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u/Falikosek Nov 26 '22
welcome to languages sharing similar etymology, population: literally the entirety of Europe
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u/Trzykolek Nov 26 '22
welcome to languages sharing similar etymology, population: literally the entirety of
Europethe World
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u/Prokonsul_Piotrus Nov 26 '22
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u/Zelcki Nov 26 '22
An i the only person in Poland who uses the word kurwa as whore only like 3% of the time?
I'm pretty sure everyone uses it as saying fuck when they are angry or get hurt
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u/Jojoseph_Gray Nov 26 '22
Yeah, I guess referring to a literal prostitute as "kurwa" has generally fell out of fashion. It's just.. not used that often in everyday speech.. for most people.
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u/canaridante Łódzkie Nov 26 '22
I mostly encounter it in books at this point tbh
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u/zumun Nov 26 '22
Interesting. I'd been hearing "iść na kurwy" quite often, as well as "sprzedajna kurwa" which also implies the "whore" definition.
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u/yevvieart Zachodniopomorskie Nov 26 '22
nahhh, my mother sometimes drops "no co za kurwa" about women she had to deal with that were particularly nasty. heard that a lot from other people too.
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u/Zelcki Nov 26 '22
Maybe it's just me being me, but I usually say sth else.
In my head kurwa is the same as fuck, although I might use it more often in that context from now on
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u/dziki_z_lasu Łódzkie Nov 26 '22 edited Nov 26 '22
Good old Indo-European word "kehros". English "wh*re" and expecialy German "Hure" means the same and are quite similar to West Slavic kurwa/kurva, but I would never guess connection to the French "Mon Cheri" - my darling LOL
The biggest difference is that in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary it is also a general curse, just like the word 'f*ck.".
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u/kouyehwos Nov 26 '22
This is just one of the proposed etymologies, and it’s phonetically quite unlikely; Slavic “u” pretty much always comes from earlier diphthongs ou/au, not from *ā.
I think it’s far more likely that „kurwa” is related to „kura” (hen), compare other vulgar words like South Slavic “kurac”.
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u/zbysior Nov 26 '22
many eastern and central Europeans are using it, even heard a Jewish person use it. im curious where it came from too
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u/ukrokit Nov 26 '22
It's Proto Slavic. Many Slavic languages have similar words: Курва in Ukrainian, Kurva in Czech, etc.
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u/Preventive_potato Nov 27 '22
Курва in Belarusian either :) Have heard it many times my grandfather called my grandmother in that way 🥲
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u/DutchHomework Małopolskie Nov 26 '22
I read that this is because roosters used to be called 'kurwa' (the same way hens are nowadays called 'kura') and roosters were known to mate with many different hens.
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u/hyvyys Nov 26 '22
Rooster is kur. And since rooster is cock, kurwa is the person dealing with a lot of roosters
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u/DutchHomework Małopolskie Nov 27 '22
Rooster is kur.
No? Not is Polish. In Polish it's kogut.
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u/hyvyys Nov 27 '22
Antiquated Polish.
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u/DutchHomework Małopolskie Nov 27 '22
So you should have said 'was', not 'is'.
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u/hyvyys Nov 28 '22
It's still used, for instance in the phrase “kur zapiał”
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u/DutchHomework Małopolskie Nov 28 '22
Decide, you said antiquated, and now you've backed out again.
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u/Separate-Bag2516 Nov 26 '22
The most universal word ever. It has plenty of meanings, depending on the context of the whole sentence. Can be also used as a comma while spoken ;)
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u/TeymurovFuad Nov 26 '22
Comma 😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
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u/VlachShepherd Nov 26 '22
In Polish, it's a curseword ("whore", but it doesn't have to be directed at anyone, it can simply be an expression of general dissatisfaction or annoyance).
Some Romance languages have words derived from Latin "curva" (unsurprisingly, it means "curve"), which usually are not cursewords, but descriptors of a bent shape.
I highly doubt that Polish "kurwa" has any association with Latin. Although humorously, Poles sometimes euphemistically call cursewords in general "Latin") it's an ironic joke to suggest that someone crude enough to curse in public would know Latin).
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u/Kamarovsky Pomorskie Nov 26 '22
Kurwa and curva aren't related, but funnily enough, kurwa is related to Italian 'cara' meaning 'beloved/dear'
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u/KrulNocy Nov 26 '22
i always thought as a kid that polish kurwa derived from other languages curva because prostitutes were standing on street corners xdd
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u/_StevenSeagull_ Nov 26 '22 edited Nov 26 '22
I have a Polish friend and every third word is 'Kurwa'
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u/ScenePlayful1872 Nov 26 '22 edited Nov 26 '22
I had a Polish friend in the States who spoke English pretty well. But he added so many Kurwa when speaking that some people thought that was his name
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u/Judasz10 Nov 26 '22
OP literally just find out about etymology. Wait till you find out some words are taken from other languages and are just localized.
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u/dziki_z_lasu Łódzkie Nov 26 '22 edited Nov 26 '22
Yeah, as Polish, never learning any Romance language, I once watched a challenge on the ecolinguist channel with a Latin guy describing things to if I remember correctly Hispanic, Italian and Romanian. I guessed 3/5 object descriptions, moreover giving an answer in ... slightly modified Latin. Placenta in Latin is placek in Polish - pancake, however I am pretty sure, it is an Indo-European word.
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u/Judasz10 Nov 26 '22
I recommend you search for a dude speaking slavic langague on yt. You can hear its not Polish but at the same time you understand majority of it. Super cool imo.
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u/dziki_z_lasu Łódzkie Nov 26 '22
As I know, the language every Slav understand is called Slovakian. Carpato-Rusyn is even better, but not many people use it.
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u/Judasz10 Nov 26 '22
There is an artificially created slav language I believe. I dont have time to look for the video myself but you can look for it if you find it intresting.
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u/RichardSeven Nov 26 '22
Lots of words are shared amongst slavic languages. So, it is a Polish word, just not exclusively.
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u/Raccoon_2020 Nov 26 '22
I have no idea about the origins of this word, but I don’t care about what people say, for me it will always be a Polish word. The most hilarious Polish word. And by the way, here in Western Ukraine we say it as well! Back when I was a kid I heard “kurwa” and thought it’s a regular slavik curse😂
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u/Slav_Shaman Mazowieckie Nov 26 '22
It's more of an overall Slavic word than only Polish. But most often used in Polish as a swear word.
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u/macguffinstv Nov 26 '22
My buddy Fox said it's the most important Polish word I need to learn before moving there.
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u/journeyman369 Nov 26 '22
Heard it used like every three words or so - especially at work back in the day.
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u/KarolTheBala Nov 26 '22
Polish is a Slavic language. Other Slavic languages are related. Same reason Italian and Spanish are similar.
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u/Vix_00 Nov 27 '22
It’s just common word for Slavs, maybe there is study that explains region of the origin. Nowadays it’s not exclusive for Poles but I think that we are most known for use of this word.
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u/tyr8338 Nov 27 '22
You can say kurwa when you`re sad, you can say kurwa when you`re happy. Kurwa can express you`re excited and it can mean you`re down or depressed.
Kurwa, ale zajebiscie.
Kurwa, nie wierze, co ona odpierdolila.
As long as Poland exists, kurwa is integral part of it.
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u/Tw_izted Nov 26 '22
kurwa isnt just polish, it's also present in other slavic and non-slavic languages, goes as follows:
czech, slovak, ukrainian, belarusian, bulgarian, macedonian, croatian, serbian and bosnian (kurva, slavic)
hungarian (kurva, uralic)
albanian (kurvë, language isolate/indo-european)
and romanian (curvă, romance)
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u/dziki_z_lasu Łódzkie Nov 26 '22
From not Slavic languages also German "Hure" or English "wh*re" are also related.
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u/Reddiciarz Nov 26 '22
Only in Polish is it correctly stressed. In all other languages it sounds stupidly unnatural and is only used occasionally. There will always be some Slavic chauvinist on such topics and he will talk stupid like you.
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u/DodoJurajski Nov 26 '22
It's from Latin.
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u/Zekubiki Nov 26 '22
In Polish, it's a curseword ("whore", but it doesn't have to be directed at anyone, it can simply be an expression of general dissatisfaction or annoyance).
Some Romance languages have words derived from Latin "curva" (unsurprisingly, it means "curve"), which usually are not cursewords, but descriptors of a bent shape.
I highly doubt that Polish "kurwa" has any association with Latin. Although humorously, Poles sometimes euphemistically call cursewords in general "Latin") it's an ironic joke to suggest that someone crude enough to curse in public would know Latin).
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u/Livid_Tailor7701 Nov 27 '22
5k ludzi, którzy zaznaczyli opcje TAK, nigdy nie miało słownika wyrazów obcych w ręku. Albo nie zna żadnego innego języka Kurwa występuje w językach słowiańskich, a curve pojawia się też w lancinskoch, grece, Frankowskich i germanskich.
Więc jest to słowo. Używane w Polsce, ale nie polskie. Jak telefon czy gieroj.
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u/Reddiciarz Nov 28 '22
Nie ma bardziej polskiego słowa niż kurwa, idioto. A wszystkie inne śmieszne, zniekształcone z nieprawidłowym akcentem kurwy, jak twoja matka. Są zdecydowanie rzadziej używane niż w języku polskim. Jak w Polsce 100% ludzi użyło słowa kurwa a w ościennych krajach może 5% ludzi użyło jej zniekształconej wersji. To skąd to słowo może pochodzić?
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u/FrozMind Pomorskie Nov 26 '22
- no kurwa
- no, kurwa
- results, kurwa