Iz-z*bb! It's an English/Maltese dictionary for kids.
My eight-year-old niece needed a new English/Maltese dictionary for school. That’s bad enough, given that we were still being taught to write properly at that age, and never mind the dictionaries. And guess what? We can all spell much better than the kids coming out of school now. But needs must when the devil drives, so my sister trotted off to the book-shop and asked for a suitable dictionary for a child in primary school.
There were two choices, but the bookseller recommended Bugeja’s Kelmet il-Malti. My sister flicked through it – out of curiosity, she said, but more likely to see whether it includes the sort of vulgarities we remember from our day (qisek xidja f’sorm patri being the most memorable, though that was in a compulsory book called Qwiel Maltin). Sure enough, she found ‘pee’, with the Maltese equivalent being given as ‘pixxa’. Then she looked up ‘shit’, thinking that surely it wouldn’t be there…. but it was, and it wasn’t given as ‘hara’ as one would expect, but as ‘iz-z*bb’. You know, like an exclamation: Shit! Iz-z*bb! Can you believe it? This is in a dictionary which parents are asked to buy for their eight-year-olds. I feel awkward spelling the whole word without asterisks on this blog – too prudish – yet it’s in a school-book handed out to kids. “What does ‘zobb’ mean, mummy?” “It means willy, darling.” Next day: “Miss Mary sent me out of the room because I said ‘zobb’.”
Thus encouraged, my sister researched further, and found lots of illustrations of how ‘sorm’ is used in context: sormu diehel u hiereg (meaning ‘worried’, apparently)’, lixx daqs sorm ta’ tarbija (which doesn’t have quite the same ring, somehow, as ‘smooth as a baby’s bottom’, perhaps because the more accurate translation would be ‘smooth as a baby’s arse’), and so on.
Word association took her to ‘patata’, and there was lots to entertain: ‘patata maxx’, and ‘patata moqlija’ given as – wait for it, my dears – CRIPS. Not fried potatoes, not chips, not even crisps – but crips, like petlor and alumilju.
Viva l-kretinizmu – or as they say in some parts of the island, il-kretiniiiiiiiizzzzmu..
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I think you left out the word “in” in the title. “It’s in an English/Maltese dictionary for kids.”
[Daphne – No, I didn’t.]
‘enemilju’ my dear Daphne, ‘enemilju’ like ‘velklor’ and ‘erkondixin’ and ‘jeansijiet’and ‘bwiez’, for God’s sake!!!
In the “pee” entry was there “bewl/bewla”? :)
Phaedra Giuliani – You might be pleased to note that the same dictionary gives the Maltese equivalent of “jeans” as “gins; xorta ta’ drapp”.
[Daphne – Meaning denim, I suppose, rather than the trousers – as in ‘dublett tal-ginns’.]
Margie Cooper – I know that you’re just fooling around, but no, it’s simply given as “p*xxa”.
There are other choice words, though, such as “snot”, which is given as “mahta”. (You wouldn’t find such slang in the Oxford dictionary.) There’s also the Maltese version of the expression “oh”, which is given as “ill!” (Complete with exclamation mark – I suppose we should be grateful that he left out the “allu” bit.)
Interestingly, the Maltese/English section of the dictionary doesn’t give the meaning of “z*bb”, despite it being (vulgarly and incorrectly) used as explained above. The proper English word, however, is then shown in Maltese as “pinis” (with two “i”s).
What really must beat the lot, however, is “pokit” for “pencil-case”.
Bugeja’s dictionary is anything but authoritative, and the bookseller could have given a much better suggestion. I’m curious as to what the other option offered was.
To be fair, Maltese lacks dictionaries for targeted age groups. Though I have been out of the education loop for some years, I know that there are some wonderful picture dictionaries for kids published by Merlin and KKM, but I’m unsure which levels they target. Unfortunately, the other options would be Aquilina or Serracino Inglott, academic labours of love which would be uneccessary for an eight-year old, beyond her, and too voluminous, albeit a lovely addition to anyone’s bookcase.
A hilarious story, but the situation of Maltese language scholarship is so much healthier than what might be implied by this incident.
Unbelievable! Could you scan it and post it on your blog? That would do the email rounds.
[Daphne – Ejja, Mand – send me the scans.]
So if shit = zobb, how would you translate “stop shitting me”? ;)
There was a good dictionary for primary school children by Captain Bugeja(?)which was quite decent, and another by a certain Agius. The latter is better suited to older children in, say, Years Four to Nine. It is a more reent publication than Captain Bugeja’s and should still be in print.
@ Margie Cooper
The Maltese equivalent is, or should be ‘awrina’ but probably the powers that be tal-Akkademja would scrap it as it is too Italian.
In a fairly early English dictionary, one of the authors had been approached by two gentle older ladies stating that they were happy he did not include any rude and vulgar words in it. His response was that he excluded them only to see if they would be looking.
I actually have the Kelmet il-Malti at home, seems like I should perhaps change it. Is there a consensus yet on which one to choose from?
That aside, I do feel that even “bad” words should be included in a complete dictionary, obviously within reason, even if it’s also meant for a younger audience. I’m sure most parents have realised that their childrens vocabulary relating to rude words is not limited to the words they actually know, but rather to the way they have been taught to (hopefully not) use them. My own knowledge of rude words have been rather extensive since a fairly young age, as were all my contemparies, but we also knew to minimise the usage of them in adult company, which is pretty much the best you can demand from a kid.
Daph and others – Too late! My child found the dictionary a bit too detailed, so this morning I trotted off to the bookshop once again to change it for the other dictionary offered.
Mark Vella – I know which picture dictionary you are referring too, which is the one my child used last year and found quite useful and enjoyable (though even the English version of some words were Greek to her, such as “plane”, as in “cana”).
To be fair, the staff at the bookshop are always extremely helpful and obliging, and it is a pleasure to shop there. (It is in fact one of my children’s favourite shops, being extremely child-friendly.) Unfortunately though, as you said, the “heavier” (as in “more detailed”) dictionaries are far too much for an 8-year old; picture dictionaries, on the other hand, are not detailed enough, so we have just to make do with what is on offer – which is a laugh.
Sadly, my 1982 first edition of Kelmet Il-Malti doesn’t list any of the gems you’ve found. No shit, pee or srum dehlin u hergin, and certainly no zobb. But no pokits, sliper or gins either.
It’s fascinating that this assortment of vulgarities and pidgin English words we love to hate was included in later editions. I guess it’s all part of the dumbing down of the Maltese language.
So what if a child learns such words? As long as the child learns to use them in the proper situations then it is ok. :-)
ha ha ha ha
these dictionaries keep us so entertained
margie – what’s bwiez?
margie – int ilmahta?
Re. vulgarity, lexicography knows no morals, as its job is to record language. Someone mentioned the Oxford dictionary…I’m currently consulting an online version at work (EU translation) and the scholarly gems for supposedly ‘vulgar’ words are so linguistically exciting that they beat the frisson Amanda might have felt when she reverted to the teenage pratice of looking up z*obb and s@rm in the Maltese dictionary.
PHRASES
P1. not to give (also care) a fuck: not to care in the slightest. Hence in other dismissive (and chiefly negative) constructions.
go take a flying fuck and not to give a flying fuck: see flying fuck n. at FLYING adj. Additions; not to give (also care) a monkey’s fuck: see MONKEY n. Phrases 10; (not) to give a motherfuck: see MOTHERFUCK n. 2a.
1879 Harlequin Prince Cherrytop 19 For all your threats I don’t care a fuck. I’ll never leave my princely darling duck. 1929 F. MANNING Middle Parts of Fortune I. v. 87 ‘They don’t care a fuck ‘ow us’ns live,’ said little Martlow bitterly. 1934 H. MILLER Tropic of Cancer 34 Nobody gives a fuck about her except to use her. 1962 I. MURDOCH Unofficial Rose vi. 63 Not that I care a fuck. 1987 T. HARRISON Sel. Poems 242 A book, yer stupid cunt, ‘s not worth a fuck! 1990 A. DUFF Once were Warriors (1995) vi. 57 Main street. So what, big deal, who gives a fuck, town’s not even a city, and ya call this a main street? 2005 A. SMITH Accidental 26 Why should I care about him when he clearly doesn’t give a fuck about me.
Expressing frustration, regret, or annoyance: ‘damn’, ‘blast’. Also expressing disbelief or dismissal (of a statement, idea, etc.): ‘nonsense’, ‘rubbish’. bollocks to : (expressing dismissal) ‘to hell with ’.
1940 P. LARKIN Let. 9 Dec. in Sel. Lett. (1992) 4, I suppose my writing is terrible. Sod & ballocks, anyway. Not to mention cunt and fuck. 1947 R. BRIFFAULT New Life Mr. Martin xi. 248 ‘If that ain’t the gammon, that there nark was putting up a moment gone,’ Bluey said. ‘Bollocks, bloody bollocks!’ 1954 W. GOLDING Lord of Flies (1960) 88 Bollocks to the rules! 1961 A. SILLITOE Key to Door v. 85 ‘Bollocks,’ he shouted to Bert, making his way on all fours over tin cans and ashes towards him. 1971 D. ROBINSON Goshawk Squadron ix. 145 ‘What d’you want to do?’ ‘Oh, bollocks, I don’t know.’ 1993 G. F. NEWMAN Law & Order 456, ‘I cannot stand idly by and allow a fellow prisoner to suffer.’.. ‘Ballocks!’ Carne interrupted. ‘You kneecapped a business rival with six-inch nails.’ 2000 Courier (Aberystwyth Univ. Students’ Union) 22 Feb. 13/3 This experience has taught me the real value and importance of money… Bollocks to that, my exams end tomorrow and I’ve saved a bundle this week, wehay!
I had the same difficulty in choosing recently, when my daughter asked for the same type of dictionary. After comparing the few available options, I found the concise version of Aquilina’s dictionary to be the more suitable for a 7/8 year old … you might wish to check it out :)
@ Brian*14: “Se ddum tibilghu f’sormok bija?”
[Daphne – is that in Captain Bugeja’s dictionary?]
All you can think of is a lot of snide comments in a pathetic attempt to belittle the Maltese language. For your further sick entertainment I would refer you to ‘Idjomi Maltin’ which contains a few idioms to twitch your vulgar and condescending appetite.
[Daphne – Gosh, thanks, Gerald – but I remember them from schooldays.]
I forgot about Aqulina’s Concise…dump your child-friendly bookseller…
Mark Vella and others – You are missing the point entirely. First of all, to clarify matters, I did not look up the first word. My eyes simply stopped on “pee” whilst flicking through the dictionary, and – incredulous about it being there – decided to look up “sh*t”. Whilst there are fairly suitable dictionaries for very young children or for adults – there are no suitable dictionaries for children in my daughter’s age group. The fact that such tedious pieces of work are usually compiled by tedious people (often coming from particular backgrounds) is usually reflected in the end result.
JM – Thank you for your suggestion, but I have already exchanged the dictionary for another one. (Not because of the inclusion of such vulgar expressions, however, but simply because it was a bit too “heavy” for my daughter to understand.)
Exchanging the dictionary on the basis that it included certain words would have been like our Form II English teacher instructing us to cross out particular words / lines on our Shakespeare literature books simply because the content was too explicit for our age group – Obviously encouraging us to read them all the more.
I wouldn’t censor the dictionary simply because the words are there; I simply could not believe that:
a) the word “shit” was included in the first place, and that
b) once it was listed, it’s Maltese equivalent was given as “iz-z*bb!”, rather than “h*ra”.
It takes all sorts, I suppose. (And no, I would not have had any need to look up the words in the first place, my Maltese expressions being pretty colourful themselves.)
Daphne – I’ll get you “Kelmet il-Malti” as part of your Christmas present…
Pippa – The Maltese colloquilism for the English word “boots” is “butz”. One particular shoe shop last winter used to advertise their boots on TV as “bwietz” – Possibly the plural of “butz” …
It’s a bit like the email recently circulated by a wel-known clothes shop advertising “trouser @ 70 euro”. (I was tempted to ask them how much a pair of trousers would cost.)
Daphne, x’iz-z*bb qlajt issa?
Very funny indeed but at the same time quite sad.
Maybe you should get Joseph to bring the subject up in Parliament.
I am pretty sure that some smart aleck from the government’s side will ask him what iz-z*bb qed jaghmel fil-Parlament? Wasn’t elected, was he?
@pippa – bwiez is the plural of ‘buts’ (boots) – it’s a Maltese plural of an English plural.
@Daphne: No, but it’s correct. One can also use “titnejjek bija/tghaddini minn ghajn il-labra/”tibbulxittjani” etc etc
Fancy not having a non-vulgar word for ‘penis’ in an official EU language.
Incidentally, according to an apocryphal tale that’s been circulating in EU circles (Kev should know about this), a Maltese interpreter, during a meeting on reproductive rights, once translated “frozen semen” as “bahrin iffrizati”.
@H.P.Baxxter: Well done :)) you must have graduated with a summa cum laude in Maltese.
Gerald – You said “All you can think of is a lot of snide comments in a pathetic attempt to belittle the Maltese language.”
The person who compiled the dictionary did so perfectly well on his own by including such vulgar expressions (albeit commonly-used ones) in the first place.
What have you got to say about “ill’!” being used as a translation for “oh”, I wonder? – Do you think Captain Bugeja should have used a different translation, or should he simply added the “allu”?
Come on, Gerald – You obviously take delight in disagreeing with everything on this blog. I think that you’ll feel more at home elsewhere.
H P Baxxter – I wouldn’t be surprised if that story were true, given the horrendous English used in some government literature and documents. (Not to mention the English newspapers, of course, which often carry stories which are clearly written by somebody who thinks in Maltese and translates – often literally – into English.)
Daphne
I am all one with you on this one. Like Paul Caruana I pulled my 1982 first edition of Kelmet il-Malti by Kaptan Pawlu Bugeja and did not find any of this nonsense. So some wise guy, hell bent to give the coup de grace to the moribund Maltese language did a hash of things with an update u H*XA kollox.
But seriosly. Where does il-Kunsill Nazzjonali ta l-Ilsien Malti stand on this?
When are we going to realise that with such atrocities we are not only killing our native language but also destroying the good command of the English language of which we were so proud years ago?
pip
I came across “bwietsijiet” last year on a tv advert and put it together cos luckily there was a pic of a pair of plestik boots…… the logic behind it being: but (pocket in Maltese and please note.. real pocket not pocket pencil box), boot in English so they translate but (pocket) to bwiet (pockets) one boot, many boots – hence bwietz and only bit-tan ewro !!
Come on Daphne, I can’t believe you’re writing about such junk…..worse still I can’t believe I found time to read it.
‘caduta di stile’ is what they would say in Italian; how does that translate in Maltese I wonder.
[Daphne – Hello Gordon….that’s the whole point of blogs. If you want the serious stuff, read it on Thursdays and Sundays….XXXXX]
You’d also all be pleased to know that – in the same dictionary – “pencil case” was translated into Maltese as “pokit”.
Let’s get this straight – A pocket is usually found on an item of clothing, in/on a bag, etc. It is NOT a stand-alone thing as in, say, a pencil-case or a pouch for sunglasses/spectacles, etc would be.
The fact that many people erroneously use the word “pocket” instead of “pouch” does not mean that it should be made into an official Maltese word. (Neither would “pawc” be right, mind you.)
It’s bad enough that Junior II Maltese schoolbooks contain the word “flett” for “flat”, amongst other cringe-worthy words. As if the fact that the American “apartment” has wormed it’s way into locally-used English, thanks to estate agents and the like, is not enough. Now we’re hashing up not one, but two languages.
Here’s one of my all time favourites from a book of Maltese proverbs I used in school:
“Il-bassas soghla jonqsu”.
Your blog entry certainly brought back some fond memories of my school days!
[Daphne – Please translate. Or does it really mean, as I think it does, “The last thing a heavy farter needs is a cough?”]
By the way, what for heaven’s sake does the expression “xidja f’sorm patri” mean? A “xidja” is apparently a horse-fly.
[Daphne – You got it: a horse-fly up a priest’s arse – meaning a real nuisance. Except that I remember ‘xidja’ being translated as a type of monkey, unless the person who told me that got it confused with ‘xadina’. Mark Vella, please enlighten us.]
LOL!!! makes me so miss the island!
[Daphne – I’m sure you can buy it through Amazon.com. Then you can sit with Captain Bugeja and a glass of wine on those long dark evenings, and look up kuxin, crips, bass, sorm and dbielet tal-jeans/ginns.]
Re “xidja f’sorm il-patri” – Probably coined in the days when priests wore long, multi-layered robes. Hence, presumably, “as bad as an itch in a preist’s a*se”, (or “insufferable fool”) since he wouldn’t be able to put a stop to it.
I think these new words bode well for the Maltese language as they indicate that it’s very much alive and clearly colourful. The only language that doesn’t change is a dead one.
The Italians have done the same with such English words as ‘weekend’, ‘relax’ and god knows what else (although I’m not sure if they also tried to ‘customise’ their spelling as we have). English itself would have to be among the greatest culprits of stealing words from other languages and changing their meanings and spelling.
For that reason I think we should be easy on such words as pokit, gins, and even mikimaws (which stands for all cartoons in general).
What I find amusing is that (in local theatre at least) the more vulgar aspects of the Maltese language are still quite taboo. A Maltese audience can happily watch an English play with any amount of motherfuckers and c-words thrown in without batting an eyelid. However a single f’ghoxx ommok in a Maltese play would generate a wave of nervous giggles. A vulgar (yet oh so common) phrase involving religious references would probably cause palpitations.
Daphne, your translation of “il-bassas soghla jonqsu” is, I believe, correct. Thanks again for your stimulating blog. It’s a treat!
[Daphne – Always glad to be of service.]
The equivalent of ‘il-bassas is-soghla jonqsu’ would be ‘sopra corna, bastonate’..
If the plural (of Boots)is bwiez bil Malti mela the singular is ‘buz’ not ‘buts’ no?? or is there a pun intended on the but(t)s??:)
Gordon Guillaumier Friday, 3 October 2039hrs
.
‘caduta di stile’ is what they would say in Italian; how does that translate in Maltese I wonder.
In Italian, they would say , ” Dalle Stelle alle stalle.”
[Daphne – Hardly.]
Apparently the official Maltese plural for the ‘word’ “flett” (for “flat”, if you please) is “flettsijiet”. Can it really get any worse?
Here’s an example of a couple of sentences using “official” Maltese words:
Sakemm Toni dahal il-vann fil-garaxx, dhalt fil-flett, imma ma’ stajtx insib il-pokit tal-kamera u l-anqas il-bwietz il-blu. Kienu taht kuxin ma’ l-art, hdejn il-wajer tal-hiter.
Ooops! That was one sentence, not “a couple of sentences”, because I really can’t bring myself to write more of the kind.
@Amanda Mallia:
Esperanto is a lot easier to decipher.
Hi,
I just came upon a new English to Maltese dictionary online which may be of interest to you:
link:
http://www.englishmaltesedictionary.com
Perhaps you can give it a look.
Thank you.
@A. Frendo: I’d rather have a decent Malti -> Ingliz ( which I am unable to locate ). Most of those available on-line, are poor fodder to say the least, no matter which way you wish to translate.
@H.P. Baxxter
‘Fancy not having a non-vulgar word for ‘penis’ in an official EU language’
Ok, I give in. What is an *official* EU language?
FYI, most languages have acceptable and less acceptable terms for certain parts of the human body and genitalia. Taking the male as an example, ‘Tissemand’ ( lit. peeing man ) is a popular Danish word which the whole family can use in polite conversation, ‘Pik’ ( I leave the translation to your imagination ) on the other hand, is a big Le, le! ;o)
Chris
PS I desperately trying to revise my poor grasp of Maltese. Since, I’ve lost my old copy of Kelmet Il-Malti, I must now rush out and buy the ‘newer’ version!
Jahasra! I forgot the obvious…
http://mt.wiktionary.org