# šedobíle



## enunciativo

My parents spoke a little Czech, and I don't speak any.  When I was a child, they used to reproach me with a word that I remember as something like 'šedobíle', 'šedobílá', or 'šedobílý'.  When I look up these words, I see definitions like "off-white" or "grayish white", which I'm sure were not their meaning.  I could be misremembering or seriously misspelling the word, or my understanding or their pronunciation may have been imperfect; but, is there some idiomatic meaning for these words or words that might sound similar to a non-Czech speaker that parents might apply to a child who misbehaves?  Thanks.


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## Enquiring Mind

Hello enunciativo, and welcome to the forum !   No-one seems to have any idea what it might be.

The only thing I (non-native) can think of that seems to resemble the sounds you think you remember is something like "ty debile!"   However, I don't think it's the sort of thing any normal, responsible parent would say to their child, and I'm certainly not suggesting your parents may ever have said it to you. 

I am often in a Czech domestic environment around parents speaking to their young children (it's a whole new Czech vocabulary - bumbat, ham-ham!, hači) even when they are misbehaving, but I've never heard any parent say this to their child, and I'd be quite shocked if I did. It's quite strong in Czech, and means "You idiot/imbecile/thicko/cretin/moron/dunderhead!"

No, I'm *sure* that's not what your parents were saying to you.


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## werrr

My guess is "všudybyle". "Všudybyl" refers to a ubiquitous person, typically a restless child. But it could mean also "well-travelled person" or even "smart ass" (~ pretending to be well-travelled).


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## thorx89

I second that motion. It was probably všudybyle. If you take into account how we generally under-pronounce our v's and how English speakers often reduce their vowels to the point that everything ends up as a shwa, then it's perfectly understandable why you might have confused the two.


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## enunciativo

Thank you very much.  I'm sure that 'všudybyle' is right:  I didn't remember the initial *v *sound, and 'šedobíle' was as close as I could get when I looked through lists of Czech words.  In my case, "restless child"* *is less likely than "smart ass".  I've wondered about the meaning of this word for years.


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