Reply To: Things that are ok to say in Hebrew but not in English

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#996164
akuperma
Participant

All languages have different euphemisms. Words the cross between cultures can be prolematic, even for dialects withing a language. Words that were mildly rude in the secular Yiddish of pre-war New York and quite obscene in the Yiddish of modern Boro Park (just ask Chuck Schumer, D’Amato tried to be cute and insulting and ended up being crude and vulgar, and an ex-Senator). Sometimes words derived from one language get different meanngs in another (the English word “sodomy” is of Hebrew origin but has nothing to do with the Humash origins of the word). Hebrew is more tricky since itg was primarily used by Bnei Torah for over 1500 years, and Bnei Torah are much more refined than the average user, so much crude language dropped out of Hebrew and is absent in modern Ivrit.

There are just things you have to learn with learning a language. It is interesting, but not a big deal.