# All Slavic languages: Slang for school terminology



## dihydrogen monoxide

What are some slang words students in high school use for school terminology. Meaning grades, professor, subjects, exam failure,successful exam, school period etc...


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## Mac_Linguist1

Two slang words used in schools of the former Yugoslav countries include _puškice_ (pl.) meaning cheat notes or literally "little guns" and _digitron_ meaning calculator, which isn't really student slang but a genericized trademark used by a lot of people. 

That's all I can really think of off the top of my head... I completed secondary education abroad so I'm not quite as familiar with these types of terms.

Edit: Sad sam vidio da govoriš "srpskohrvatski", možeš li nešto dodati?


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## njumi

*POLISH

grades: 
*1 (worst): pała, lufa, laska
*professor:
*psor
*subjects:
*e.g. mathematics: matma
*exam failure:
*(fail): oblać (not so slang), zawalić
*successful exam:
*(pass): zaliczyczyć
*school period:
*??????????????


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## dudasd

grades:
1 (the worst grade): *kec* (meaning "ace in cards"), *kečuga* ("big ace"), *as* (ace again)
5 (the best grade): *petak*
learning by heart with no understanding: *bubati*, *gruvati*
a pupil/student who is learning everything by heart: *bubalica, bubator*
a pupil/student who is "all too fine" and flattering to teachers (in due to get higher marks): *štreber, uvlakač*
to fail an exam: *ljosnuti*
young and unexperienced student of the first year at university: *brucoš *(literally and a bit descriptively: "one who only started growing hairs at his intimate parts"  )

And I remember that we had a "course" called "domaćinstvo" ("home education" - about nutrition, hygiene, proper and healthy way of living, with "practical" things like knitting and cooking) that was commonly called "dosađinstvo" (in a free translation: "boring education"), but it doesn't exist in schools anymore...


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## Mac_Linguist1

dudasd said:


> a pupil/student who is "all too fine" and flattering to teachers (in due to get higher marks): *štreber, uvlakač*



Something like a "teacher's pet"? We have _mileniče_ in Macedonian, though it isn't a slang word.



			
				dudasd said:
			
		

> And I remember that we had a "course" called "domaćinstvo" ("home education" - about nutrition, hygiene, proper and healthy way of living, with "practical" things like knitting and cooking) that was commonly called "dosađinstvo" (in a free translation: "boring education"), but it doesn't exist in schools anymore...



Sounds like home ec.


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## Mac_Linguist1

A few more Macedonian examples:


_Petkaš_ - a little like the English "nerd". Someone who gets a lot of fives (_petki_) or A grades in the American system.
_Štreber_ and _bubalica_ as dudasd explained above.


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## dihydrogen monoxide

Mac_Linguist1 said:


> Two slang words used in schools of the former Yugoslav countries include _puškice_ (pl.) meaning cheat notes or literally "little guns" and _digitron_ meaning calculator, which isn't really student slang but a genericized trademark used by a lot of people.
> 
> That's all I can really think of off the top of my head... I completed secondary education abroad so I'm not quite as familiar with these types of terms.
> 
> Edit: Sad sam vidio da govoriš "srpskohrvatski", možeš li nešto dodati?
> 
> Have you heard the word šalabahter or are puškice more in use?


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## venenum

OK, here we have significant differences between Croatian and Serbian "standard" slang.
In Croatia, things look like this:

Grades: 
the lowest mark (1): _komad_ (a piece),_ kolac_ (a stake),_ kulja _(have no clue where this one came from), _top _(a cannon)
the second lowest mark (2): _labud _(a swan) - note that this is more usual for college students, _duja_ (a deuce; especially in Dalmatia)

Students:
_štreber_ - a person who studies hard and has good grades; a nerd
_ulizica_ - a student who is trying hard to be the teacher's pet
_propadač, propalitet_ - a student who is forced to repeat a grade
_jediničar_ - a very bad student with bad grades, mostly the lowest grades

- to fail an exam: _tresnuti, odvaliti, zarokati _(all of those are colloquial expressions meaning "to fall down")

Cheating:
_švercati, šverc_ (literally: smuggling), or shortened: _švera_. The term _puškice _is rarely used, mostly by the older generations, when they brag with their school-time "adventures". _Šalabahter _still lives on, but it's dying out.


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## dudasd

"Puškice" are still alive in Serbia... I've heard my son and his friends using that word!!! 

But the etimology of the word "puškica" is an interesting thing... the original "puškica" is made of two toothpics and a narrow and rather long strip of paper; each end of the strip is stuck to one of the toothpics. Then you roll them and you get a "device" looking like *double-barreled gun*. You can roll it using two fingers only and it will always keep its size. And you can easily find all the "notes" you wrote there...

To MacLinguist: no, štreber is not the same thing as milenče. Štreber is something that even most of the teachers don't like.  It's a just a young "career-maker". Teachers can have their "miljenik" (I think that's the equivalent of milenče), their favourit student, but he doesn't have to be štreber...


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## Kolan

Examples of the university/college grades parsed in Russian:

*ОТЛ*ично (5), пятёрка = Обманул Товарища Лектора
*ХОР*ошо (4), четвёрка = Хотел Обмануть - Разоблачили
*УД*овлетворительно (3), тройка = Удалось Договориться
*НЕУД*овлетворительно (2), двойка = НЕ Удалось Договориться.

Плохо (1), единица, кол -  was used only exceptionally in the primary, middle and high school (1-10/11 yrs) as current marks - and I actually got some "1" 

Zealous student = ботаник, ботан.


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## Oletta

Trochę Cię njumi muszę poprawić i dodać conieco:



njumi said:


> *POLISH
> 
> grades:
> *1 (worst): pała, lufa, laska
> 2 (just before the worst) - dopalacz
> *professor:
> *psor
> *subjects:
> *e.g. mathematics: matma, mata
> Geography: gegra
> History: hista
> English: angol
> French: francuz
> Russian: ruski
> German: dojcz, niemiec
> Biology: biola
> Physics: fiza
> Computer Science: infa
> 
> *exam failure:
> *(fail): oblać (not so slang), zawalić, zjebać*** (slang)
> *successful exam:
> *(pass): zaliczyć


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## Thomas1

I have never come across _dopalacz _and _mata_. I like the former but not the latter.

I am adding one more to the already given:
*exam failure:
*(fail): oblać (not so slang), zawalić, zjebać*** (slang), uwalić
Just to point out I associate _zaliczyć _and _oblać _more with university studies, though they may well be in use in highschools.

*janitor:
*ciotka, ciocia (literally aunt(ie), oddly enough I haven't come across a male counterpart)
.

Tom


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## Oletta

Thomas1 said:


> I have never come across _dopalacz _and _mata_.


 In my region _mata _has been used since I was at the primary school as a sort of a quicker form from _matma_. _Dopalacz _is a quite new word, I  heard my former students say it in 2008. By the way, many adults who drink _Doppelherz _also call it _dopalacz_.


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## Кръстев

dudasd said:


> "Puškice" are still alive in Serbia...



Well, in bulgarian it's "пищов" [pishtov], which has the same meaning as "puškice".


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## Maroseika

In Russian slang school subject names mostly derivate from the abbreviation used in the mark books:
Maths - матика < мат-ика < математика
Gymnastics - физра < физ-ра < физкультура < физическая культура)
Reading  - литра < лит-ра < литература  
Social science - общага < обществоведение


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## Kolan

dihydrogen monoxide said:


> professor...


Feminine teacher profession names would be particularly school slang, namely,

*математичка*, *физичка* (and *астрономичка* if applicable), *химичка*, *биологичка*, *историчка*, *географичка*, *литераторша*, *классная* (руководительница).

which are not regular names for these professions.


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## dudasd

Thomas1 said:


> *janitor:*
> ciotka, ciocia (literally aunt(ie), oddly enough I haven't come across a male counterpart)


 
We had male janitors (sometimes just charged for cleaning, but more often charged for "maintenance", like broken windows and such things), but I don't know any slang word for them, they had a honourable title of "domar" (housekeeper). But the ladies... they were *tetkice*, exactly as you said, meaning "aunties". And that IS a slang word, I never heard it beyond school.


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## mietagosia

Hey! I have a little list of words concerning school slang in Polish!

We also say "gera" for Geography sometimes. Classes of Polish language are commonly called "polak", sometimes "poldon" (quite rare though). Cheat notes are called "ściągi" or "ściągawki". To copy during an exam is "ściągać" or "zrzynać". If you copy from your desk partner's paper you use a verb "spisywać". 

Swot/nerd: kujon (male form), kujonka (female form)

High school students often vall their male professors "sor", female ones "sorka" (when you refer to them directly or you want to call their attention, you use vocative forms which are, respectively: "Sorze!" and "Sorko!")

That's all I can remember for now. Any specific questions? ;-)


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## Kolan

mietagosia said:


> Cheat notes are called "ściągi" or "ściągawki".


In Russian it is "шпаргалки", slang *шпоры*.


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## Kanes

Bulgarian:

school - daskalo
teacher - daskal
nerd - zubar
cheat sheet - pishtov

cant remember other now


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## Kolan

Kanes said:


> Bulgarian: nerd - zubar


Russian school nerd is *зубрила* (both m. and f.).


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## Kanes

Kolan said:


> Russian school nerd is *зубрила* (both m. and f.).


 
Hehe on Bulgarian *зубрила *means "she have been memorising"


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## Kolan

Kanes said:


> Hehe on Bulgarian *зубрила *means "she have been memorising"


It is the same in Russian if you see it as a verb *зубрить*. (past tense, s.f.). But in slang *зубрила *is noun (с. _громила, водила, верзила_) of unspecified gender*.* Apparently, it derives from *зуб*, like memorizing using every single tooth as a memory cell (*заучить назубок, чтобы от зубов отлетало/отскакивало*), or *грызть зубами гранит науки* (rather positive, not slang).

Otherwise, it could also mean "to make dents", *зазубривать, (in) *memory as well.


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## Kanes

*ил* ending is past unwitnesed tense on Bulgarian. I think the root comes from *zabravi* (forget), as *zubri* means just to memorise and not remember later.


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## Martin_85

about Polish slang for grades...in universities,etc. 

fail - "łabądź" it refers to the shape of "2" - so the fialing mark/grade
lots of fials in the index - jezioro łabędzie


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## Ptak

Kolan said:


> It is the same in Russian if you see it as a verb *зубрить*. (past tense, s.f.). But in slang *зубрила *is noun (с. _громила, водила, верзила_) of unspecified gender*.*


*
Yes, or for example "провожала":
- Я тебя провожу.
- Сама дойду! Провожала!
("провожала" is a noun here, not a verb).*


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## Kanes

We have different grammer then other slavic languages, maybe thats why.


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