Comments:

1. 

    

   Bruce Dumes:

   Great post, Yelena! Очень полезно!

2. 

    

   Alex:

   Your post has brought home to me what a boring person I am. I call my wife by her first name even when I talk about her on the phone. My father-in-law is more original however. He calls his wife ‘коза” (she-goat). Not a very respectful way to refer to your spouse, true, but not quite as rude as it may seem, as there are allusions to “мама-коза” from the fairy tale “Волк и семеро козлят” (The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids) as well as to the classic children’s movie “Мама” where the she-goat, the main character, is very kind and caring. That said, the word for the male goat in Russian “козел” is a completely different story. It has no positive connotations at all and means nothing else but ‘asshole’.

   • 

      

     yelena:

     @Alex Good one, Alex 🙂 Actually, I think if a husband ever overhears his wife calling him a козёл on the phone, he should probably think about marriage counselling. I do agree that коза (she-goat) doesn’t sound too-too bad and can even mean a feisty woman (and sometimes women who are good friends call each other that). Calling one’s wife (or any woman, for that matter) корова (a cow) or телка (a heifer) is way worse. Which reminds me of an old Russian joke about the three buddies who went hunting and they are sitting by the fire in the evening swapping stories. So they started talking about their wives and the first hunter said “My wife is like “серна” (chamois) – she’s slender, graceful and has big beautiful eyes. The second hunter says “My wife is like “лисица” (a fox) – she is sly and quick”. The third hunter thinks a bit and says “Don’t even know what to tell you, guys. Mine looks human.” (the emphasis in the punchline is on “looks”).

3. 

    

   Richard:

   козёл = asshole

   Yes!!! Finally, some profanity! Thanks Alex! 😀

   Gee, and that Russian woman I took out to dinner a few months back told me that it meant “darling” 😮 Oh well, lotsa fish in the sea… 😉

4. 

    

   Minority:

   I don’t really think that most of these words are used in a real life.. You can find “благоверный”, “добытчик”, “супружница”, “подруга жизни”, “лучшая половина” and so on in books or articles, and may be in some поздравительных речах [congratulatory speeches], but the most used are “муж”, “мой”, “любимый”, “дорогой”, or some pet name [err.. does “pet name” really mean some word for your darling person?] – lots of examples here, it depends on one’s fantasy. The most popular russian pet names [no, really? not for animals?] are: солнце/солнышко [sunny], зайчик/зайка/зая [hare/bunny], котик [cat], милый [sweet-heart, darling], сладкий/сладенький [honey, sweety].

   And if you want to know how we can call men when we’re angry..
   * козел – asshole
   * скотина – beast
   * свинья – swine
   * осел – donkey, or may be asshole too
   * придурок – ?? something like “idiot”
   * идиот – idiot
   * неблагодарный – ungrateful
   * эгоист – egoist
   * тиран – tyrant
   * деспот – despot

   If you’ve drunk to much of alcohol these words may refer to you:
   * пьяница/пьянь – drunkard
   * алкоголик – alcoholic
   * нажрался как свинья – don’t know exactly.. “drank really too much and looks like a swine after that”

   Well, I think I could think about some other examples, but I guess it’s OK at the moment. It’s really depends on your imaginataion.)

5. 

    

   yelena:

   Minority, the list you suggest is great. But I have to disagree with you on the usage of the words in the post. I think there’s a bit of a misunderstanding here. You see, I’m not talking about pet names here, which are those nice little cute and cuddly names spouses have for each other. Instead, I’m talking about what would an upset/angry wife/husband call their significant other. However, the catch here is that the spouse understands enough Russian to catch such words as муж and жена. So those words can’t be used. Something like идиот can’t be used either ’cause you know, it sounds the same in English, lol.

6. 

    

   yelena:

   Personally, whenever I need some privacy, I refer to my hubby as этот товарищ (this comrade) and also супруг (spouse). Just can’t picture myself calling him козёл, especially when talking to my mother 🙂 And now I have to think up new euphemisms ’cause the hubby usually reads this blog 🙂

7. 

    

   Richard:

   Great lists Minority, thanks! 😀

   In Canada, we usually reserve these words for our politicians:

   * козел – asshole
   * скотина – beast
   * свинья – swine
   * осел – donkey, or may be asshole too
   * придурок – ?? something like “idiot”
   imbecile, lunatic, half-wit, moron, these would all be good definitions based on what I’ve found in my dictionary
   * идиот – idiot
   * неблагодарный – ungrateful
   * эгоист – egoist
   * тиран – tyrant
   * деспот – despot

   Hажрался как свинья I think this would best be translated as “drinks like a pig” if you’re referring to booze, it could also mean “stuffed like a pig” if you’re referring to food.
   For example: “He drank like a pig and made himself sick!” or “He stuffed himself like a pig at dinner and now he wants more!”

   Finally, in English, a “pet name” is an affectionate name given to that special person in your life, at least until she divorces you and takes almost everything you own….whoops, sorry…thinking out loud again…