature. However, swear language, precisely as a spoken language, was more characteristic of workers and peasants.

A large number of uneducated people who are accustomed to expressing almost all their thoughts through “f*ck” fell into power and began to spin. Both Lenin (even though he was from an educated family) and Stalin, who graduated from a church gymnasium, swore. It was during the latter period that mating received particular development.

The constant exile of people who are not guilty of being Jews or born in Russia gave impetus to Russian swearing. In fact, at this time, multi-syllable obscene expressions began to form; they began to express their opinions using obscenities. Mat became the language of the zone, understandable both to the prisoners and to the people who guarded them. Half the country, serving time for crimes or nothing at all, gave a very big impetus to the development of swearing. In 1954, the so-called “thaw” began, and samizdat books began to appear with Barkov’s poems or attributed to his work (it was easier to indicate the name of a person who died in the 18th century than to answer for everything said). It was then that most of the obscene ditties appeared, reflecting the changes and inventions of mankind (TV, space flights, the end of the war). Mat has become an integral part of Russian life. “The Gulag Archipelago,” for which Solzhenitsyn received the Nobel Prize, is replete with obscene expressions that more express the state of the novel’s characters than the literary language.

In connection with freedom of speech, which has been in Russia for 10 years now, swearing has come out of hiding, and well-designed publications with swear words and dictionaries of swear words have begun to appear. Recently, the author noticed a collector's edition of "Luka Mudishchev" ... Well, Tatar-Mongol blood has been flowing in each of us since time immemorial, and as long as Russia and the Russian language are alive, swearing will live as an integral part of Russian culture.

Checkmate in modern life.

Profanity has become a part of our lives. Most Russian citizens cannot imagine their speech without obscene language. There were even experts who were able to calculate how many times in a person’s life he resorts to words related to profanity. It turns out that during our lives each of us uses a swear word about 230 thousand times. Although, judging by the results of surveys, 29% of the country’s population does not swear at all. But 70% of them resort to swearing quite regularly.

What is the reason for such mass foul language? Is it really true that for most people obscene words are normal and they use them in everyday life, without even suspecting that it sometimes even looks very disgusting? Some psychologists believe that people resort to swearing only in order to better express their emotions, since there are not enough other words for this. Or maybe other words will not be so emotionally powerful. For example, musicians from rock bands are sure that swearing is the words necessary to relieve stress. Therefore, the presence of profanity in the work of rock bands is quite common.

Also, according to statistics, 17% of Russians use swearing to combat stress and vent emotions. Some Russians (5%) are confident that by resorting to obscene words, they make their speech more vivid and, thereby, find mutual understanding with their interlocutors. And 1% of the population generally believes that swearing should be done everywhere. By the way, if you listen to psychologists, there are those among them who consider swearing to be a good restorative remedy for a person’s energy balance. They also claim the beneficial role of obscene language in relieving stress in people.

But, one way or another, Russian legislation has its own views on the use of obscenities in public places. And it fundamentally disagrees with the opinion of either psychologists or individual musicians, and qualifies the use of obscene expressions in conversation as an administrative violation, for which a fine of 500 rubles is imposed.

It is interesting that in Belgorod people are so fed up with profanity (especially in crude forms of its manifestation) that the local authorities have established their punishment for swearing in public places in the form of a fine of 1,500 rubles. And the result did not take long to wait. In just a few months, the city budget was successfully replenished by an amount exceeding half a million rubles.

But is it only in Russia that there are so many lovers of foul language? No, of course not. Although, it should be noted that the Russian language is among the leading three in terms of the number of obscene expressions. English and Dutch managed to get ahead of it. So in many countries of the world they resort to swearing. Profanity can be heard anywhere: at world-class sporting events, from the mouths of various celebrities, including high-ranking political figures, in films and on television. Some are punished because of their incontinence, others lose their fans, and others may simply not be noticed. Well, God quarrels with him too.

Many people know, for example, how the lack of restraint in his expressions ended for the famous Russian singer Philip Kirkorov, when during his press conference he insulted a journalist in a “pink blouse.” Then almost 700 radio stations and television channels removed songs performed by Kirkorov from their repertoire. At football matches, referees often remove players from the field who express their emotions by swearing. Even in tennis, where, it would seem, only gentlemen play, people also swear. And so much so that at the world-famous competitions in Wimbledon they had to create a headquarters to combat swearing. And the perpetrators face serious penalties in the form of large fines.

Among famous political figures, the most colorful figure who uses obscene words in his vocabulary is former US President George W. Bush. He is a big fan of “strong words.” Moreover, Bush can swear both in a tense and in a relaxed state.

CONFLICTOLOGY. CONVERSATIONS ABOUT FOLLOWING VOCABULARY

Almost any conflict, and there are many of them in any organization (either misunderstandings with customers, or clarification of relationships in one’s own team, etc.), is not complete without the use of profanity, that is, swearing. Those who were not caught swearing loudly can say it not out loud, but to themselves.

But that means they fight too? Where does this knowledge come from? And such skills? And, most importantly, once we have learned, we then find out that for some reason it is indecent to say these words out loud in polite society. And why?

Why not, if almost the whole country is swearing? No wonder the phrase of one of the politicians became notorious: “We don’t swear, we speak it,” and the quote became even more popular: “The Russian language without swearing is like a report.”

If swearing is prohibited vocabulary, then the question arises: who banned it and where is the list of these words? And why does the lion's share of curses come from the taboo area of ​​sexual relations?

According to scientists, it turns out that it's all about our biology and our genes. After all, man has inherited many mechanisms of social and sexual behavior from the animal world, and we are not as far from it as we think. Many animal instincts remain in us to this day and, whether we like it or not, influence our consciousness, psyche and way of life.

When we were looking for information about our project in various sources, we came across the online site “Profanity in Biology” and

We asked Doctor of Biological Sciences Sergei Pashutin to tell us about the biological roots of profanity. So, checkmate through the eyes of a biologist.

What are the functions of obscene words from a biological point of view?

First of all, swearing as a speech influence is used as abusive language - insults, threats, expressions of extreme contempt and other negative characteristics. However, despite the increased emotional load of abusive profanity, this is far from the most significant purpose of vulgar words. Much more often, a person uses obscene words not for scolding at all, but as an intelligible way of communication or as a convincing and concise means of presenting the necessary information.

What is behind the bans on obscene language?

In fact, the semantic load of obscene vocabulary does not correspond to its literal understanding, especially at the present time, although shameful words became taboo (forbidden) because they touched on sexual themes. Moreover, the conversation itself on intimate topics was perceived in those days as indecent, even when using commonly used neutral vocabulary. Such stereotypes of behavior are fixed in our minds.

Swearing and swearing - are these concepts synonymous?

Not at all. First of all, curse words were filled with “strong” words and not for chaste ears, but strict restrictions were imposed only on obscene language with obvious sexual overtones. All other swearing, which was built around digestive-excretory physiology or in which blasphemous expressions predominated, is at various stages of taboo, but in principle does not relate to swearing. This type of obscene blasphemy is closer to reduced vocabulary, although with its help it can greatly offend a person.

There is a theory that the swearing ritual is an indicator of human evolution. Is it so?

This is true. The biological meaning of swearing is to deter angry behavior or unfriendly actions from potential enemies, as well as to confirm one's "rating" status. This is achieved by demonstrating one’s own aggression, albeit expressed in verbal form. But even among animals, conflicts are rarely accompanied by bloodshed. Only instead of speech, they use other proactive signals - specific body movements, sounds and other ritualized actions, which allows the weaker opponent to promptly abandon the hopeless fight.

Every year, the use of various types of jargon, slang and profanity is becoming more and more widespread among people of different ages and status. This is especially reflected in teenagers from 13 to 17 years old. According to surveys, 60% use obscene words because of personal problems and stress, and others (40%) because it is considered cool. We decided to check these indicators and surveyed students from our school from grades 5 to 11. Here's what happened:

Profanity: lack of upbringing (education) or way of self-expression?

1. Lack of education, and, as a consequence, lack or poverty of vocabulary. We do not mean not graduating from school, college or university, i.e. formal education. By this we mean the lack of communication with literate people, its narrow circle, the lack of book education, an excellent source of replenishing the vocabulary. How to explain your position to a person or simply ignore him, people boldly send him to all sorts of intimate places.

2. Self-expression. It is a fact. Many young people, especially schoolchildren, by using profanity, allegedly demonstrate their maturity and motherliness, thus standing out from their environment. It’s especially bitter to look at girls expressing themselves in criminal terms; such girls, as well as smokers, are for me an object of disgust and antipathy. The use of such expressions especially to connect words is meaningless.

3. Expression of extreme dissatisfaction and vice versa, a surge of emotions when describing a situation or situation. Here even a highly educated person can rashly blurt out such a word that his ears will swell. But here such expressions are used in communication with people of equal education and level of intelligence.

4. Banal cowardice. This is one of the common reasons, especially in virtual communication. A person understands his impunity and inaccessibility, because in the worst case he will be “banned,” and calmly sends and insults everyone left and right. Although even in real communication it comes to mutual insult, a verbal skirmish begins, and that’s basically where it ends.

5. Bad manners, as well as bad upbringing. This reason is somewhat similar to the first. But here, first of all, it depends on the immediate environment: parents, brothers, sisters and other close relatives. Very often I witness a scene when parents, uncles, aunts demonstrate the “advancement” of their unintelligent child, 3-4 years old, loudly and with dignity voicing “new” words. It’s good if over the years these words do not become a habit.

Includes the attitude towards the use of invective , obscene, i.e. . profanity.

Origin of obscene vocabulary

Scientists believe that the origin of such vocabulary in the Russian language is associated with the cult of mother earth, the processes of conception and birth. Those. we can say that this vocabulary is quite ancient. It is noted that in Russian life during the period of adoption of Christianity, prayers for rain were possible both as prayers and as an appeal to God in emotive words. Let's look at this phenomenon from several perspectives:

1.Psychology. Psychologists believe that obscene language is necessary for a person to relieve stress. And not just any stress (if you hit your finger with a hammer!)

2.Religion. Any religion believes With foul language is a sin and a vice, which, however, does not prevent people who consider themselves believers from using foul language.

4.People, society. The attitude of society and people towards such words is different and varied. Until 1917, a police officer could take a person to the police station for using foul language on the street. In literary texts such words were replaced by ellipses. In the famous book “Moscow-Petushki” by Venedikt Erofeev, one of the chapters consisted entirely of swear words. In the preface, Erofeev wrote that people who do not accept such vocabulary should not read this chapter, but by doing this he achieved only the opposite: they began to read precisely from this chapter, which subsequently led to the author removing this chapter altogether.

Anatoly Naiman recalled that Anna Andreevna Akhmatova loved to flaunt such words, saying:

“We are philologists, we can.”

I don't think it was every word. Boris Grebenshchikov said in one of his interviews:

“Profanity is associated with such a degree of anger that any use of it, even for humorous purposes or to decorate speech, risks losing some of your own energy. Sometimes I was guilty of this, but not in songs, songs are too powerful a weapon.”

How does one feel about obscene vocabulary?

I believe that this is everyone’s moral choice. Ask yourself:

“Do you want your children to swear, or do you like it when children swear?”

One hundred percent adults have a negative attitude towards this. But children do not understand the meaning of this vocabulary; they use it only when adults say so.

How to deal with this in children? – this question is asked quite often. Under no circumstances should children’s attention be drawn to these words by prohibition.

(the Forbidden fruit is sweet),

try to distract the child, redirect his attention.

One psychologist said that when his son brought such words from kindergarten, this psychologist had a whole conversation (there are bad words, you need to get rid of them, otherwise you will feel bad). They went to the river bank, and when the father said that they needed to shout these words in order to get rid of them, the son asked: “Why shout?”

So, you have a moral choice for yourself and for your environment. Choose!

Date added: 2009-11-01

“You cannot joke with language, with human words, with speech with impunity; a person’s verbal speech is an invisible, tangible connection, a connecting link between body and spirit.”

Vladimir Dal

The Russian language differs from other languages ​​in its beauty, flexibility and diversity. No wonder they call him great and mighty. Unfortunately, a huge number of Russian-speaking adults and even children often insert swear words into their speech.

How many words are there in swear language? In general, somewhere around a hundred. The active vocabulary is mainly about 20-30. But replacements for these words are very actively used (damn, yo-moyo, edrena-matryona, Japanese mother, fir-trees-sticks, eksel-moksel, ruff your copper, yoklmn, etc.)

Today, profanity has penetrated into literature, cinema, and even the media. But few people know what the consequences of such verbiage are.

So what is swearing or, as people say, swearing?

Recently, the head of the Department of Foreign Languages ​​at the Volgograd Agricultural Academy, Professor, Doctor of Philology A. Olyalin, conducted an entire scientific study devoted to profanity. “If we compare native vocabulary with a powerful water flow, then swearing is a kind of “discharge” of sewage, pollution of speech,” the scientist believes.

The researcher came to the conclusion that swear words originated from ancient spells. The professor believes that in ancient times, words that are considered obscene today served as curses and conspiracies. Swearing takes its roots in rituals of pagan origin and is of a ritual nature.

A person, uttering some of the words that we call obscene language, curses both himself and the people around him. There are also swear words - names of demons. Anyone who utters such a word automatically calls a demon on himself, his children, his family. These demons affect mood, health, finances, and relationships with other people.

That is why in ancient Russian manuscripts the use of swear words was considered as a behavioral feature of a person possessed by demons.

The famous psychophysiologist, member of the World Ecological Academy L. Kitaev-Smyk has been dealing with the problem of stress and swearing as its integral component for almost 40 years.

Swearing stimulates the production of male sex hormones - androgens, which are antagonists of the stress hormone. According to L. Kitaev-Smyk, a person resorts to swearing when he is not confident in his abilities, i.e. feels inferior. As studies have shown, regular use of obscene language may indicate hidden homosexuality (which a person may not even be aware of) or problems with potency. A normal, healthy person is far from such vocabulary. The use of swear words leads to hormonal disorders.

This is especially noticeable in women. Cosmetologists notice that clients who cannot live without a mat suffer more than others from increased hairiness of the extremities. The voice of such women becomes lower and lower over time. In other words, if a woman swears, a hormonal imbalance occurs in her body.

The scientific director of the Center for Environmental Survival and Safety G. Cheurin experimentally came to the conclusion about the pernicious influence of obscene speech on the human body. The results were presented in a 20-minute documentary film “How Our Word Will Respond...”

They are confirmed by recent studies by a group of Russian scientists who tested the influence of obscene language on water, which, according to G. Cheurin, has “memory.” Scientists swore at the liquid and then poured it on wheat seeds. As a result, seeds that were watered with “wiped” water sprouted in only 49 cases out of 100. Those that were watered with water over which prayers were said sprouted in 96 cases.

G. Cheurin also assures that men who abuse swearing will inevitably face impotence. “The abundance of swear words in everyday life is a serious symptom,” the scientist believes. – It turns out that society is in a state of chronic stress and is experiencing sexual problems. A work culture is being formed in Russia, but there is still no leisure culture, which is brilliantly developed in the West.

Our people, as before, relieve stress with alcohol after exhausting work, and it suppresses sexual energy. Naturally, subconsciously a person tries to enhance his sexuality with obscenities. As you can see, everything is interconnected..."

At the Institute of Quantum Genetics, Candidate of Biological Sciences P.P. Goryaev and Candidate of Technical Sciences G.T. Tertyshny conducted an interesting study several years ago. With the help of equipment developed by scientists, human words can be represented in the form of electromagnetic vibrations, which directly affect the properties and structure of DNA molecules responsible for human heredity.

If a person constantly uses swear words in his speech, his chromosomes begin to actively change their structure, and a “negative program” is developed in the DNA molecules. Gradually, these distortions become so significant that they modify the structure of DNA, and this is passed on to descendants. The accumulation of such negative qualities can be called a “self-destruction program.”

Scientists have recorded: a swear word causes a mutagenic effect similar to radiation exposure. A person who uses swear words is like receiving the same dose of radiation as at the epicenter of an atomic explosion. It has a particularly detrimental effect on the reproductive organs and sexual functions of both men and women.

This can ultimately lead to not only the inability to give birth to a healthy child, but even the inability to have intimate relationships.

The wave “ears” of DNA molecules directly absorb sound vibrations. At the same time, it does not matter to them whether the interlocutor is a living person or a television character...

DNA molecules hear human speech. Their “ears” are specially adapted to perceive such acoustic vibrations. Moreover, the molecules of heredity also receive light information: a person may not reproduce aloud, but mentally read the text, but the content will still “reach” his genetic apparatus through electromagnetic channels.

But the most important thing is that DNA is not indifferent to the information it receives. Some messages heal them, others traumatize them. Words carrying the light of love awaken the reserve capabilities of the genome, and curses damage even those curses that ensure the normal functioning of the body.

Thus, foul language causes the greatest harm to itself and its offspring. According to many modern scientists, human genes “hear” thoughts and words, perceive them and record them in the genetic code, passing the mutation on to the next generation.

It is alarming that a significant proportion of Russians, according to surveys, use swear words in their speech (often – 13%, sometimes – 52%). 35% of citizens do not use it at all, i.e. a minority of the country's population.

Men use foul language more often than women. Old people swear less often than young people and middle-aged people. People with high incomes allow themselves to “express themselves” more often than Russians with average income. In large cities, swearing is heard less frequently than in rural areas.

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Profanity is a concept that constantly appears in interpersonal communication and the media, but not everyone can explain what it is. ABOUT profanity will be discussed in this article.

Obscene insults, argot and other types of profanity

Profanity(obscene vocabulary) are speech patterns, words, expressions that have a pronounced negative, aggressive, obscene, immoral connotation. In most cases, such vocabulary is used as a reaction to a spontaneous situation (usually negative for the speaker). This can include:

• obscene insults;
• argo (a type of speech characteristic of limited groups of people and having specific features);
• swear words, words that have a vulgar, vulgar, obscene meaning.

It should be noted that scientists studying profanity(by which in most cases we mean Russian swearing), they note that this feature of Russian speech appeared a very, very long time ago. According to some authors, profanity initially it was a mandatory attribute of various ceremonies, including wedding ceremonies, agricultural ceremonies, and other everyday rituals.

Insult with obscenities. Profanity with and without obscenities

Regardless of what profanity used - insults with obscenities, swear words, vulgar words - it always performs a certain function. Depending on the context, experts identify the following purposes: profanity:

1. A means of establishing contact with another person. At the same time, depending on the status of the persons participating in the conversation, profanity can bring interlocutors closer (if they are equal), humiliate one of them, level the speaker and interlocutor, or elevate one of them.
2. As a means of expressing emotions (aggression, friendliness, protest, resentment, fear and other human feelings and experiences).
3. Like an interjection. This function profanity, perhaps, is characteristic only of our language. It is quite difficult to understand the nature of such use of obscenities and other “forbidden” expressions, but the fact remains: we sometimes use such words just like that, without any semantic load.
4. As a way for the speaker to address himself as self-deprecation or, conversely, encouragement.
5. The division of society into insiders and outsiders, ritual (magical) purposes, pathological foul language, etc.

It should also be noted that recent research by scientists shows that profanity also affects the mental and emotional state of the speaker. For example, people experiencing stress, fear, pain, tolerate these emotions and feelings more easily if they have the opportunity to scold. Experts note that this effect of obscene expressions is most likely due to the fact that subconsciously a person who expresses his emotions feels calmer and more comfortable than one who is forced to restrain himself.