# All Slavic languages: diarrhoea



## Encolpius

Hello, what do you call *diarrhoea *in your language and can you say the possible origin of the word. If there are more (spoken, formal) terms, that would be great. Thank you. 

*Czech*: *průjem *[from pro- + jmout, ie.: through / dia- + capture ]


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## TriglavNationalPark

Slovenian:

*driska*

According to Snoj, it existed in proto-Slavic as *driska* and *drista* with the same meaning. These forms come from the Indo-European root *dhreid* = to defacate.

*Diareja* is also common, particularly in medical and other formal contexts. (It's also the name of a legendary Slovenian comic strip.)


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## marco_2

In Polish it is called either *biegunka *(from *biegać *- "to run") or *rozwolnienie *(the adjective *wolny* meant once the same as *luźny*, so *wolny stolec *meant "loose faeces"). There is also a taboo word for diarrhoea, like in every language, I suppose


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## mugibil

Bulgarian:

*разстройство*

Otherwise, this means "disorganization, confusion, disorder, derangement, disruption". *Диария* exists as a medical and formal term. The Slovene word has its counterpart in дрисък, with the verb дрискам - these are very vulgar.


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## itreius

Croatian: 

*proljev* (Etymology: _proliti_, _to spill_)


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## DenisBiH

itreius said:


> Croatian:
> 
> *proljev* (Etymology: _proliti_, _to spill_)



Also in Bosnian (and possibly other BCMS), colloquially

*lita* from liti (to pour)

HJP has litavica (colloquial) but I have never heard that one; however I guess _lita_ could perhaps be a shorter form of it.


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## Awwal12

In Russian:
понос (pon*o*s) - probably from "nest*i*" (нести, imp. "to carry, to bear"); compare "pronos*i*t'" (проносить, imp. "to carry by/past/through"; but also means "to have a diarrhea" in impersonal constructions)
диарея (diar*e*ya, a medical term which can be also used in polite context - for instance, in a commercial broadcast)


> Bulgarian:
> разстройство
> Otherwise, this means "disorganization, confusion, disorder, derangement, disruption".


Well, in Russian one can say "расстройство живота/желудка", but that not necessary means diarrhea - it may be almost any problem with digestion.


> Slovenian:
> driska


Interesting. That strongly reminds a low colloquial Russian verb "дристать" /drist*a*t'/ - "to have a diarrhea". However I hardly can form a noun from it.


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## The Machine of Zhu

DenisBiH said:


> itreius said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Croatian:
> 
> *proljev* (Etymology: _proliti_, _to spill_)
> 
> 
> 
> Also in Bosnian (and possibly other BCMS), colloquially
> 
> *lita* from liti (to pour)
> 
> HJP has litavica (colloquial) but I have never heard that one; however I guess _lita_ could perhaps be a shorter form of it.
Click to expand...


I think it's *proliv *in Serbian.


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## mugibil

Awwal12 said:


> Well, in Russian one can say "расстройство живота/желудка", but that not necessary means diarrhea - it may be almost any problem with digestion.



So can one in Bulgarian: стомашно разстройство (stomach upset /indigestion), нервно разстройство (nervous breakdown). But when one says just разстройство, one normally means diarrhoea.


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## DenisBiH

The Machine of Zhu said:


> I think it's *proliv *in Serbian.




Hm, now that you mention it, according to "Pravopis bosanskoga jezika" by Senahid Halilović, both proljev and proliv are allowed in Bosnian. Another in a series of doublets, I guess.

Btw, Russian понос "diarrhea" and BCMS ponos / понос "pride" must be the best (or the worst ) pair of false friends ever.


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## mugibil

itreius said:


> Croatian:
> *proljev* (Etymology: _proliti_, _to spill_)





The Machine of Zhu said:


> I think it's *proliv *in Serbian.



Great! This an exact calque / loan-translation of the Greek word: dia- "through" + rhein "to flow". Pity we Bulgarians didn't think of this - Bulgarian пролив is just "a strait" (as in the Bering Strait).


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## marco_2

mungu said:


> Bulgarian:
> 
> *разстройство*
> 
> Otherwise, this means "disorganization, confusion, disorder, derangement, disruption". *Диария* exists as a medical and formal term.


 
Is it also possible to say *разслабление?  *- I think I heard this word in Bulgaria in such a context.


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## DenisBiH

Ah yes, I guess there is also a couple of more "politically correct" phrases for diarrhea:

tečna stolica (liquid stool)
vodenasta stolica (watery stool)

From what I can see from Google, when used these quite often refer to babies.


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## mugibil

marco_2 said:


> Is it also possible to say *разслабление?  *- I think I heard this word in Bulgaria in such a context.



It's close. Разслабвам means primarily "to relax", but also "to loosen the bowels"; the noun would be разслабване. This is what a слабително, "laxative" does, and so do some types of food (plums etc). So if you take in a little of something that разслабва, then you're OK and you get rid of your constipation if you had one. If you take in too much of something that разслабва, then you get diarrhea. But not every разслабване causes a разстройство.


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## jazyk

I found hnačka in Slovak. I don't know where it comes from.


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## bibax

I think hnačka is colloquial, from the verb hnáti.

In Czech běhavka (běhati) = backdoor trot.

Btw, průliv = strait (but we say Beringova úžina)


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## TriglavNationalPark

In Slovenian *preliv* = topping (something that is poured on food, usually desserts), flow (from one place to another), strait


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## Azori

bibax said:


> I think hnačka is colloquial, from the verb hnáti.


*Hnačka* is a standard word, *hnať* = to drive, to impel, to force; prehnať/preháňať -> preháňadlo = laxative

Also:

riedka stolica - thin stool
vodnatá stolica - watery stool
diarea


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## Majalj

Bosnian: to a teacher as an excuse for absence one would say *diareja *or *stomačni problemi *(upset stomach), but it is normally called *proljev *(as people already said). However, I could not have left forgotten nicknames, such as *sraćka *and *trčkalica*.


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## bibax

Czech: sračka, very informal word for diarrhoea

You can even say e.g.: Ten Avatar, to je ale sračka!


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## DenisBiH

Majalj said:


> Bosnian: to a teacher as an excuse for absence one would say *diareja *or *stomačni problemi *(upset stomach), but it is normally called *proljev *(as people already said).  However, I could not have left leave forgotten nicknames, such as *sraćka *and *trčkalica*.




Juče mi se učinilo da mi izmiče neka riječ za to koju sam često slušao ali je se nikako nisam mogao sjetiti - to je definitivno sraćka. Za trčkalicu prvi put čujem (mada je poznata mojoj staroj)


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## Encolpius

it would be nice to find out if the *sračka*, I think it comes from the vulgar *srát (to shit)* is known among all Slavic languages.


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## kudikamo

Archacic Croatian (not in use any more, however, listed in dictionaries): *protoč*.


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## TriglavNationalPark

*Sračka* also exists in colloquial Slovenian; it can refer either to diarrhea or to a cranky/indecisive person.


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## nexy

In Serbian, we most often say *proliv *(colloq.). I sometimes use *sraćka*, but I have not heard of *trčkalica*.





TriglavNationalPark said:


> In Slovenian *preliv* = topping (something that is poured on food, usually desserts), flow (from one place to another), strait



*Preliv* has the same meaning in Serbian.


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## marco_2

I didn't want to say that, but in Polish we also have*  sraczka  *and it is very  colloquial. And when talking mostly about babies, doctors use the expression *luźny stolec. *


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## Maroseika

Awwal12 said:


> That strongly reminds a low colloquial Russian verb "дристать" /drist*a*t'/ - "to have a diarrhea". However I hardly can form a noun from it.


Дрисня (coll.). 
By the way дристать and driska are cognats of Eng. "dirt".


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## Azori

In Slovak *drisnúť* (perf.)/*drístať* (imp.) means to blather, to talk nonsense; drisnúť (no imperfective form) also means "to fall" (on the ground) accidentally. *Preliv* - (hair) rinse, tint; *prieliv* - strait; *sračka* - diarrhoea.


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## Maroseika

lior neith said:


> In Slovak *drisnúť* (perf.)/*drístať* (imp.) means to blather, to talk nonsense;


Russian also has such figurative expression (словесный понос). It's rather recent though. How came Slovak has completely lost original sense of *drisnúť/**drístať* ? Or it still has it to some extent?


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## bibax

Czech: dřístati (also dřízdati) = to have a diarhoea;

nouns: dřist, dřístačka (dřízdačka)

Now obsolete or dialectical. Also some plants have (folk) names derived from the stem dřist- (they cause diarrhoea).

Old English: dritan (verb), drit (noun), hence dirt


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## DenisBiH

I keep wondering, all these sraćka / sračka / sraczka words for diarrhea...are they simply parallel developments or could we trace them via regular sound changes to some Common Slavic word? Since they are present in both South and West Slavic.

Would -tj- cluster somewhere in a reconstructed word yield these reflexes? Is there any similar word in Bulgarian (never mind if it doesn't mean exactly diarrhea), along the lines of сраштка, срашта, срашка?


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## Maroseika

This word is common for all Slavic languages incl. Russian (срать), Ukrainian (срати) and is connected with _*сор *_(dirt, litter).

Also cf.:
Serbian о̀сорљив - the one who urinates in the bed
Latvian sãrn̨i - dirt, menses excretions
Lithuanian šаrvаi - menses excretions
Avestian sаirуа - manure


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## DenisBiH

Maroseika said:


> This word is common for all Slavic languages incl. Russian (срать), Ukrainian (срати) and is connected with _*сор *_(dirt, litter).
> 
> Also cf.:
> Serbian о̀сорљив - the one who urinates in the bed
> Latvian sãrn̨i - dirt, menses excretions
> Lithuanian šаrvаi - menses excretions
> Avestian sаirуа - manure




Hi Maroseika, thanks but I'm referring specifically to sraćka / sračka / sraczka and other possible cognates/parallel formations, not the verb srati and its cognates (of course it's the same root in both so they're all cognates in the end). So when I said trace them to a Common Slavic word, I meant something like *sortja or *sratja or *sratjka or *sratjьka (or whatever, my knowledge of reconstructed Common Slavic and its different phases is rather poor).

For example, take BCMS *praćka* "sling"



> prasl. **portja* (stsl. prašta, rus. prášča, polj. proca) ≃ *porti: udarati (rus. prat')


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## Maroseika

Well, Vasmer reconstructs Praslavic as *sьrati, serǫ.


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## mugibil

DenisBiH said:


> I keep wondering, all these sraćka / sračka / sraczka words for diarrhea...are they simply parallel developments or could we trace them via regular sound changes to some Common Slavic word? Since they are present in both South and West Slavic.
> 
> Would -tj- cluster somewhere in a reconstructed word yield these reflexes? Is there any similar word in Bulgarian (never mind if it doesn't mean exactly diarrhea), along the lines of сраштка, срашта, срашка?



No there isn't (we do have the verb сера and a deverbal noun сране). Russian doesn't seem to have it either. A West Slavic and Western South Slavic feature?


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## DenisBiH

mungu said:


> No there isn't (we do have the verb сера and a deverbal noun сране). Russian doesn't seem to have it either. A West Slavic and Western South Slavic feature?



Thanks. These guys below seem to be discussing срачка in Russian and/or Ukrainian but my Russian comprehension is not that good to get all the details. However, at least in the case of the example below, it seems it could have the meaning of Russian понос, i.e. diarrhea.

http://lingvoforum.net/index.php/topic,16517.0.html



> Як не срачка, так болячка - экв."не понос, так золотуха"


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## DenisBiH

This site also seems to suggest the meaning diarrhea for срачка in Ukrainian.


http://forum.2000.net.ua/forum/viewtopic.php?p=126325



> А в мове "срачка" – это диарея, говоря по-простому понос. "У меня понос" – на вкраинском "на мэнэ напала срачка", т.е. буквально "на меня напала жопка" – по русски.


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## mugibil

DenisBiH said:


> Thanks. These guys below seem to be discussing срачка in Russian and/or Ukrainian but my Russian comprehension is not that good to get all the details. However, at least in the case of the example below, it seems it could have the meaning of Russian понос, i.e. diarrhea.
> 
> http://lingvoforum.net/index.php/topic,16517.0.html



Judging from the discussion, the use of the word in the sense "diarrhea" is mostly characteristic of local dialects, especially in the vicinity of Ukrainian, but is unfamiliar to many in the heartland.


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## bibax

> Hi Maroseika, thanks but I'm referring specifically to sraćka / sračka / sraczka and other possible cognates/parallel formations, not the verb srati and its cognates (of course it's the same root in both so they're all cognates in the end). So when I said trace them to a Common Slavic word, I meant something like *sortja or *sratja or *sratjka or *sratjьka (or whatever, my knowledge of reconstructed Common Slavic and its different phases is rather poor).


The Czech suffix *-čka* in pračka/myčka/sračka/... is a compound suffix: 1) -cí (< *-tjьjь, *-tjьja, ...) forming verbal adjectives and 2) -ka (common Slavic suffix)

-cí plus -ka gives -čka like in, for example:

práti (to wash) -> prací (prášek) -> pračka (washing machine);
žvýkati -> žvýkací (guma) -> žvýkačka

In BCS there was probably a similar development of the suffix -ćka:

žvakati -> žvakaća (-ća < *-tjьja) -> žvakaćka


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## Adnyre

In *Ukrainian*, it's пронос (neutral register) or діарея (formal). Colloquially, срачка is very common and дрисня is less common. I've also heard people calling it швидка ('quick', fem.), but this is probably a localism.


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## DenisBiH

bibax, I forgot to thank you yesterday. Your input is very much appreciated! 

I'm wondering if you, or another forum member, could recommend a good book on reconstructed Common/Proto-Slavic that includes discussion on these and other Slavic suffixes?


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## ilocas2

Czech: *srajda*


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## Jeki

nexy said:


> In Serbian, we most often say *proliv *(colloq.). I sometimes use *sraćka*, but I have not heard of *trčkalica.*






Me neither, I've never heard of *trčkalica*, but I've heard a diminutive of sraćka - *sraćkalica*.


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## marco_2

DenisBiH said:


> Срачка





DenisBiH said:


> Thanks. These guys below seem to be discussing срачка in Russian and/or Ukrainian but my Russian comprehension is not that good to get all the details. However, at least in the case of the example below, it seems it could have the meaning of Russian понос, i.e. diarrhea.
> 
> Срачка



You mentioned Ukrainian _як не срачка, то болячка _here - in Polish we have a similar saying: *jak nie urok, to sraczka *(if not a bed spell, then diarrhea = it never rains but it pours).


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## nimak

*Macedonian*

пролив (proliv) ['prɔliv] = diarrhea

But:
прелив (preliv) ['prɛliv] = topping, overflow
прилив (priliv) ['priliv] = inflow, influx


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## oveka

In *Ukrainian* дизентері́я, діаре́я, проно́с, сра́чка, сиру́ха, дри́сля, дрисня́, бі́гавка, бігу́нка, свисту́ха, різа́чка, швидка́ На́стя.


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