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The Insult That Hurts Worldwide

By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 14, 2009 4:51 AM CDT

(Newser) – Next time you want to indulge in a pulse-pounding, worldwide tradition, call somebody a motherf**ker, Nina Shen Rastogi writes at Slate. The Chinese, Africans, and Arabs are among those who have hurled versions of the indignity for generations. Anthropologists say it works because, like religion and scatology, family and sex are key elements in a good insult.

Variations around the world include:

  • "I urinate on your father's head and have intercourse with your mother!" (Turco-Mongolia)
  • "Go eat your mother's anus!" (Kenya)
  • "Grass mud horse!" (China—long story)
To learn about the history of the insult in America, click the link below.


The invective motherf_cker is a cross-cultural phenomenon that anthropologists say draws on two key elements in any good insult, sex and family.
The invective "motherf_cker" is a cross-cultural phenomenon that anthropologists say draws on two key elements in any good insult, sex and family.   (Shutterstock)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
riffran
Mar 15, 2009 12:39 PM CDT
grass mud horse...........bwahahaha....I just don't get that one....it must not translate well.........hmmmm lets see.......how bout "blue stem kaliche palamino".......lol
Rob
Mar 15, 2009 11:24 AM CDT
I guess it's like this holyer-than-thou circle jerk you two are involved in now, huh?
Doctor-Zaius
Mar 14, 2009 4:13 AM CDT
My favorite part of Borat is when he's in the car with the driving instructor and yells "Fuck my mother!" out the window.

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