5 Ukrainian phrases to start swearing right now
so Twitter won't know that you are swearing. Cheat sheet part 1.
Just like a promised, here is the first cheat sheet covering some of what we talked about in our 1st, 2nd and 3rd Swearing with Margo 101meet-ups. Since Ukrainians have so many ways to swear and curse , that even after three meet-ups we had hadn't cover it all, I decided to publish these cheat sheets in parts, so it’ll be easier for you to find them (also hoping that Substack won’t block me or something for swearing here ahah )
So in this first part are the 5 swearing phrases to get you started:
yobana rusnya - йобана русня - йбн рсн - “fucking russians”
yo like in your+ba like in bun +na like in nah
+
roo like in roots +s like in strong + nya like what Japanese cats say /ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\
yobana comes from yibaty ( їбати ) = “to fuck”
yi like in yield + ba like in bun + ty like in tea but try making not a small “ee” but kid of like a big “ee” sound. Think of the “eww” you say when you feel disgusted, and pick the sound in the very beginning - it is very close to Ukrainian “y” (и).
yobana is an adjective, can be translated as “fucking” and can be attached as an adjective to whatever you want to express your angered frustration about : tsia yobana robota! (ця йобана робота) - “this fucking job!”.
rusnya is a way how Ukrainians started to call russians from the beginning of full-scale invasion to show disgust, but technically it is just a bit change word “russian”.
Pay attention that the ending of the words in Ukrainian changes depending on the word you use it with: yobana (йобана) with feminine form words and yobanyi (has this “y” (и) sound I mentioned before) with masculine form words.
For example: “йобаний дощ” - yobanyi doshch! - fucking rain!
It is more applicable for Ukrainian language, of course, but when using it with English, just bear that in mind.
When to use it: yobana is perfect to express anger and tension, mainly when it’s not to the face of the object of your hate.
Example: “russians attacked Odesa again this night! Yobana rusnya!”
Chorty yibani - чорти їбані - “fucking demons”
Cho like in chop + rolling “r” like in great by Tigger in Winnie-the-Pooh (or like by Joey when he imitates Tony from the pack of cornflakes :) )
+
yi like in yield + ba like in bun + ni like in knee
When to use it: whenever you want to express angry frustration with someone, here it’s plural but you certainly can do singular, it’ll be “chort yibanyi”. It also is similar to when you can use yobana rusnya . Meaning that if you say it near a Ukrainian, most likely they will understand you are talking about russians even if you don’t say it specifically - but again, this is because most of Ukrainian swearing is directed towards the aggressor right now.
It is perfect to express anger and tension, mainly when it’s not to the face of the object of your hate.
Example: russians had just hit the hospital! Chorty yibani!
Moskal - москаль - “fucking russian”
mosk like in mosque +al like alienated , with “l” being soft (try putting your tongue closer to front teeth, a bit pushing into them)
it’s a way how Ukrainians would call russians historically specifically for the reason to insult since russia have been the aggressor towards Ukraine for centuries. An average russian most likely will feel insulted if you call him “moskal”, even though technically it actually means just “a person from moscovia” - the way russia was called before stealing the “rus” part from “Kyivan Rus”- ancient state with Kyiv as its capital.
Note: russians got good in reporting it to social media, so use it wisely and kind of like you’d use “fuck”.
Example: “I moskalya nema, nemaye moskalya” - “і москаля нема, немає москаля” (“and there is no moskal, there is no moskal” - lyrics from “Arta” song by Ukrainian band “Pyriatyn” that you can listen to here. By the way, this song became a sort of anthem for Ukrainian artillery units. Pyriatyn are awesome. So check them out.
Pyzdets’ - пиздець - “fuck my life!” / “(this is a) clusterfuck!”
py like in pit but with this “y” (и) sound we mentioned earlier +strong z like in zoo+ de like in depth + ts like in tzatziki , but with a soft “s” in the end (try putting your tongue closer to your front teeth when doing it)
When to use it: when you wanna express frustration, tension. Also can be paradoxically used to stress that something is really good or that you like something very much
Example: (something bad) “and then he told me that on a top of all that they fire him. tse (“the is”) pyzdets.” (something good): “tse meni pyzdets’ yak podobayetsia!” - - мені це пиздець як подобається! - “I like it so fucking much!”
idy na khui! - іди на хуй! - “go fuck yourself!”
idy like in idiot but with bigger “i” in the end - the “и” sound I told you earlier - +nah +who+ “y” like in Monday
Iєm sure you’ve heard the famous “russian military ship, go fuck yourself” . And this last part is precisely what “idy na khui” is.
When to use it: you can use it either to say it in a face of the one you feel rage towards to or when they are not around - in a way that “they can go fuck themselves”.
Example: “and after all that you’ve done you want me to help you? idy na khui!”
This will be it for today’s cheat sheet. Let me know whether the ways I recommend to try out pronouncing these words work for you or if you found other tips - feel free to share.
And see you at next Swearing Ukrainian with Margo 101.
Cheers.
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Fucking awesome. This was my first Ukrainian language lesson. Thank you.
Really well done, super useful, thank you!!!