# All Slavic languages: Cute/cruel words for dog



## dihydrogen monoxide

What would be the lovable/cute and cruel words for dog in your language?


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## slavic_one

Can't remember any besides "(slatki) psić" i "(prokleto) pseto" but that's not alternate words, that's the same word "pas". Do you know any?


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## dihydrogen monoxide

slavic_one said:


> Can't remember any besides "(slatki) psić" i "(prokleto) pseto" but that's not alternate words, that's the same word "pas". Do you know any?


 
No, I meant the likes of šćene/pseto/cuko/kućići Slovenian would be kužek/kuža/mrcina, that sort of. Like what you would say if you like a dog and what would you say if it makes you angry or if you don't like him?


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## slavic_one

Yea I understood your question but just couldn't remember any word. Yes ćuko would be that one. Štene is not, because it's baby dog, and kučić also not because it's deminutive od kuče, which is the same but on Serbian. So only ćuko so far.
And don't know which language has origin of word džukela. But džukela isn't good nor bad name for a dog.


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## dablyk

dihydrogen monoxide said:


> What would be the lovable/cute and cruel words for dog in your language?



So in Czech it should be:

      neutral     - *Pes*       EN: dog
      neutral     - *Psisko*
      positive    - *Pejsek*  (diminutive) EN: doggie
      positive    - *Pejsánek*
      positive    - *Hafan*
      positive    - *Hafik *    EN: bow-wow
      pejorative - *Čokl*      EN: cur


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## winpoj

Personally, I don't perceive "hafan" as positive.


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## dablyk

winpoj said:


> Personally, I don't perceive "hafan" as positive.


 
IMHO It is just how do you feel that... It could be neutral as well, ok.


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## kusurija

dablyk said:


> So in Czech it should be:
> 
> neutral     - *Pes*       EN: dog
> neutral_(somewhat little negative)_     - *Psisko*
> positive    - *Pejsek*  (diminutive) EN: doggie
> positive    - *Pejsánek* _(more diminutive)_
> positive_(Personally, I don't perceive it as positive too)_    - *Hafan*
> positive    - *Hafik *    EN: bow-wow
> pejorative - *Čokl*      EN: cur _(this came from Romani(Gypsy) language)_


pejorative -* podvraťák* (means mixed race) (=Pes český jedlý  )
neutral     - *fena* EN: bitch
neutral(+/-)     - *fenka* (_or_ diminutive _or_ somewhat ironic)
positively pejorative - *ratlík*
twisted - *raťafák* 
negative - *suka* (came from Russian (bitch) rarely used)
(often as name) - *Vořech*
- " - *Voříšek*
neutral (sounds as strange diminutive) - *psíček
*neutral -* štěně *(EN: puppy)
positive - *štěňátko* (diminutive of štěně)


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## Kanes

Bulgarian:

*kuche   -* dog
*kuchka* - bich
*pes       - *a mud/street dog
*pale      - *cute little dog
*sharo    - *positive for a big nice dog


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## echo chamber

In Macedonian, the diminutives and the augmentatives are mainly used to express like or dislike:

куче (kuche) - dog
кучка (kuchka) - bitch

кученце, кутре, кутренце(diminutive of кутре) (kuchence, kutre, kutrence) - small dog, puppy (however, also used for any kind of dog, regardless of its dimensions, to express affection and liking). 

кучиште (kuchishte) - huge dog (also a pejorative term for a dog, to express dislike)

џукела (djukela) - a mutt (which is also considered pejorative, depending on the context. Sometimes, the word can be used to refer to whatever kind of dog, in order to "offend" it).


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## kelt

dablyk said:


> ...
> positive    - *Hafan*
> ...



_Hafan_ is a big big dog. Possibily a good natured one, like St. Bernard. I'd never call _hafan_ a bloodthirsty kind of a dog.



kusurija said:


> ...
> negative - *suka* (came from Russian (bitch) rarely used)
> ...



That's something I've never heard of. Ever 



kusurija said:


> ...
> (often as name) - *Vořech*
> - " - *Voříšek*
> ...



These names are usually given to dogs of a mixed race. A _podvraťák_ will normally bear that name.


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## dablyk

pejorative -* podvraťák* (means mixed race) (=Pes český jedlý  )
neutral     - *fena* EN: bitch
neutral(+/-)     - *fenka* (_or_ diminutive _or_ somewhat ironic)
positively pejorative - *ratlík* (what is pejorative on this? It could be slightly pejorative but primarily it declares a race of dog)
twisted - *raťafák* (twisted? slightly pejorative)
negative - *suka* (came from Russian (bitch) rarely used) (I've never heard that)
(often as name) - *Vořech* (It is not just a name, also declares the race of dog - mixed)
- " - *Voříšek* (dimunitive of Vořech, not often pejorative, lovely - positive)
neutral (sounds as strange diminutive) - *psíček
*neutral -* štěně *(EN: puppy)
positive - *štěňátko* (diminutive of štěně)


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## dudasd

A nice, good dog: kuca, kučence (this second usually if it's not really a big-sized dog) 
Pejorative: džukela (very offensive, used for people sometime), džukac (offensive, but with some sympathy), pseto (only slightly pejorative), psetište, psina, kučište. Probably there are more, these are just most common ones. One of the newer words ("newer" means a couple of decades old) is "avlijaner" - a not-too-inteligent crossbreed dog that guards a house and knows nothing else but to bark. (From "avlija" - yard.)


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## dihydrogen monoxide

dudasd said:


> A nice, good dog: kuca, kučence (this second usually if it's not really a big-sized dog)
> Pejorative: džukela (very offensive, used for people sometime), džukac (offensive, but with some sympathy), pseto (only slightly pejorative), psetište, psina, kučište. Probably there are more, these are just most common ones. One of the newer words ("newer" means a couple of decades old) is "avlijaner" - a not-too-inteligent crossbreed dog that guards a house and knows nothing else but to bark. (From "avlija" - yard.)


 
Isn't pseto used as an insult or curseword, I've never actually heard someone using pseto for a dog. I've almost always heard it as an insult to a man.


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## slavic_one

dihydrogen monoxide said:


> Isn't pseto used as an insult or curseword, I've never actually heard someone using pseto for a dog. I've almost always heard it as an insult to a man.



Depends on context and accent !


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## dudasd

dihydrogen monoxide said:


> Isn't pseto used as an insult or curseword, I've never actually heard someone using pseto for a dog. I've almost always heard it as an insult to a man.


 
It's very common in Serbia and usually it refers to straydogs, but it can be used even for a dog with a good pedigree, if you don't like either the dog or its master (or both). Like: "Video sam N. N. kako šeta neko pseto." As an insult, I am afraid it can be heard only rarely now, at least in urban environments.

I also heard it so many times in Montenegro and some parts of Bosnia as well, sometimes even pronounced like "ceto". In some Serbian rural areas it's also pronounced like "pceto", but then it usually refers to a person. ("Laže kô pceto!")


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## mietagosia

In Polish:

Neutral, standard word for a dog: pies

Lovable words showing affection: psiaczek, psinka, psiak, psiunek

Cruel word: psisko, kundel

A word showing pity and empathy (eg when you see dogs that are being mistreated and you wanna emphasise how poor they are): psina


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## Panda Nocta

In Russian there are two words for a dog:
пёс (pios), male
собака (sobaka), either male or female
Diminutives are пёсик (piosik) and собачка (sobachka).
I can't imagine any offensive words for a dog. Suka may sound offensive to everyone but dog (where it means a female dog).

As far as I know, only the word "сабака" is used to denote a dog in Belarusian. It is of male gender which is very unusual to a Russian ear (собака is of female gender in Russian).


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## Kolan

Panda Nocta said:


> Diminutives are пёсик (piosik) and собачка (sobachka).
> I can't imagine any offensive words for a dog.


*Псина *_(psina)_, depending on context, may have both connotations: "Хорошая *псина*!" = Good dog!, but "Воняет *псиной*" = Stinks like a dirty street dog.


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## Kolan

Panda Nocta said:


> As far as I know, only the word "сабака" is used to denote a dog in Belarusian. It is of male gender which is very unusual to a Russian ear (собака is of female gender in Russian).


Ukrainian "*собака*" is also a masculine noun.


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## Panda Nocta

Kolan said:


> *Псина *_(psina)_, depending on context, may have both connotations: "Хорошая *псина*!" = Good dog!, but "Воняет *псиной*" = Stinks like a dirty street dog.


I'd agree to some extent, however "воняет псиной" is often used to complain of a smell of smth, not to complain of a dog. I like fish but I don't like milk with a smell of fish. I like dogs but I'd not like an armchair which smells of a dog. Also the word "вонять" (to stink) itself adds a lot negative, "пахнуть псиной" is much more neutral.

I'd assume that in many (if not most) cases the word "псина" itself is used in a friendly-ironical sense (like in your first example).

P.S. Btw, "собачий" is sometimes idiomatic meaning poor, miserable, unfortunate. "Собачья жизнь" - an unfortunate life, "собачий холод" - an extreme cold.


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## puralana

SLOVENE:
*
cute: kuža*

*pejorative:* 
I don't think there is a pejorative word for a dog in Slovene. What is used is the *neutral "pes" with a pejorative adjective.*


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## TriglavNationalPark

puralana said:


> SLOVENE:
> 
> *cute: kuža*
> 
> *pejorative:*
> I don't think there is a pejorative word for a dog in Slovene. What is used is the *neutral "pes" with a pejorative adjective.*


 
I can think of several pejorative words for "dog" in Slovene: cucek, kuzla, ščene, and the more obscure psina. There may be more.


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## dihydrogen monoxide

TriglavNationalPark said:


> I can think of several pejorative words for "dog" in Slovene: cucek, kuzla, ščene, and the more obscure psina. There may be more.


 
What about mrcina?


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## TriglavNationalPark

dihydrogen monoxide said:


> What about mrcina?


 
Right, but "mrcina" can also be used for other animals. _Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika_ specifically mentions bears in addition to dogs.


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## dihydrogen monoxide

TriglavNationalPark said:


> Right, but "mrcina" can also be used to describe other animals. _Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika_ specifically mentions bears in addition to dogs.


 
I've only heard it to describe dogs, describing bears in this way is a bit new to me. Did you hear anyone describe bear with the word mrcina? I think it is mostly used to describe dogs.


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## TriglavNationalPark

dihydrogen monoxide said:


> I've only heard it to describe dogs, describing bears in this way is a bit new to me. Did you hear anyone describe bear with the word mrcina? I think it is mostly used to describe dogs.


 
I'm not sure about bears, but I have heard it used for other animals. BTW, here's the SSKJ definition in its entirety (with my bolding):



> mrcína -e ž (í) slabš. 1. *žival, zlasti pes, medved*: čigava je ta mrcina; mrcine so začele lajati in se zaganjati vanj; *konjska mrcina*; kosmata mrcina *medved* / proč, *mrcina (pasja)* 2. ničvreden, malovreden človek: mi smo pošteni ljudje, ti si pa mrcina / kot psovka: molči, mrcina; niso se zmenili zanj, pa se jim je, mrcina, maščeval; mrcina, nalagati me je hotel; mrcina mrcinasta


(c) ZRC SAZU


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## boriszcat

Slovak:
standard: pes
cute: psik
cute: šteniatko (puppy)

I think Slovaks love their dogs too much to have any negative dog words.


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## Awwal12

"Пс*и*на" in Russian isn't necessary negative, but always sort of rude.
The abundance of suffixes in the Russian language creates many different words like "собач*а*ра" (rude, with shade of humiliation and/or disdain), "собач*е*нция" (familiar, but rather endearing), "соб*а*чка" (affectionate diminutive), "cоб*а*ченька" (extremely sweet) etc.
Also there is an interesting jocular word "кабысд*о*х" (var. "кабызд*о*х"), derived from the phrase "кабы сдох..." ("if it would die...") and usually used regarding different sickly mongrels.
Also a dog can be called with use of "traditional names" - "Барб*о*с" (mostly about a shaggy male dog, with a shade of warmth), "Ш*а*вка" (comparatively rude, usually about not a big female dog), "Ж*у*чка" (very familiar, about not a big female dog too), etc.

P.S.: The word с*у*ка (female dog) was mentioned, but коб*е*ль (male dog) wasn't.
Also, of course, there is a word щен*о*к (puppy) and its affectionate diminutive form, щен*о*чек. However, 4 (!) plurals are possible: щенк*и*, щен*я*та, щен*о*чки, щен*я*тки. Well, even щен*я*точки (the 5th word is incredibly soft, and you obviously can meet it only in informal language, like numbers 3 and 4). However, a crazy owner of a pair of cute puppies can create his own words to his taste, making funny and hard-to-pronounce samples like щенят*у*леньки...


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## Azori

boriszcat said:


> Slovak:
> standard: pes
> cute: psik
> cute: šteniatko (puppy)
> 
> I think Slovaks love their dogs too much to have any negative dog words.


standard: *pes*
nonstandard but neutral: *havkáč* (any kind of dog), *dunčo* (a big shaggy dog)
bitch: *suka, sučka, fena, fenka*
puppy: *šteňa, šteniatko*
cute: *psík, psíček, psíča, havo, havko, havino*
negative: *psisko*


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## Maja

dudasd said:


> A nice, good dog: kuca, kučence (this second usually if it's not really a big-sized dog)
> Pejorative: džukela (very offensive, used for people sometime), džukac (offensive, but with some sympathy), pseto (only slightly pejorative), psetište, psina, kučište. Probably there are more, these are just most common ones. One of the newer words ("newer" means a couple of decades old) is "avlijaner" - a not-too-inteligent crossbreed dog that guards a house and knows nothing else but to bark. (From "avlija" - yard.)


 I would just add standard terms in Serbian: *pas*, *ker* and *kuče*. Also *lutalica*, but only for a street dog.
*Ker* is offensive when used for a policeman, but not for a dog. 
Also "*vaška*" (lit. "louse"), used in some parts of Herzegovina, in my opinion offensive.
Belgrade slang for street dogs: *džumara*, *džuma*, *džumarica*, *DODŽ* (short for "Domaća obična džukela" - Domestic ordinary street dog). *
D**žumara *and *DODŽ* can be offensive, depending on context, tone and intentions. 
*D**žuma* and *džumarica*, however, are usually hypocoristic, at least to me


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## amaguk

boriszcat said:


> Slovak:
> standard: pes
> cute: psik
> cute: šteniatko (puppy)
> 
> I think Slovaks love their dogs too much to have any negative dog words.


I wouldn't bet on it 
negative dog words are: psisko (as lion nerth pointed out) or blcháč ("the one with flees"), but of course they can also gain a positive meaning, depending on the context, e.g. I often use them when I speak about my dog.
one quite negative word is - bastard

Other  cute words for a dog are Dunčo or Bundáš (someting like Fido and Spot in English)
a little less positive is guláš ( derived of course from the name of the dish goulash), which means a mixture, i.e. people would use it to refer to a mutt or so called "pouličná zmeska" (literary "a street meddley")
orech or oriešok (a nut or a little nut) are nicer words used for a mutt, and the best mutt is čistokrvný orech (a pureblood mutt)


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## Dessy

кученце, кутре - doggy 
помияр - said for a street dog that is not of a breed, pejorative
пес - a big dog, usually ugly
псе - again for street dog, a little bit old word, again pejorative
куче - dog


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## boriszcat

amaguk said:


> I wouldn't bet on it
> negative dog words are: psisko (as lion nerth pointed out) or blcháč ("the one with flees"), but of course they can also gain a positive meaning, depending on the context, e.g. I often use them when I speak about my dog.
> one quite negative word is - bastard
> 
> Other  cute words for a dog are Dunčo or Bundáš (someting like Fido and Spot in English)
> a little less positive is guláš ( derived of course from the name of the dish goulash), which means a mixture, i.e. people would use it to refer to a mutt or so called "pouličná zmeska" (literary "a street meddley")
> orech or oriešok (a nut or a little nut) are nicer words used for a mutt, and the best mutt is čistokrvný orech (a pureblood mutt)



I didn't know about these. Thanks! 
I heard a girl call out to her dog the other day and she called him "Ocko!" Unless I heard her wrong, is it possible she named her dog "Daddy"?? I fear this is a situation where my imagination has taken control of my brain.


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## WannaBeMe

SerboCroatian

pas - neutral to dog
pseto - pejorativ to dog
psina - pejorative to dog
kuja - neutral to female dog or offensive to woman
kučka - neutral to female dog or very offensive to woman, whore
kuče, štene - a puppy
kučence, kučić, štence, psić, psićak - a little puppy
kucica - a little cute puppy
ker - a big dog
keruša, kerica - a big female dog
džukela - a street dog, or a street man
džukac - a street dog but not the bad one
ćuko, cuko, cukica - a little dog

I think that's all Volks!


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## rusita preciosa

What a great thread!

I wonder if Russian word *кутëнок *[kutionok], a regional/colloquial (probably archaic) word meaning a very young dog pup, has the same root as these:
Slovene kuža
Bulgarian куче
Serbo-Croatian kučka, kuče
Macedonian куче, кучка

*Mod note:
I've copied that post to EHL (as it is also relevant to this thread) and moved answers over there; please continue the etymology discussion on EHL. 
*


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