shlyukha, kurva, shalava

[Kim Braithwaite]

A modest addition to slang uses of the word bitch:



In situations of hierarchy in some bureaucracy, corporate office, street 
gang, or whatever - subject to change when there is jockeying for power - 
"bitch" may refer to someone (X) who is subservient to, under the thumb of 
someone else (Y). Unless X is by nature a lickspittle, he/she probably 
doesn't like it - there is a note of menace - while Y glories in it. Y might 
say "You're my bitch," meaning X has to give in, do as he/she is ordered to, 
act the slavey or lackey as it were. If the relationship is not that 
blatant, and is even voluntary on X's part, and Y doesn't actually use such 
a phrase, the associates of X and Y might snicker among themselves and refer 
to X as "Y's bitch." Or, on the other side, X might say defensively "I'm 
nobody's bitch!"



Clearly this usage is ultimately of misogynistic origin, but I'll leave it 
at that. Someone who is fluent in hip-hop/gangsta rap may have more to say 
on the matter.



Mr Kim Braithwaite, Translator



    "Good is better than evil, because it's nicer" - Mammy Yokum (Al Capp)



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kim Braithwaite" <kbtrans at COX.NET>
To: <SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2007 1:11 PM
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] shlyukha, kurva, shalava


> By now I've forgotten what the Russian context was, but is it at all 
> possible that the distinction, whatever it is, between shlyukha and kurva 
> might have a counterpart in the distinction, whatever it is, between Bitch 
> and Ho in the hip-hop "culture"? Just an uneducated thought.
>
> Mr Kim Braithwaite, Translator
>
>   "Good is better than evil, because it's nicer" - Mammy Yokum (Al Capp)
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Paul B. Gallagher" <paulbg at PBG-TRANSLATIONS.COM>
> To: <SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU>
> Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2007 12:58 PM
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] shlyukha, kurva, shalava
>
>
>> Deborah Hoffman wrote:
>>
>>> Does kurva really not have sexual connotations (to me bitch does
>>> not)? I've heard it in Russian as "whore," though the speakers could
>>> have been influenced by Yiddish in which it is definitely "whore," as
>>> in zwei-groschen-.
>>
>> In reply to your question about "bitch," for me it depends on which sense 
>> is intended:
>>
>> "to bitch" v.i. = "to complain" -- no sexual meaning, unrestricted as to 
>> gender of speaker or target, mild taboo
>>
>> "to bitch out" v.tr. = "to criticize" -- no sexual meaning, usage 
>> slightly favors female speakers and male targets, moderate taboo
>>
>> "bitch" n. = "difficult/unfortunate situation; pity/shame" -- no sexual 
>> meaning, unrestricted as to gender of speaker (target inanimate), 
>> moderate taboo
>>
>> "bitch" n. = "uncooperative/nasty/mean person" -- no sexual meaning, 
>> usage slightly favors male speakers, strongly favors female targets, 
>> strong taboo
>>
>> "bitch" n. = "asshole" as general term of abuse -- no sexual meaning, 
>> usage slightly favors male speakers, strongly favors female targets, 
>> strong taboo
>>
>> "bitch" n. = "slut" -- explicit sexual meaning, usage strongly favors 
>> female targets, strong taboo
>>
>> "bitch" n. = "female dog" -- explicit sexual meaning, target must be 
>> female, mild taboo due to homonymous taboo forms (cf. niggardly)
>>
>> -- 
>> War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
>> --
>> Paul B. Gallagher
>> pbg translations, inc.
>> "Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
>> http://pbg-translations.com
>>
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