Where did the Russian language come from? Where did the mat come from and what does a strong word mean

As sad as it is to realize, mat is an integral part of every language, without which it is impossible to imagine it. But for many centuries they actively fought with obscene language, but they could not win this battle. Let's look at the history of the emergence of swearing in general, and also find out how mats appeared in the Russian language.

Why do people slander?

No matter what anyone says, absolutely all people, without exception, use swearing in their speech. Another thing is that someone does this very rarely or uses relatively harmless expressions.

For many years, psychologists have been studying the reasons why we swear, although we know that this not only characterizes us badly, but can also become offensive to others.

Several main motives why people swear are highlighted.

• Insulting an opponent.
• An attempt to make one's own speech more emotional.
• As an interjection.
• To relieve psychological or physical stress from the one who speaks.
• as a manifestation of rebellion. An example of this behavior can be seen in the movie "Paul: The Secret Material". His main character (whom her father brought up in a strict atmosphere, protecting from everything), having learned that it is possible to swear, began to actively use swear words. And sometimes out of place or in strange combinations, which looked very comical.
• To attract attention. Many musicians use profanity in their songs to make themselves look special.
• In order to successfully adapt to a certain environment in which swear words replace ordinary ones.
• As a tribute to fashion.

I wonder which of these reasons you swear?

Etymology

Before finding out how swear words appeared, it will be interesting to consider the history of the emergence of the noun "mat" or "swearing" itself.

It is generally accepted that it was formed from the term "mother". Linguists believe that this concept, so respected by all, turned into the name of obscene language due to the fact that the first curses among the Slavs were aimed at insulting their mothers. It was from here that the expressions "send to the mother" and "swear" came from.

By the way, the presence of the term in other Slavic languages ​​testifies to the antiquity of the term. In modern Ukrainian, a similar name is used "matyuki", and in Belarusian - "mat" and "mataryzna".

Some scholars are trying to connect this word with its homonym from chess. They claim that it was borrowed from Arabic through French and means "death of the king". However, this version is highly doubtful, since in this sense the word appeared in Russian only in the 18th century.

Considering the question of where the mats came from, it is worth finding out what other nations call their counterparts. So, the Poles use the expressions plugawy język (dirty language) and wulgaryzmy (vulgarisms), the British - profanity (blasphemy), the French - impiété (disrespect), and the Germans - Gottlosigkeit (godlessness).

Thus, by studying the names of the very concept of "mat" in different languages, you can find out exactly what types of words were considered the first curses.

The most famous versions explaining where mats came from

Historians have not yet come to a unified decision regarding the origin of the battle. Reflecting on where mats came from, they agree that they were originally associated with religion.

Some believe that in ancient times magical properties were attributed to swear words. No wonder one of the synonyms for swearing is curses. That is why their pronunciation was forbidden, as it could cause someone else's or one's own misfortune. Echoes of this belief can be found today.

Others believe that for the ancestors, the mat was a kind of weapon against enemies. During disputes or battles, it was customary to blaspheme the gods protecting opponents, supposedly this made them weaker.

There is also a third theory that tries to explain where mats came from. According to her, curses related to the genitals and sex were not curses, but, on the contrary, prayers to the ancient pagan gods of fertility. That is why they were said in difficult times. That is, in fact, they were an analogue of the modern interjection: "Oh, God!"

Despite the apparent delusional nature of this version, it is worth noting that it can be quite close to the truth, because it explains the appearance of sexocentric profanity.

Unfortunately, none of the above theories gives an unambiguous answer to the question: "Who created the swear words?" It is generally accepted that they are the fruit of folk art.

Some believe that curses were invented by priests. And their "flock" were memorized as spells to use, as needed.

A Brief History of Profanity

Having considered theories about who invented swear words and why, it is worth tracing their evolution in society.

After people came out of the caves, began to build cities and organize states with all their attributes, the attitude towards swearing began to acquire a negative connotation. Swear words were forbidden, and those who uttered them were severely punished. Moreover, blasphemy was considered the most terrible. For them, they could be expelled from the community, branded with a red-hot iron, or even executed.

At the same time, for sex-centric, animalistic expressions or those associated with bodily functions, the punishment was much less. And sometimes it was completely absent. This is probably why they were used more often and evolved, and their number grew.

With the spread of Christianity in Europe, another war was declared against obscene language, which was also lost.

It is interesting that, in some countries, as soon as the power of the church began to weaken, the use of obscenities became a symbol of free thought. This happened during the French Revolution, when it was fashionable to vehemently scold the monarchy and religion.

Contrary to prohibitions, there were professional detractors in the armies of many European states. Their duties were to curse enemies during the battle and demonstrate intimate organs for greater persuasiveness.

Today, obscene language continues to be condemned by most religions, but is not punished as severely as it was centuries ago. Their public use is punishable by small fines.

Despite this, in the last few decades, one can observe another transformation of swearing from taboo into something fashionable. Today they are everywhere - in songs, books, films and television. Moreover, millions of souvenirs with obscene inscriptions and signs are sold annually.

Features of the mat in the languages ​​of different peoples

Although attitudes towards swearing in different countries have been identical in all centuries, each nation has formed its own list of swear words.

For example, traditional Ukrainian swearing is built on the basis of the names of the defecation process and its product. In addition, animal names are used, most commonly dogs and pigs. The name of the delicious pig became obscene, probably during the period of the Cossacks. The main enemies of the Cossacks were Turks and Tatars - that is, Muslims. And for them, the pig is an unclean animal, comparison with which is very insulting. Therefore, in order to provoke the enemy and unbalance him, the Ukrainian soldiers compared the enemies with pigs.

Many mats of the English language came to it from German. For example, these are the words shit and fuck. Who would have thought!

At the same time, less popular swear words were indeed borrowed from Latin - these are defecate (to defecate), excrete (to excrete), fornicate (to fornicate) and copulate (to copulate). As you can see, all words of this kind are junk that is not often used today.

But the no less popular noun ass is relatively young and became widely known only from the second half of the 19th century. thanks to sailors who accidentally distorted the pronunciation of the term "ass" (arse).

It is worth noting that in every English-speaking country there are curses that are specific to its inhabitants. For example, the above word is popular in the USA.

As for other countries, in Germany and France, most obscene expressions are associated with dirt or sloppiness.

Arabs can go to jail for mating, especially if they offend Allah or the Koran.

Where did swear words come from in Russian

Having dealt with other languages, it is worth paying attention to Russian. After all, it is in it that obscene language is actually slang.

So, where did the Russian mate come from?

There is a version that the Mongol-Tatars taught the ancestors to swear. However, today it has already been proven that this theory is erroneous. A number of written sources of an earlier period (than the appearance of the horde in the Slavic lands) were found, in which obscene expressions are recorded.

Thus, understanding where the mat came from in Rus', we can conclude that it has existed here since time immemorial.

By the way, in many ancient chronicles there are references to the fact that princes often quarreled with each other. It does not indicate which words they used.

It is possible that the ban on swearing existed even before the advent of Christianity. Therefore, in the official documentation, swearing was not mentioned, which makes it difficult to at least approximately establish where the mate in Rus' came from.

But if we take into account that the most popular obscene words are found mainly only in Slavic languages, it can be assumed that they all originated in Proto-Slavic. Apparently, the ancestors slandered no less than their descendants.

It is difficult to say when they appeared in Russian. After all, the most popular of them were inherited from the Proto-Slavic, which means they were in it from the very beginning.

Words that are consonant with some of the curses so popular today, which we will not quote for ethical reasons, can be found in birch bark letters of the 12th-13th centuries.

Thus, to the question: "Where did obscenities come from in the Russian language?", we can safely answer that they were already present in it during the formation period.

It is interesting that in the future, radically new expressions were not invented. In fact, these words have become the core on which the entire system of Russian obscene language is built.

But on their basis, hundreds of words and expressions of the same root were created over the next centuries, which almost every Russian is so proud of today.

Speaking about where the Russian mat came from, one cannot fail to mention borrowings from other languages. This is especially true for the present. After the collapse of the USSR, an active penetration into the speech of Anglicisms and Americanisms began. Among them were obscene ones.

In particular, this word "gondon", or "gandon" (linguists still argue about its spelling), formed from condom (condom). Interestingly, in English it is not obscene. But in Russian still how. Therefore, when answering the question of where the Russian obscenity came from, one should not forget that obscene expressions so widespread today in our territory also have foreign roots.

To sin or not to sin - that is the question!

Interested in the history of obscene language, most often people ask two questions: "Who invented swearing?" and "Why is it said that it is a sin to use swear words?"

If we have dealt with the first question, then it's time to move on to the second.

So, those who call the habit of scolding - sinful, refer to its prohibition in the Bible.

Indeed, in the Old Testament, slander is condemned more than once, while in most cases it refers to just such a variety of it as blasphemy - which is indeed a sin.

Also in the New Testament it is specified that any blasphemy (slander) can be forgiven by the Lord, except for the one directed at the Holy Spirit (Gospel of Mark 3:28-29). That is, it is swearing directed against God that is again condemned, while its other types are considered not so serious violations.

By the way, one should take into account the fact that not all obscenities relate to the Lord and His blasphemy. Moreover, simple phrases-interjections: "My God!", "God knows", "Oh, Lord!", "Mother of God" and similar technically can also be considered a sin based on the commandment: "Do not pronounce the name of the Lord, God yours, in vain, for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who takes His name in vain" (Ex. 20:7).

But such expressions (which do not carry any negative attitude and are not curses) are found in almost any language.

As for the other authors of the Bible who condemn the mat, it is Solomon in the "Proverbs" and the Apostle Paul in the epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians. In these cases, it was about swear words, and not blasphemy. However, unlike the Ten Commandments, swearing is not presented as a sin in these passages of the Bible. It is positioned as a negative phenomenon that should be avoided.

Following this logic, it turns out that from the point of view of the Holy Scriptures, only blasphemous obscenities, as well as those exclamation expressions in which the Almighty is somehow mentioned (including interjections) can be considered sin. But other curses, even those that contain references to demons and other evil spirits (if they do not blaspheme the Creator in any way), are a negative phenomenon, but technically they cannot be considered a full-fledged sin.

Moreover, the Bible mentions cases when Christ Himself scolded, calling the Pharisees "spawn of vipers" (spawn of vipers), which was clearly not a compliment. By the way, John the Baptist also used the same curse. In total, it occurs 4 times in the New Testament. Draw your own conclusions...

Traditions of the use of mats in world literature

Although it was not welcome either in the past or today, obscene expressions are often used by writers. Most often, this is done in order to create an appropriate atmosphere in your book or to distinguish a character from others.

Today, this is no surprise to anyone, but in the past it was a rarity and, as a rule, became the cause of scandals.

Another gem of world literature, which is known for its numerous use of swearing, is Jerome Salinger's novel "The Catcher in the Rye".

By the way, the play "Pygmalion" by Bernard Shaw was also criticized in its time for using the word bloody, which was considered abusive in British English of that time.

Traditions of using obscenities in Russian and Ukrainian literature

As for Russian literature, Pushkin also "dabbled" in obscenities, composing rhymed epigrams, while Mayakovsky actively used them without hesitation.

The modern Ukrainian literary language originates from the poem "Aeneid" by Ivan Kotlyarevsky. She can be considered the champion in the number of obscene expressions of the 19th century.

And although after the release of this book, swearing continued to be a taboo for writers, this did not prevent Les Poderevyansky from turning into a classic of Ukrainian literature, which he continues to be to this day. But most of his grotesque plays are not only full of obscenities, in which the characters simply talk, but are also frankly politically incorrect.

Interesting facts

• In the modern world, swearing continues to be considered a negative phenomenon. At the same time, it is actively studied and systematized. Therefore, collections of the most famous curses have been created for almost every language. In the Russian Federation, these are two swear words written by Alexei Plutser-Sarno.
• As you know, the legislation of many countries prohibits the publication of photographs that depict indecent inscriptions. Marilyn Manson once took advantage of this, who got the paparazzi. He just wrote the swear word on his own face with a marker. And although no one began to publish such photos, they still leaked to the Internet.
• Anyone who likes to use profanity for no apparent reason should think about their own mental health. The fact is that this may not be a harmless habit, but one of the symptoms of schizophrenia, progressive paralysis or Tourette's syndrome. In medicine, there are even several special terms for mental deviations associated with swearing - coprolalia (an irresistible desire to swear for no reason), coprography (an attraction to writing profanity) and copropraxia (a painful desire to show obscene gestures).

Mat, swearing, obscene expressions are an ambiguous phenomenon. On the one hand, there are poorly educated and uncivilized people who cannot even connect two words without swearing, on the other hand, quite intelligent and well-mannered people sometimes swear too. Sometimes these words themselves fly out of our mouths. After all, there are situations when it is impossible to express your attitude to what is happening differently ...

So, let's figure out what this phenomenon is and where it came from.

Math is a kind of profanity in Russian and other languages. Mafia is condemned by society for the most part and is perceived negatively. And sometimes it can even be regarded as hooliganism. In addition, there are cases when the obscenity was used in the works of classical authors such as Pushkin (yes, it’s hard to believe, but it’s true), Mayakovsky and others.

If someone covers someone or something with an endless stream of swear words, moreover, doing it in their own intricate way, then this is called a “three-story mat”.

Origin

There is an opinion that the matershin was brought to our land by the Tatar-Mongol hordes. And that until this very moment in Rus' they did not know swear words at all. Naturally, this is not so. Because a position in the spirit of “everything that is dirty has been brought to us from outside” is very convenient, and so characteristic of many of us.
Nomads have nothing to do with it, because. they were not in the habit of swearing. This fact was noted back in the 13th century by the Italian traveler Plano Carpini, who then visited Central Asia. He wrote that the Tatar-Mongols did not have swear words at all, and vice versa, Russian chronicle sources tell us that obscenities were widespread in Rus' long before the Horde yoke.
Modern foul language is rooted in distant linguistic antiquity.

The most important swear word is the word x **, the very thing that can be found on the walls and fences of the whole world :)

If we take this cult word of three letters, then the word "dick" also corresponds to it. In Old Russian, “fuck” means to cross out a cross over a cross. And the word "dick" means "cross". We are used to thinking that this word is used to refer to the male genital organ, along with the same three-letter swear word. The fact is that in Christian philosophical symbolism, the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified is considered not as an instrument of shameful execution, but as a victory of life over death. Thus, the word "dick" was used in Rus' to denote the word "cross". The letter "x" in Russian is denoted in the form of crossed lines, and this is not just so, because Christ, Christianity, temple, dick (cross). There is also an opinion, according to which, the phrase "Fuck you all on ***!" was invented by the defenders of Slavic paganism. They shouted it cursing the Christians who came to plant their faith. Initially, this expression meant a curse, paraphrasing it can be said that they meant "Go to the cross!", i.e. let them crucify you like your God." But in connection with the victory of Orthodoxy in Rus', the term "cross" ceased to have a negative meaning.

In Christianity, for example, foul language is considered a great sin, and the same is true in Islam. Rus' adopted Christianity later than its Western neighbors. By this time, mat, along with pagan customs, was firmly rooted in Russian society. With the advent of Christianity in Rus', a struggle began with swear words. Orthodoxy has declared war on the mat. There were cases when in ancient Rus' foul language was punished with whips. Swearing was a sign of a slave, a smerd. It was believed that a noble person, besides Orthodox, would never use foul language. A hundred years ago, a person who used bad language in public could be taken to the police station. And the Soviet government was at war with the foul language. According to Soviet law, foul language in a public place was to be punished with a fine. In fact, this measure of punishment was used very rarely. Along with vodka, mat at that time was already considered a certain attribute of valiant prowess. The militiamen, the military, the higher officials cursed. Top management has a "strong word" and is now in use. If the leader uses obscene expressions in a conversation with someone, this means special trust.

Only in an intelligent environment was swearing obscenities a sign of bad taste. But what about Pushkin, you say, and Ranevskaya? According to contemporaries, Pushkin did not use rude expressions in his life. However, in some of his "secret" works one can find obscene words. It was just shocking - a slap in the face of a refined society that rejected him. Ah, you are so polished - so here is my "muzhik" answer. Ranevskaya's mat was an integral part of her bohemian image - the image, as they say now. For that time it was original - internally very thin nature, outwardly behaves like a man - smokes smelly cigarettes, swears. Now, when the mat sounds at every step, such a trick will no longer work.

In general, linguists believe that the roots of swear words are in many Indo-European languages, but they only managed to truly develop on our land.

So, three main swear words denoting male and female genital organs and the sexual act itself as such. Why did these words, which just mean things inherent in all living beings, eventually become swear words? Apparently our ancestors attached great importance to the reproductive function. The words that denoted the reproductive organs were given a magical meaning. It was forbidden to pronounce them in vain, so as not to bring damage to people.

The first violators of this prohibition were sorcerers who were engaged in causing damage to people and doing other charming things. After, this taboo began to be violated by those who wanted to show that the law was not written for them. Gradually, obscenities began to be expressed just like that, from the fullness of feelings, for example. At the same time, all this developed, and the main words were overgrown with a mass of words derived from them.

There are three main linguistic versions of the introduction of swear words into the Russian language, based on studies conducted at different times by various historians and linguists:

1. Russian mat - the legacy of the Tatar-Mongol yoke (one of the theories, which, as we have already found out, is untenable in itself);
2. Russian swear words once had two meanings, subsequently displacing one of the meanings or merging together and turning the meaning of the word into a negative one;
3. Mat was and is an integral part of the occult and pagan rites that exist in different languages ​​among different peoples.

There is no single point of view where the word mat itself came from. In some reference manuals, you can find a version that "mate" is a conversation. But why is the word "mate" so similar to the word mother?
There is a version related to the fact that the word "mat" came into the Russian language after the appearance of the expression "send to mother." In fact, this is one of the first expressions that became obscene. After the appearance of this particular phrase, many words that existed earlier in the language began to be classified as abusive and indecent.

In practice, until the 18th century, those words that we now classify as obscene and abusive were not at all such. Words that have become obscene, previously denoted either some physiological features (or parts) of the human body, or were generally ordinary words.
Relatively recently (only some thousand years ago), a word meaning a woman of easy virtue was included in the number of obscene words, it comes from the word “vomit”, which is quite common in ancient Rus', which means “to spew out an abomination”.

The verb "slut" in the Old Russian language had the meaning - "to idle talk, to deceive." In the Old Russian language there was also a verb fornication - "wander". Two meanings of this word are distinguished: 1) deviation from the direct path and 2) illegal, celibate cohabitation. There is a version that there was a kind of merger of two verbs (bloody and fornication).

In the Old Russian language there was a word "mudo", meaning "male testicle". The word was little used and did not have an obscene connotation. And then, apparently, it has come down to our times, turning from little used to common.

Addition to the article from Artyom Alenin:

The topic of swearing in Russia is a very fertile and popular topic. At the same time, a lot of untrue facts and rumors regarding the mat wander around the Internet. For example: “Scientists once set up an experiment. They cursed the water with a choice obscenity, after which they poured it over the seeds of wheat. As a result, of those grains that were watered with mat, only 48% sprouted, and the seeds watered with holy water sprouted by 93%. Naturally, this is all lies and fiction. You can't "charge" water with just one word. As they say, no one has yet repealed the laws of chemistry and physics. By the way, this myth was once perfectly dispelled in the MythBusters show.

Mat very often try to ban. Various laws are constantly coming out that restrict the use of obscenities in the media. But you don't have to do this! The reason lies in the following aspects.
First, checkmate is not necessarily an offensive word. Work for a week at a construction site and you will realize that swearing is a great way to communicate. Especially swearing helps to communicate with citizens of the union republics, who, apart from swearing, do not understand anything else :)

In addition, without using a mat, you can insult a person and even bring him to murder or suicide. So it’s not the mat that should be banned, but insults and humiliation in the media.

Secondly, mat is a word that reflects a very deep feeling. Checkmate is associated with strong negative feelings like rage or anger. And therefore, it is impossible to prohibit swearing - for this you need to change your consciousness. Theoretically, if a child is fenced off from the mat from childhood, then he will not swear. However, he will still come up with words that will express anger.
The fact that a person with amnesia, even if he does not remember the language, can still use obscenities speaks about the sensual background of the mat.

Our legislators are smart people, and therefore there is no article punishing swearing. But there are logical articles about slander and insult. Moreover, these articles have recently been canceled, since the responsibility for them is too low (public apology). But then these articles were returned again. Apparently, the state realized that the absence of at least some kind of punishment would let people off the “chain”. This is especially true of swearing in the media.

Interestingly, in Europe and the United States, it is not the mat itself that is prohibited, but the insults (which is logical). At the same time, one should not think that there are no swear words in the English language. According to statistics, there are more swear words in English than in Russian. Mata is also very common in Dutch and French (with their famous "whore" now found in Polish and other languages).

Thank you for your attention!

P.S. The fact that we talk so loyally about swearing does not mean that you need to swear on our site :) So write comments in the usual civilized style.

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Swearing accompanies Rus' from the moment of its inception. The authorities, social formations, culture and the Russian language itself are changing, but the obscenity remains unchanged.

Native speech

For almost the entire 20th century, the version dominated that the words that we call obscene came into the Russian language from the Mongol-Tatars. However, this is misleading. Swearing is already found in Novgorod birch bark letters dating back to the 11th century: that is, long before the birth of Genghis Khan.

Revolt against matriarchy

The concept of "mate" is rather late. In Rus', from time immemorial, it was called "obscene barking." It must be said that initially the obscene language included exclusively the use of the word "mother" in a vulgar, sexual context. The words denoting the reproductive organs, which we today refer to the mat, did not refer to the “bark of the mother”.

There are dozens of versions of the checkmate function. Some scholars suggest that swearing appeared at the turn of the transition of society from matriarchy to patriarchy and initially meant the imperious assertion of a man who, having passed the rite of intercourse with the “mother” of the clan, publicly announced this to his fellow tribesmen.

dog tongue

True, the previous version does not explain the use of the word "barking" in any way. On this account, there is another hypothesis, according to which "swearing" had a magical, protective function and was called "dog language". In the Slavic (and Indo-European as a whole) tradition, dogs were considered animals of the "afterlife" world and served the goddess of death, Morena. A dog that served an evil witch could turn into a person (even an acquaintance) and come with evil thoughts (inflict evil eye, damage or even kill). So, having felt something was wrong, the potential victim of Morena, just had to utter a protective “mantra”, that is, send him to the “mother”. It was his time to expose the evil demon, the "son of Morena", after which he had to leave the man alone.

It is curious that even in the 20th century, the people still believed that “swearing” scares away devils and it makes sense to swear even “for the sake of prevention”, without seeing a direct threat.

calling for the good

As already mentioned, the Old Russian words denoting the reproductive organs began to be attributed to "swearing" much later. In the pagan era, these lexemes were in common use and did not have a swearing connotation. Everything changed with the advent of Christianity in Rus' and the beginning of the displacement of the old "nasty" cults. The words of sexual coloring were replaced by “Church Slavinisms: copulate, childbearing oud, penis, etc. In fact, there was a serious rational grain in this taboo. The fact is that the use of the former "terms" was ritualized and associated with pagan fertility cults, special conspiracies, calls for good. By the way, the very word “good” (in the old Slavic - “bolgo”) meant “a lot” and was used in the beginning precisely in an “agricultural” context.

It took the Church many centuries to reduce agrarian rituals to a minimum, but the “fertile” words remained in the form of “relics”: however, already in the status of curses.

Censorship of the Empress

There is another word that is unfairly referred to today as swearing. For the purposes of self-censorship, let's designate it as "the word with the letter" B ". This lexeme quietly existed in the elements of the Russian language (it can even be found in church texts and official state letters), meaning "fornication", "deceit", "delusion", "heresy", "mistake". The people often used this word to dissolute women. Perhaps, in the time of Anna Ioannovna, this word began to be used with greater frequency and, probably, in the latter context, because it was this empress who imposed a ban on it.

"Thieves" censorship

As you know, in a criminal, or "criminal" environment, swearing is strictly taboo. For a carelessly dropped obscene expression of a prisoner, a much more serious responsibility can await than an administrative fine for public obscene language in the wild. Why do the Urkagans dislike the Russian mate so much? First of all, that swearing can pose a threat to "don't care" or "thieves' music." The keepers of the thieves' traditions are well aware that if the mat displaces the slang, then they will lose their authority, their "uniqueness" and "exclusivity", and most importantly the power in prison, the elite of the criminal world - in other words, "chaos" will begin. It is curious that criminals (unlike statesmen) are well aware of what any language reform and borrowing of other people's words can lead to.

renaissance mata

Today's time can be called the renaissance of swearing. This is facilitated by the boom of social networks, where people got the opportunity to swear in public. With some reservations, we can talk about the legitimization of obscene language. There was even a fashion for swearing: if earlier it was the lot of the low strata of society, now the so-called intelligentsia, the creative class, the bourgeoisie, women and children also resort to the “savory word”. It is difficult to say what is the reason for such a revival of “barking obscene language”. But we can safely say that this will not increase crops, matriarchy will not win, it will not cast out demons ...

RUSSIAN MAT

Every person in Russia from early childhood begins to hear words that he calls obscene, obscene, obscene. Even if a child grows up in a family where swearing is not used, he still hears it on the street, becomes interested in the meaning of these words, and pretty soon his peers interpret swear words and expressions for him. In Russia, attempts have been repeatedly made to combat the use of obscene words, fines have been introduced for swearing in public places, but to no avail. There is an opinion that swearing in Russia flourishes due to the low cultural level of the population, however, I can name many names of highly cultured people of the past and present, who belonged and belong to the most highly intelligent and cultured elite and at the same time are big swearers in everyday life and not shy away from obscenities in their works. I do not justify them and do not urge everyone to use the mat. God forbid! I am categorically against swearing in public places, against the use of obscene words in works of art, and especially on television. However, the mat exists, lives and is not going to die, no matter how we protest against its use. And you don't have to be hypocrites, close your eyes, you need to study this phenomenon both from the psychological side and from the point of view of linguistics.

I started collecting, studying and interpreting swear words as a student in the sixties. The defense of my Ph.D. thesis was held in such secrecy, as if it were about the latest nuclear research, and immediately after the defense of the thesis, the dissertation went into the special libraries of libraries. Later, in the seventies, when I was preparing my doctoral dissertation, it was necessary to clarify some words, and I could not get my own dissertation from the Lenin Library without special permission from the authorities. So it was quite recently, when, as in a well-known anecdote, everyone pretended that they knew diamat, although no one knew him, but everyone knew mat, and pretended that they did not know him.

Currently, every second writer uses obscene words in his works, we hear swearing from the television screen, but for several years not a single publishing house that I proposed to publish a scientific explanatory dictionary of swear words decided to release it. And only the dictionary, shortened and adapted for a wide range of readers, saw the light of day.

To illustrate the words in this dictionary, I widely used folklore: obscene anecdotes, ditties that have long lived among the people, were often used, but were published in recent years, as well as quotations from the works of the classics of Russian literature from Alexander Pushkin to Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Many quotes are taken from the poems of Sergei Yesenin, Alexander Galich, Alexander Tvardovsky, Vladimir Vysotsky and other poets. Of course, I could not do without the works of Ivan Barkov, without the "Russian cherished tales" by A. I. Afanasiev, without folk obscene songs, poems and poems, without modern writers such as Yuz Aleshkovsky and Eduard Limonov. A treasure trove for researchers of Russian swearing is a cycle of hooligan novels by Pyotr Aleshkin, which are almost completely written in obscene words. I could illustrate this dictionary only with quotations from his works.

The dictionary is intended for a wide range of readers: for those who are interested in swear words, for literary editors, for translators from the Russian language, etc.

In this dictionary, I did not indicate in what environment the word functions: whether it refers to criminal jargon, to youth slang, or to jargon of sexual minorities, because the boundaries between them are rather shaky. There are no words that would be used in one environment. I also indicated only the obscene meaning of the word, leaving other, ordinary meanings outside of it.

And the last. You hold in your hands the explanatory dictionary "Russian obscenities"! Remember that it contains only obscene, obscene, obscene words. You will not meet others!

Professor Tatyana Akhmetova.