# זין versus פין



## Zeevdovtarnegolet

My impression is that zayin is the less-clinical, more colloquial word.  Pin seems to be more bookish?  These are the main words for penis in Hebrew I believe?


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## Tamar

זין = dick, cock. *Really **low *register...
פין = penis. Clinical and  proper...

And there's a children's word: בולבול [bulbul]


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## Zeevdovtarnegolet

Ok so it is best to avoid zayin because it is vulgar?  Well I am glad I asked - I thought it was the standard word!!!! LOL


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## ks20495

I wouldn't say avoid זין...But use it in the right contexts.

It's not so vulgar as its English counterpart - especially because it's used in a number of common sayings:
לא שם זין -- don't give a damn
סוג זין - really low quality
שבור-זין -- worn-out; depressed


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## origumi

Interesting historical notes by Ruvik Rosental: http://www.tapuz.co.il/tapuzforum/main/viewmsg.asp?id=372&msgid=10678469


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## Tamar

ks20495, I disagree. 
זין is quite vulgar, unless you going through the alphabet. 
לא שם זין is not okay at all contexs, would you use it talking to your boss, for example? And שבור זין? (I haven't heard that version before). 
You can say לא שם פס, or just say you've had enough. 

I do have one exception though: סוג זין. 
Maybe because I see it as the name of the letter, not the male organ.... I do sometimes change it to סוג ד, for example (which is also a way around the word זין, if anyone needs it).


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## Zeevdovtarnegolet

How about "zubi" ?


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## Zeevdovtarnegolet

Tamar said:


> ks20495, I disagree.
> זין is quite vulgar, unless you going through the alphabet.
> לא שם זין is not okay at all contexs, would you use it talking to your boss, for example? And שבור זין? (I haven't heard that version before).
> You can say לא שם פס, or just say you've had enough.
> 
> I do have one exception though: סוג זין.
> Maybe because I see it as the name of the letter, not the male organ.... I do sometimes change it to סוג ד, for example (which is also a way around the word זין, if anyone needs it).




Yes I can see where you would think "sug zayin" would be a reference to the letter and not the organ.


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## ks20495

> ks20495, I disagree.
> זין is quite vulgar, unless you going through the alphabet.
> לא שם זין is not okay at all contexs, would you use it talking to your boss, for example? And שבור זין? (I haven't heard that version before).
> You can say לא שם פס, or just say you've had enough.
> 
> I do have one exception though: סוג זין.
> Maybe because I see it as the name of the letter, not the male organ.... I do sometimes change it to סוג ד, for example (which is also a way around the word זין, if anyone needs it).



It is vulgar...I just don't think it's as vulgar as some of its English counterparts. But, maybe the difference is really that American society (as I've come to know it) is more prudish than Israeli society.

Also, BTW, שבור זין is the origin of שבוז.


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## Tamar

Oh, I see


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## arbelyoni

Zeevdovtarnegolet said:


> How about "zubi" ?


 
זובי (also זיבי) is Arabic, in Modern Hebrew almost never used for the organ but as a general exclamation (something like "fuck it").
Another related word is זובור. In Arabic it is the standard word for penis, in Modern Hebrew it means hazing (especially in the military).


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## Aoyama

> Yes I can see where you would think "sug zayin" would be a reference to the letter and not the organ.


but the truth of the matter _is that the shape of the letter has given it it's meaning, by pictural analogy_. Now, there are other words for the thing, but "zayin" is the most interesting, because it is also declined as a verb (*lezayen*) ...
The question could be : is this usage old or recent ?


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## rubidou

Isn't there another meaning - זין = weapon? Or would that be totally uncommon in everyday language?


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## Carrot Ironfoundersson

> Isn't there another meaning - זין = weapon? Or would that be totally uncommon in everyday language?



Actually there is, but it's indeed rather uncommon.


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## Zeevdovtarnegolet

ks20495 said:


> It is vulgar...I just don't think it's as vulgar as some of its English counterparts. *But, maybe the difference is really that American society (as I've come to know it) is more prudish than Israeli society.*
> 
> .



My response to this was deleted - but it was basically about the same topic.  I find it strange that I was edited and this wasn't.


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## Aoyama

> Isn't there another meaning - זין = weapon


That is originally the _first _(biblical) meaning. Not "weapon" but _a kind of weapon_ , probably a kind of ax (from the shape).
All Hebrew letters have ideographic meanings.


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## rubidou

Thanks to both of you for clarifying. I just had another look at the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, and yes - it makes sense. I've probably just forgotten the original meaning, must have learned it in my Biblical Hebrew course.

But still, before reading this thread I thought זין would be more or less synonymous with נֶשֶׁק and people would actually use it nowadays. Good to know this doesn't seem to be the case!


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## Carrot Ironfoundersson

> But still, before reading this thread I  thought זין would be more or less synonymous with נֶשֶׁק and people  would actually use it nowadays. Good to know this doesn't seem to be the  case!


Nevertheless expressions like כוחות מזויינים (armed forces) and בטון מזויין (reinforced concrete) or simply מזויין בנשק are used quite frequently.


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## Aoyama

> Nevertheless expressions like כוחות מזויינים (armed forces) and בטון מזויין (reinforced concrete) or simply מזויין בנשק are used quite frequently.


Come to think of it, yes , it's true (I wonder if people make the connection with* זין*...).
But I don't think that young Israelis would use זין as a synonymous of נֶשֶׁק unless placed in a special context ...


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## GodFatherQsubs

Another term is איבר מין (lit. sex organ). Whenever I'm translating the word "penis", I use that. It's not vulgar, it's not bookish like פין and it's not childish like בולבול.


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