animal insults

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Sarah Benor

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Mar 21, 2024, 6:03:28 PMMar 21
to JEWISH LANGUAGES, Moyal, Eden
Dear Jewish Languages list,
We're compiling a list of words in Jewish languages that are names of animals but also insults. Some examples are below:

LanguageWord (Original Orthography)TransliterationAnimalInsult
Ladinoלונסו lonsobearstupid person
Moroccan Judeo-Arabichmardonkeyidiot
Amharicአህያahiyyadonkeyidiot

Can you think of others? If so, please let me know.

Thanks,
Sarah

geo...@jochnowitz.net

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Mar 21, 2024, 8:53:10 PMMar 21
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Once, in 1968, in Italy, I hear someone describe someone else as a XAMOR
GADOL. I don't remember where it was said
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K Weiser

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Mar 21, 2024, 10:06:48 PMMar 21
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khamer-eyzl (donkey-donkey) in Yiddish. In his History of the Yiddish
Language, Weinreich cites the term as meaning "impudent" and, in some
locales, "adulterer."

Kalman

Stillman, Norman A.

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Mar 22, 2024, 3:39:57 AMMar 22
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Moroccan Judeo-Arabic:

Both:
ḥellūf-ḥazīr (Arabic-Hebrew) for pig

ḥellūf-khenzīr (Arabic-Arabic synonyms) for pig

Also:

kelb l-akhor for damned dog 

kliyyeb (diminutive of kelb)

Insects

khenfūsa – cockroach or beetle  used for a homely or unattractive individual 

khnifsa (diminutive of khenfūsa) -- homely and small

amīla yabsa - dried-up ant – used similarly to khnifsa

The insect names are more mocking than insulting

Cf. my article “Verbal Darts: Name-Calling, Cursing, and Gibing in Moroccan Judeo-Arabic,” in Sha’arei Lashon: Studies in Hebrew, Aramaic and Jewish Languages Presented to Moshe Bar-Asher, Vol. III, Modern Hebrew and Jewish Languages, ed. A. Maman, et al. (Bialik Institute: Jerusalem, 2007), pp. 141-156.

Noam
From: jewish-l...@googlegroups.com <jewish-l...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of K Weiser <kwe...@yorku.ca>
Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2024 9:06 PM
To: jewish-l...@googlegroups.com <jewish-l...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Jewish Languages] animal insults
 
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Stillman, Norman A.

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Mar 22, 2024, 3:42:40 AMMar 22
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Moroccan Judeo-Arabic:

Both:
ḥellūf-ḥazīr (Arabic-Hebrew) for pig

ḥellūf-khenzīr (Arabic-Arabic synonyms) for pig

Also:

kelb l-akhor for damned dog 

kliyyeb (diminutive of kelb)

Insects

khenfūsa – cockroach or beetle  used for a homely or unattractive individual 

khnifsa (diminutive of khenfūsa) -- homely and small

amīla yabsa - dried-up ant – used similarly to khnifsa

The insect names are more mocking than insulting

Cf. my article “Verbal Darts: Name-Calling, Cursing, and Gibing in Moroccan Judeo-Arabic,” in Sha’arei Lashon: Studies in Hebrew, Aramaic and Jewish Languages Presented to Moshe Bar-Asher, Vol. III, Modern Hebrew and Jewish Languages, ed. A. Maman, et al. (Bialik Institute: Jerusalem, 2007), pp. 141-156.

Noam
From: jewish-l...@googlegroups.com <jewish-l...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of K Weiser <kwe...@yorku.ca>
Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2024 9:06 PM
To: jewish-l...@googlegroups.com <jewish-l...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Jewish Languages] animal insults
 
>> [1].
>>
>>
>> Links:
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>> [1]
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Ora Schwarzwald

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Mar 22, 2024, 4:08:01 AMMar 22
to sbeno...@gmail.com, JEWISH LANGUAGES, Moyal, Eden

חמור 'donkey' also signifies 'a fool' in Ladino. בהמה 'animal' signifies an ill-mannered person, as in the expression "beema en forma de benadam" 'an animal in the shape of a man'.

"Kulevro pintado" is 'an evil person who means malicious things' where kulevro is a snake.

Ora

 

 

 

 

======================================

Prof. Ora R. Schwarzwald

Hebrew and Semitic Languages

Bar-Ilan University

Ramat Gan, Israel 52900

Tel: 972-3-5325021 (home), 5318226/667 (office)

Fax: 972-3-7384192 (department)

e-mail: ora.sch...@biu.ac.il, ora.sch...@gmail.com

http://sites.google.com/site/oraschwarzwald

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Ora Schwarzwald

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Mar 22, 2024, 4:13:15 AMMar 22
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חזיר 'pig' refers to an evil, repugnant person in Ladino.

Shabbat Shalom and Hag Purim SameaH.

Ora

 

======================================

Prof. Ora R. Schwarzwald

Hebrew and Semitic Languages

Bar-Ilan University

Ramat Gan, Israel 52900

Tel: 972-3-5325021 (home), 5318226/667 (office)

Fax: 972-3-7384192 (department)

e-mail: ora.sch...@biu.ac.il, ora.sch...@gmail.com

http://sites.google.com/site/oraschwarzwald

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Claudia Rosenzweig

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Mar 22, 2024, 6:46:43 AMMar 22
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In the dictionary by Maria Luisa Mayer Modena there are a lot of expressions:
for ex.

hamor di Bil‘am ‘doppiamente ignorante’ - ignorant twice - Livorno

חמור גולם ‘ignorante al massimo grado’- Ferrara

hamor hamoradai  three times ignorant - Piemonte

and more

the same is true for hazir, haziroso, hazirud... chelev, kelav... (also as a surname of Mussolini)

and about Purim:

Ti venga la maccà e ti duri sino a Hanuccà; da Hanuccà a Purim [ti vengano] i holaim (Livorno).- a maccà should come upon you till Hannukka  - and between Hanukka and Purim should come upon you the holaim


Michael Ryzhik

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Mar 22, 2024, 7:19:04 AMMar 22
to ck.z...@gmail.com, ora.sch...@biu.ac.il, nsti...@ou.edu, jewish-l...@googlegroups.com, kwe...@yorku.ca
And hamorta for the fem, at least in Ferrara according to Guacomwlli, with aramaic ending,
M
נשלח מה-iPhone שלי

‫ב-22 במרץ 2024, בשעה 12:46, ‏‏Claudia Rosenzweig ‏<ck.z...@gmail.com> כתב/ה:‬


In the dictionary by Maria Luisa Mayer Modena there are a lot of expressions:
for ex.

hamor di Bil‘am ‘doppiamente ignorante’ - ignorant twice - Livorno

חמור גולם ‘ignorante al massimo grado’- Ferrara

hamor hamoradai  three times ignorant - Piemonte

and more

the same is true for hazir, haziroso, hazirud... chelev, kelav... (also as a surname of Mussolini)

and about Purim:

Ti venga la maccà e ti duri sino a Hanuccà; da Hanuccà a Purim [ti vengano] i holaim (Livorno).- a maccà should come upon you till Hannukka  - and between Hanukka and Purim should come upon you the holaim


Il giorno ven 22 mar 2024 alle ore 10:13 Ora Schwarzwald <Ora.Sch...@biu.ac.il> ha scritto:

חזיר 'pig' refers to an evil, repugnant person in Ladino.

Shabbat Shalom and Hag Purim SameaH.

Ora

 

======================================

Prof. Ora R. Schwarzwald

Hebrew and Semitic Languages

Bar-Ilan University

Ramat Gan, Israel 52900

Tel: 972-3-5325021 (home), 5318226/667 (office)

Fax: 972-3-7384192 (department)

e-mail: ora.sch...@biu.ac.il, ora.sch...@gmail.com

http://sites.google.com/site/oraschwarzwald

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=======================================

Andrey Rozenberg

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Mar 25, 2024, 2:40:07 PMMar 25
to jewish-l...@googlegroups.com
Yiddish:

אָנגעבלאָזן ווי אַן אינדיק /ongeblozn vi an indik/ - puffed up
אָקס /oks/ - stupid person
בהמה‬ /beheyme/ - stupid person
בהמה־בצורת־פֿערד/בהמה־בצורת־אדם /beheyme-betsures-ferd/odem/ - stupid person
הונט (איינער) /hunt (eyner)/ - bad/evil/dishonest person
חזיר /khazer/ - skinflint, bad-mannered person
חמור /khamer/ - idiot, ignoramus
כלב־שבכלבים /kelev-shebekovim/ - bad/evil/dishonest person
פערד /ferd/ - stupid person
פּרא־אָדם /pere-odem/ - uneducated or stupid person, savage
שלאַנג /shlayng/ - traitor, unfaithful
שרץ /sherets/ - filthy person
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