shlyukha, kurva, shalava

[Alina Makin]

Here is a whole forum on what 'shalava' means to different people:

http://a.farit.ru/i/t-55210.html

I also looked it up in Dal' and he claims that it is a derivative of "shalit'" 
or "shal'noy" (to be naughty, wild, crazy) and is synonymous 
to "sumasbrodnyi", "vzbalmoshnyi", "rezvyi", "shalabolka", and is more common 
in the southern dialect.
The forum also mentions (and I agree with with this opinion) that this word 
can be applied to women of any class/appearance and is more commonly used 
by women about women to describe someone who has no limits to the way 
she can behave (although in some instances it can be used when talking 
about men too).  Moreover, it is not anywhere near as obscene 'shlyukha' and 
especially 'kurva'.  

If 'a tart' sounds too foreign to the American ear, then, perhaps, a 'wild thing' 
might be a good substitute.

Alina Makin
University of Michigan

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