Hi there. I heard a lot about how rich and saturated russian swarings are. If i’m not mistaken this is called MAT. What’s the meaning of a word ‘mat’ and why are russians so excellent in cussing? Aren’t they supposed to be hughly spirited people with kind hearts and pure souls?

Not ALL Russians cuss using such hard expressions like МАТ. People in US for ex. use words fuck, motherfucker, asshole, holy shit, bustard etc. not less often.

I also know from reliable sources that Russian swearings are nothing compared with those used by the Balkan peoples (Serbia, Bosnia, Bulgaria). They even don’t consider those words as taboo and use them absolutely shamelessly.
Moreover, I don’t know ANY people in the world that wouldn’t have ‘strong words’ within their colloquial language.

One thing is for sure is that swearings in Russia are supposed to be a taboo. To use them or not to use is a personal choice of every one. People with high moral principles try not to use them at all or replace them with euphemisms like ”Блин”, “Ё моё”, “Капец”, “офигеть” etc.

oh com on, don’t be so childish! most russian swearings are based on three things: male genitals (хуй, хер), female genitals (пизда) and a sexual intercourse (ебать) - and their derivatives, of course (охуенно, заебать, херня, пиздеть etc.).  correct me if im wrong but in most other languages it is the same three things which concern people more than any others, and they find different ways of freakishly renaming them.

The word ”мат” literally means a loud scream, a shout.  An old Russian idiom орать благим матом means to shout at the top of one’s voice.
Another theory says that the “мат” comes from the word мать (mother) as the most abusive and blasphemous of all swearings are those involving mother and different ways of intercourse with her.

Thx 4 sharing ur thoughts guys Maybe ur right that other peoples cuss just as much. I just thought it was different with russians.

Елена Прекрасная - 11 January 2011 03:42 PM

I also know from reliable sources that Russian swearings are nothing compared with those used by the Balkan peoples (Serbia, Bosnia, Bulgaria). They even don’t consider those words as taboo and use them absolutely shamelessly.

You know I was in Serbia and I can confirm your words. People are not ashamed to cuss whenver, wherever and whoever they are They even overvoice American TV shows and movies translating all those “mothafuckers” into Serbian. And they definitely do it with gusto ))
But I was very disappointed to figure out that the most cussing Balkan areas are those inhabited by Orthodox people. They really seem to have nothing saint in their language. I just wonder why. I have always been of a high opinion about the Orthodox, and especially Russian Orthodox. But I don’t like it that they cuss so much :((

Lots of theoris assume russians inherited mat from the Tatar-Mongols who broke into Kievan Rus and made it their province for over 200 years (1237-1480). And before that Tatar invasion Russians never used all those offensive words. Today however many scientist (or pseudo-scientist) appear to refuse from this throry but I personally still find it very reasonable. Tatars hated Russians (Slavs in those days) because they were christians and refused to accept islam. Moreover they hated Virgin Mary becayse She very often protected the Slavs in their batals with muslims. She literally appeared as a vision and protected them when they were by a hair’s breadth of death:

During the Tatar’s invasion in the 16th century, the Tatars Emperor had a vision. He saw the Virgin surrounded by a great army overcoming his forces. Afraid of being defeated, the Tatars retreated and left Moscow. (http://russianicon.blogspot.com/2006/04/virgin-of-vladimir-28-35-cm.html)

Earlier,  in the year 910 AD there also was a memorable historical event when Virgin Mary saved the people of the city of Constantinople with Her veil. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Protection) In those days the Byzantine Empire had a war with the muslim Saracens and the city was in great danger.

What Im tryin to say is that Tatars had reasons to hate Her and so they could make the Slavs used to using those swearing involving “mother” so that they abused Her and She turned Her back against them.

Em… I;m certainly not an expert in international swearings but I strongly recommend those people who think that Russians are no.1 cussers to watch at least one episode of the British (!!) series “Misfits”. I was genuinely shocked to hear SO MUCH dirty words within such a short period of time (it lasts about 40 minutes each).

Or Dexter’s sister in “Dexter”... She puts “fuck” after every word she says!

I fully agree that Russians are the most notorious swearers in the world. That’s really stupid. Those days when “fuck” or “merde” were the most terrible words have passed long ago. Now English and French slangs are abundant in dirties of any possible kind.
Saying “fuck” in films has become a totally normal thing. And as far as I’m familiar with Russian movies, they never cross the limit of taboo words.
And one more thing: books like “Dirty Russian”, “Dermo!”, or any other containing a thorough guide into the world of Russian swearwords are written in English and all the dirty phrases are translated into English as well, and it sounds very authentic. So it appears that THERE ARE words in other languages for describing such disgusting things.

NoName - 30 December 2010 03:37 AM

I heard a lot about how rich and saturated russian swarings are. If i’m not mistaken this is called MAT.

Two notions should be distinguished: 1) there are foul words which, I’m sure, are used by all nations in the world;  2) and there is ”мат” which really comes from the word “мать” (=mother) and it is really aimed at Virgin Mary. Mat is highly blasphemous as it is used to insult Her virginity in any possible way. Sadly enough, overwhelming majority of Russian people are not aware of this fact.

If anyone thinks that Russians swear more than other nations, check this link:

http://youtu.be/rAVU8d7b8jQ

It’s actually a Periodic Table Of Swearing created by some British “craftsmen”. It’s an interactive table with over 100 buttons which orchestrate a whole lot of English swearing when you press them.

That’s a sheer bullshit that Russians cuss more than other nations. And it’s also false that the Russian language has more swearing words than other languages. Believe me, I learned a lot of languages in my life and I can assure you that Russians are no better experts in cussing than others.