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A brief history of insults

66 pointsby Amorymeltzeralmost 2 years ago

16 comments

neonatealmost 2 years ago
<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;archive.ph&#x2F;LAMKJ" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;archive.ph&#x2F;LAMKJ</a><p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20230625171204&#x2F;https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2023&#x2F;06&#x2F;06&#x2F;crosswords&#x2F;insults.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20230625171204&#x2F;https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytime...</a>
arararalmost 2 years ago
Seems like someone may have the pleasure of becoming interested in the matter and going further. Perhaps they may resurrect Maledicta, the journal of verbal aggression. See <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Maledicta" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Maledicta</a>. I remember going through the collection of issues of the journal at the Perry Castañeda library at the University of Texas-Austin many years ago. I highly recommend it. Read about things like Spanish potentiation of insults (like raising to a power), and other things I forget. The only reason I can recall Spanish potentiation is that I speak Spanish and I never realized such a thing existed.<p>There was, of course, an article (or issue?) dedicated to &quot;your momma&quot; jokes. The most memorable one was an Italian one that goes:<p><i>If the streets were paved with cocks, your momma would walk on her ass.</i>
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WalterBrightalmost 2 years ago
Back in the 80s, a book made the rounds at work that was composed of Japanese insults with a brief description of each. For several weeks afterwards we were busy insulting each other with phrases that were innocuous (or just odd) in English but were vile insults in Japanese.<p>I&#x27;ve long forgotten the title of the book. I&#x27;ve searched for likely titles, but came up empty. Too bad.
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gogomadalmost 2 years ago
IMHO this is one of the funniest text in the history of insults.<p>Letter of the Zaporozhian Cossacks of Ukraine replying to the Sultan of Turkey:<p>O sultan, Turkish devil and damned devil’s kith and kin, secretary to Lucifer himself. What the devil kind of knight are thou, that canst not slay a hedgehog with your naked arse? The devil shits, and your army eats. Thou shalt not, thou son of a whore, make subjects of Christian sons; we have no fear of your army, by land and by sea we will battle with thee, f##k thy mother. Thou Babylonian scullion, Macedonian wheelwright, brewer of Jerusalem, goat-fu##er of Alexandria, swineherd of Greater and Lesser Egypt, pig of Armenia, Podolian thief, catamite of Tartary, hangman of Kamyanets, and fool of all the world and underworld, an idiot before God, grandson of the Serpent, and the crick in our dick. Pig’s snout, mare’s arse, slaughterhouse cur, unchristened brow, screw thine own mother! So the Zaporozhians declare, you lowlife. You won’t even be herding pigs for the Christians. Now we’ll conclude, for we don’t know the date and don’t own a calendar; the moon’s in the sky, the year with the Lord, the day’s the same over here as it is over there; for this kiss our arse!
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tiffanygalmost 2 years ago
Besides the &quot;Better Off Ted outtakes&quot; (comment on another comment), this also brought to mind Chappelle&#x27;s Show &quot;Player Haters Ball&quot;, Letterkenny (&quot;chirps&quot;, etc.), and The Inbetweeners. I&#x27;m sure there are others rattling around in my head I&#x27;m forgetting ...<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;fKIwj1TQmFs" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;fKIwj1TQmFs</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;PjdFWEGkdFo" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;PjdFWEGkdFo</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;K1iifyImWtk" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;K1iifyImWtk</a><p>(That last is a little guide to insults via ITN &amp; courtesy of Simon &amp; Joe [Will and Simon, on show]).<p>Of course, there&#x27;s always Weird Al&#x27;s parody that&#x27;s a compendium of &quot;fat jokes&quot;:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;t2mU6USTBRE" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;t2mU6USTBRE</a><p>... (edit: formatting)
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lusus_naturaealmost 2 years ago
The only thing that is truly an insult is the one your opponent reacts to. Everything else is you scratching your bumhole. In fact, if you&#x27;re not getting the reaction you intended, then that&#x27;s still just you scratching your bumhole. History is rife with inadequately witted so-sos who like to pretend otherwise. The best way to insult someone is to decide what you want to achieve, then find the appropriate target. If you hit the target, but didn&#x27;t achieve what you thought you&#x27;d get, then you failed.
resolutebatalmost 2 years ago
For those wondering about the lines of Catullus that the NYT found unfit to print:<p><i>Pēdīcābō ego vōs et irrumābō</i><p>&quot;I will sodomize you and face-fuck you&quot;<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Catullus_16" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Catullus_16</a>
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AlbertCoryalmost 2 years ago
I&#x27;ve learned by now that almost no one originated the quotes commonly attributed to them, so you should always look them up:<p>&quot;a sheep in sheep’s clothing&quot; I always thought it was Churchill. But, sigh:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;wordhistories.net&#x2F;2019&#x2F;08&#x2F;04&#x2F;sheep-sheeps-clothing&#x2F;" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;wordhistories.net&#x2F;2019&#x2F;08&#x2F;04&#x2F;sheep-sheeps-clothing&#x2F;</a>
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cubefoxalmost 2 years ago
Sometimes the distinction between insult, slur and slander isn&#x27;t so clear. It&#x27;s interesting that the insults tend to be viewed as relatively harmless (in some countries, like the US, they are even legal) while the latter two are much more serious offenses. Though it is often unclear how to categorize an expression.
Mobil1almost 2 years ago
<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;yiddishradioproject.org&#x2F;exhibits&#x2F;stutchkoff&#x2F;curses.php3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;yiddishradioproject.org&#x2F;exhibits&#x2F;stutchkoff&#x2F;curses.p...</a>
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mojo74almost 2 years ago
Got to mention the Pharcyde surely? <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=lnCeZY6nxjQ">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=lnCeZY6nxjQ</a>
cafardalmost 2 years ago
Achilles unloads a few fair insults on Agamemnon in the first book of the Iliad, &quot;drunkard, face like a dog, brave as a deer&quot;.<p>They aren&#x27;t all that clever, but one should consider the context of an armed society--Achilles has just been restrained by Athena from taking his sword to Agamemnon.
steve_ghalmost 2 years ago
Thoroughly recommend Roger&#x27;s Profanisaurus <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Roger&#x27;s_Profanisaurus" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Roger&#x27;s_Profanisaurus</a>
HKH2almost 2 years ago
So a mutton shunter is not a sheep shagger.
photochemsynalmost 2 years ago
The most stinging insult involves the exposure of hypocrisy on the part of the target of the insult, at least for the intellectual class. Demonstrating that the target of the insult will happily role over and say 1 + 1 = 3 if their masters ask it of them, because they are a weak little tool used by others to achieve their own goals, when in reality everyone knows that 1 + 1 = 2, and yet that individual has been attempting to hold themselves up as the moral legitimate factor in the equation, well.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Schadenfreude" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Schadenfreude</a><p>Of course it&#x27;s the Germans who came up with that one. Humans are falliable, and you&#x27;d be surprised what people would do for a reliable paycheck, in this capitalist dystopia.
pamhalpertalmost 2 years ago
I love these strange article topics I wonder how they come up with them.