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
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
Uhm… Well I tried my best, sorry.