Yeah, but AS A Community some time ago we decided to move away from directly insulting someone. Instead we usually use some other ways, so everyone can do the joke but we aren’t actually insulting someone.
Examples for this would be by doing comment chains like
SPRICH
DEUTSCH
DU
SOHN
einer
Wassermelone
(Speak German you son of a Watermelon)
Or instead you can use words that sound similar or are anagrams
E. G.E.Sprich Deutsch du Rosenhuhn
(Speak German you Rose chicken)
The thing is, that with the two examples the direct insult “Hurensohn” (son of a bitch) is no longer written. If you use the stated examples its clear that you just want to do this for the joke and at the same time make sure that it isn’t accidentally unterpreted as an insult.
this may just be too german to me. son of a bitch is not as bad as bastard which in turn is not half as bad as calling your mother a donkey. but i really appreciate your explanations. i just wished i could understand them
I think the idea about this is that “Hurensohn” is an actual insult whereas “Rose chicken” or “son of a watermelon” are just some obviously made up phrases with no real meaning. This is why we decided to prefer the latter.
why is calling someone’s mother a sex worker an actual insult while calling someone’s parent a watermelon is not? and, please, why? what is supposed to be bad in that profession?
as i said before, this may well be some cultural thing i am not aware of - i am not german after all.
still, i smell some deeply misogynist procedure hidden somewhere. please tell me i’m mistaken
No, not at all. It’s just the literal equivalent to let’s say “son of a bitch”. That is a well known phrase in the English language, so is “Hurensohn” in German. The other phrases are just made up and thus nonsensical.
I don’t think this is understood in a misogynistic way in modern times. As I said, it is the exact equivalent of “son of a bitch”, both phrases have a long history dating back to medieval ages where patriarchal society has been common in both regions and yes, there was a negative reputation or even a ban of sex workers, heavily influenced by the church. But I think the phrase lost its original meaning in both languages, permuting to a generic insult in German and probably an expression of surprise in English.
That being said, the reason why calling someone’s dad a watermelon is generally not taken as an insult is just because there is no common understanding of that phrase. A watermelon has no specific characteristics towards positive or negative and it never had looking back in history. That’s why it’s just unclear what it means to call someone a watermelon. I guess you could offend some person by making that statement, but in general it’s just without any real meaning.
By the way, this is not just restricted to German or English. Most European countries have some kind of insult related to prostitutes within their language (e.g. Puta in Spanish, Pute in French, Kurva in Polish, Hoer in Dutch). I’m not trying to say this is a good thing, but it is very common.
i give up and go with “this must be too german”. i don’t think what you describe is how language and insults work. and i fail to lose the impression that you folks have a kinda weird relation to ladies of the nights (and their offspring).
but i really appreciate you trying to close the cultural gap
i thought this was what ich_iel was always about, you aspen sheep? (not sure if i’m doing this right)
Yeah, but AS A Community some time ago we decided to move away from directly insulting someone. Instead we usually use some other ways, so everyone can do the joke but we aren’t actually insulting someone.
Examples for this would be by doing comment chains like
(Speak German you son of a Watermelon)
Or instead you can use words that sound similar or are anagrams
E. G.E.Sprich Deutsch du Rosenhuhn
(Speak German you Rose chicken)
i see. but i’m not sure i understand. Hurensohn is an insult but Rose chicken is not? or son of a watermelon?
do you guys just hate sexworkers? why??
The thing is, that with the two examples the direct insult “Hurensohn” (son of a bitch) is no longer written. If you use the stated examples its clear that you just want to do this for the joke and at the same time make sure that it isn’t accidentally unterpreted as an insult.
this may just be too german to me. son of a bitch is not as bad as bastard which in turn is not half as bad as calling your mother a donkey. but i really appreciate your explanations. i just wished i could understand them
I think the idea about this is that “Hurensohn” is an actual insult whereas “Rose chicken” or “son of a watermelon” are just some obviously made up phrases with no real meaning. This is why we decided to prefer the latter.
why is calling someone’s mother a sex worker an actual insult while calling someone’s parent a watermelon is not? and, please, why? what is supposed to be bad in that profession?
as i said before, this may well be some cultural thing i am not aware of - i am not german after all.
still, i smell some deeply misogynist procedure hidden somewhere. please tell me i’m mistaken
No, not at all. It’s just the literal equivalent to let’s say “son of a bitch”. That is a well known phrase in the English language, so is “Hurensohn” in German. The other phrases are just made up and thus nonsensical.
I don’t think this is understood in a misogynistic way in modern times. As I said, it is the exact equivalent of “son of a bitch”, both phrases have a long history dating back to medieval ages where patriarchal society has been common in both regions and yes, there was a negative reputation or even a ban of sex workers, heavily influenced by the church. But I think the phrase lost its original meaning in both languages, permuting to a generic insult in German and probably an expression of surprise in English.
That being said, the reason why calling someone’s dad a watermelon is generally not taken as an insult is just because there is no common understanding of that phrase. A watermelon has no specific characteristics towards positive or negative and it never had looking back in history. That’s why it’s just unclear what it means to call someone a watermelon. I guess you could offend some person by making that statement, but in general it’s just without any real meaning.
By the way, this is not just restricted to German or English. Most European countries have some kind of insult related to prostitutes within their language (e.g. Puta in Spanish, Pute in French, Kurva in Polish, Hoer in Dutch). I’m not trying to say this is a good thing, but it is very common.
i give up and go with “this must be too german”. i don’t think what you describe is how language and insults work. and i fail to lose the impression that you folks have a kinda weird relation to ladies of the nights (and their offspring).
but i really appreciate you trying to close the cultural gap