About language :: Useful words

A nation's character can be identified from many things: customs, traditions, folk art, folklore; how people make merry, how they mourn, how they treat others and so on. But a nation's traits are also mirrored by negative qualities, for instance, how people express their anger , how they curse.
When a person curses he most often expresses anger toward another, he upbraids and degrades him. To voice these ill wishes, the person cursing uses words or phrases he considers to be the angriest, foulest and most offensive and which he would never use in ordinary conversation.
Certain nations are notorious for the abundance of their curses. They are often unconsciously mixed into daily conversation and are almost used as adages. The linguistic influence of neighboring nations (in particular Slavic) is felt in certain oaths used by Lithuanians. Emigrants also borrow expletives. from the language of the country where they live. However, we cannot judge the true nature of the Lithuanian nation from these foreign profanities. If we examine the purely Lithuanian swearwords we will note they are distinct from the expletives and curses of other nations.
Lithuanian oaths are an amalgama of folk beliefs from various timespans. They contain remnants of ancient paganism and Christian elements. At times references are made to ancient mythological beings: the god thunder, fairies, witches and certain living creatures; at others, to the devil, hell, Lucifer and so on. Curses are closely related to magic. Primitive man believed in the . magical power of certain words or sayings, thus curses wish : " May thunder strike you down!" or "May the earth swallow you up!" Most Lithuanian expletives are based on the words devil, hell, toad, snake, thunder and serpent. In curses, these words are embellished by other vivid expressions, producing coarse and angry invocations. The most striking curses help the person voice his feelings better and have a stronger impact .on the person cursed.
The format of vulgarities depends on the degree of anger being expressed. The vilest Lithuanian curses are called profanities. They convey the direst things to another: a shameful death, eternal suffering, terrible calamities. For example: "May nine demons take you!", "May you hang yourself from a dead branch!", "May your tongue not fit in your mouth!", "May the spring's first thunder kill you!"
Admonishing curses are more restrained. They do not invoke disaster nor intend vengeance" but merely express hatred for and outrage at another. It is a form of angry namecalling or dismissal of an annoying person. For example: "You pock-marked toad!" "You slough of a serpent!", "You son of a snake!", "You cursed fairy!", "You horned witch!"
Another type of curse is the non-malicious invocation using the format of a profanity. The things such curses intend are certainly not terrible, a smile usually hides behind the anger. For example: "May a rabbit butt you to death!", "The deuce take you!", "May a shoe swallow you!", "May you drown in a spoon!"
Sometimes certain swearwords are replaced by sound-alikes which have nothing to do with evil-wishing. When a person flares up and has an urge to curse, he pulls himself together and stops in midstream. The expletive's angry content is turned into a joke.
From these few paragraphs it is evident that Lithuanians were not accustomed to using vile words" especially those degrading women or certain relationships between people. Their curses" in comparison to those of other nations, are relatively "clean" and "innocent" but they do not lack wit or inventiveness.
For examples of Lithuanian curses please refer to the Lithuanian text since translation would rob them of their colorful meaning.
Some examples of Lithuanian curses: