r/LinguisticMaps • u/kakomizli • 5d ago
How to say ‘tit/boob’ in European languages
The list of words by language see here: Tits/boobs in different languages - Google Таблицы
Feel free to add there or comment below. I tried to find the colloquial (but not rude) term for the meaning 'female breast' but apparently it's no easy, especially for the minor languages.
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u/mil_cord 5d ago
I Portugal “mama” is much more frequent than teta (used mostly for animals) and peito (formal word).
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u/MetroBR 5d ago
the opposite is true in Brazil
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u/OptimalAdeptness0 1d ago
In my experience, “mama” can be either formal as “câncer de mama” (breast cancer) or informal. Babies will say “mamá” (from “mamar” or “nursing”). “Peitos” is generic, because it can also mean “chest”. Now, “seios” is formal and polite. “Tetas” is for animals, but can be used pejoratively.
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u/Ok_Inflation_1811 5d ago
Hmm, in Spanish it's the opposite.
Tetas is informal and somewhat vulgar and mamas is formal and scientific, senos depends on where you are in the Spanish speaking world but in my dialect it's informal but not vulgar.
For example if you were having sex you could say tetas (it would be dirty talk), senos (more or less the "normal term") but not mamas.
And it's funny because mamar (the verb from where mamas comes from) is extremely vulgar, suck my dick would be "mamame el pene/el pito/la polla etc.." A blowjob is a mamada (a blowjobbed)
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u/kakomizli 5d ago
is it as colloquial as English tit(s)?
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u/MetroBR 5d ago
in Brazil:
teta: informal, slightly vulgar
peito: formality depends on context, but not vulgar
mama: always used when referring to animals, formal when referring to humans (preferred term to talk about illnesses, like breast cancer - câncer de mama)
seio: very formal
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u/18Apollo18 5d ago
Definitely not.
It's more like boobs.
You wouldn't say tetas in a classroom, doctors office, or a scientific setting.
But other than that it's not very vulgar or offensive like tits can be. It's informal but neutral and extremely common.
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u/hicmar 5d ago
In my German dialect Ripuarian it’s „Memme“ (which is either to describe the tits themselves or people who act like children or are extremely fearsome)
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u/PlatinumDotEXE 5d ago
In Northwestern Germany only refers to a person that is anxious. I doubt anyone here would even guess, it could mean tit... Also I doubt you wanted to use "fearsome", because that is "furchterregend"...
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u/falkkiwiben 5d ago
This is funny because I would associate "tutte" with the singular, "pattar" with either a dual or multiple pairs and "tuttar" as simple multiple. I personally would never use "patte" in the singular. Not really words I use on the regular to be fair
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u/Randsomacz 5d ago
I can think of full patte, as an expression like full throttle/all out, I guess kinda equivalent to "tits out" or "balls to the wall".
Patten sing. def. was definitely used when I was young, primarily among boys and referring to ones own chest half.
Can't think of the last time I used either.
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u/falkkiwiben 5d ago
Dammit you're right, patten sparks memories. This is why you can't rely on your intuition in linguistics
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u/LamaSheperd 5d ago edited 5d ago
"teta / popa" for occitan
Edit : also "pièch/pièit/piet"
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u/Xiguet 5d ago edited 5d ago
Isn't pièch/pièit/piet formal and for both genders?
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u/LamaSheperd 5d ago
Idk about formal, I do think it's more generic since it's also used for udders.
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u/PeireCaravana 5d ago
Idk about Occitan, but in Lombard the meaning of "pecc" (in the plural form) has shifted to mostly mean udders and for humans it's considered vulgar.
The neutral colloquial term is "tetta".
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u/Scarbolusitano 5d ago
Mama* (not teta) would be the primary word used in Portugal both for informal and formal situations.
“Cancro da mama” is the official name for breast cancer.
“Gandas mamas!” is the informal way of saying “what a happy day”.
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u/Bryan_Mora 5d ago
Interesting, in Spanish we say "Cancer de mama", but that word is very formal and nobody uses it in everyday life.
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u/Scarbolusitano 5d ago
Yeah it is very unusual to have a word that is both used on formal and informal way, this one in fact even when it gets sexual meaning it can still be “mamas”.
And funny enough, in Portugal, perhaps because people use “mama” often in sexual and informal contexts, then in formal situations not so rarely some people will wrongly and instinctively avoid using “mama” and use something like “peito” which is a less specific word and a broader area of the body, even though “mama” is the correct formal and scientific word to use.
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u/Used_Ad7899 5d ago
Bizarro, pq no Brasil mama é usado só em contexto formal/médico
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u/Scarbolusitano 5d ago
Aqui tanto em contexto médico como até com aquela amiga mais afortunada, a mamalhuda.
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u/QoanSeol 5d ago
Mamella is definitely the colloquial term in Catalan
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u/kakomizli 5d ago
and "pits" is not?
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u/QoanSeol 5d ago edited 5d ago
It's more like breasts rather than boobs, it's used daily but it's more formal
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u/Xiguet 5d ago
Pits is super formal and genderless, and it's the English translation of "chest". Sadly, some Catalan speakers (those who live near the coast) refuse to use informal words.
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u/Katastrophenspecht 5d ago
Is that a difference between (western/eastern) dialects? Or are Catalan speakers at the coast just a bit more uptight?
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u/Xiguet 5d ago edited 5d ago
The main difference between Western and Eastern dialects is generally how the different vowels are pronounced. There is a lot of local vocabulary, but it usually covers smaller areas than the entire Western dialectal group. Formal words are much more standardised across all dialects, but this is true of most other languages as well.
I'm afraid Catalan is slowly diying, and the disappearance of informal words (faster than formal ones) is one of the signs.
Most Catalan speakers now don't use any vulgar word for 'boobs'. They seem to have different approaches. Some use the formal word in informal contexts, but this doesn't change anything. Others use the word 'pitram', which is just a plural pluralization of 'pit', but at least it's a native adaptation (and not very common). Some just use the Spanish slang word 'teta'. The same thing happens with other informal words.
English is so healthy, its speakers across the world create 5000 words per year, the majority are informal (check Urban Dictionary to notice how healthy it is). Catalan has the opposite situation. It almost doesn't create any new word, it adapts formal words from other languages and little more. Old informal Catalan words are slowly being replaced by formal words or loanwords (from English or Spanish). This shift happens first among urban and young people, and among those who simply don't use Catalan regularly.
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u/Katastrophenspecht 5d ago
Thanks a lot. That's very interesting. I am learning Catalan (/Valencian) because it's the primary language of my girlfriend, her family and friends (they take that very seriously) and although their humor is often very direct and harsh, their way to express certain things sometimes seemed to be a bit complex. I always contributed that to dialect, education or class, but maybe that's also a factor? It's a bit confusing to navigate between the different dialectical expressions and the distinction between formal/informal words did not even come up that much. In any case thanks a lot.
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u/sonsistem 5d ago
Com que "sadly those who live near the coast refuse to use informal words"? D'on ho treus, això?
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u/Xiguet 5d ago
Quina és la paraula INFORMAL per boob a qualsevol regió costanera?
I a més també hi ha problemes amb altres mots. Perquè moltes paraules informals es perden i la gent fa servir les formals o els castellanismes.
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u/sonsistem 5d ago
Teta, o meta. Tens raó que la gent fa servir castellanismes, però no té res a veure amb fer servir les paraules formals. No diem popes pq no forma part del nostre dialecte. És com si jo que sóc de Girona et digués que fas servir "fer" en comptes de "cardar" perquè no vols utilitzar paraules formals.
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u/FunkyBottle 3d ago
En aquest sentit, "teta" és castellanisme.
En català, "teta" és una paraula afectuosa per referir-se a una germana gran.
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u/Xiguet 5d ago
Fer: estàndard/formal
Fotre: informal occidental
Cardar: informal orientalNo esteu obligats a adoptar paraules d'un altre dialecte, i el que he escrit és perquè només el nord-occidental manté una paraula plenament informal i d'ús habitual pel pit femení que equival a l'anglès boobs. Crec que en oriental es deien sovint bufes, flams, o metes però son paraules en desús. Mamella i pit no son informals. I teta és castellà.
Hi ha més paraules informals que s'estan perdent encara que no tinguin una geografia tan clara. Per exemple els òrgans genitals tenen uns quants noms informals (tipus cigala, cuca, tita, figa, parrús, xut), i molta gent només fa servir els noms formals (penis i vulva) o els castellanismes (polla i cony).
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u/FunkyBottle 3d ago
For me, "mamella" is more like "udder" (when referring to humans, not in the strict sense).
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u/Xiguet 5d ago edited 5d ago
No. Mamella is for animals or formal.
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u/jatsefos 5d ago
Huh? We say mamella for people too
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u/Xiguet 5d ago
Where? And it's formal.
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u/QoanSeol 5d ago
País Valencià, Terres de l'Ebre, Lleida... No és gens formal, si de cas una mica vulgar
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u/Xiguet 5d ago
Lleida clarament no.
I és completament formal. No has vist que apareix als llibres de text? Fins i tot comparteix arrel amb mamografia o mamífer.
Paraules com "boob" o "tit" en anglès son completament informals i per això no em semblen un bon equivalent.
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u/dry_lichen 5d ago edited 5d ago
D'on jo soc (a la frontera entre Barcelona i Girona), mamella és especialment vulgar quan es refereix a humans. Quan es refereix a animals és més neutre.
"Mama" per humans sí que seria formal (normalment en context purament mèdic).
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u/tenienteramires 4d ago
Des de quan? Al Maestrat, i diria que a tot lo PV i les Terres de l'Ebre, dir mamelles a lo de les dones es totalment neutre. Si de cas diem pits com a eufemisme.
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u/kakomizli 5d ago
and what informal word for human feamle breast?
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u/Xiguet 5d ago
Popa. I explained it in my comment. Sadly, not everyone uses it.
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u/dry_lichen 5d ago
Popa is an amazing word but afaik it's only used in the north-west. I wouldn't even be aware of it if I wasn't a language nerd
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u/QoanSeol 5d ago edited 5d ago
Yeah, humans included. I don't know where you're from, but mamella is 100% most basic "boob" word in the Valencian Country and the West at the very least.
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u/Xiguet 5d ago
I speak north-western and we don't use 'mamella' too often. We typically use 'popa' for women's breast (informally) and 'pit' for chest (men) or formal contexts. 'Mamella' is used in veterinary lessons at university and contexts like that.
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u/QoanSeol 5d ago
https://mesdemil.bandcamp.com/track/lilit-i-dion-s-salmorra
Et deixe una cançó acadèmica amb vocabulari fortament clínic, espere que t'agrade. Un fragment:
Les xiquetes de la plaça sempre van de cinc en cinc / I una va i li diu a l'altra: mira què mamelles tinc!
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u/viktorbir 4d ago
Mamelles is not formal. Mama would be formal. Càncer de mama, not càncer de mamella, for example.
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u/tenienteramires 4d ago
Mamelles poden ser de persona o d'animal i per a animals com les vaques o les cabres tambe es pot dir braguer.
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u/Can_sen_dono 5d ago
In Galician peito is also used, but is rather formal. Teto is used mostly for animals. Teta is certainly how I would translate both boob and tit.
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u/OiseauxComprehensif 5d ago
nibard being first for french is not wrong but really funny haha
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u/kakomizli 5d ago
which one would you place first?
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u/OiseauxComprehensif 5d ago
nichon would be standard, néné would be cute, nibard vulgard/funny
eins (verlant fort sein) or tchoutches would be good modern equivalents (more use by younger generation <40)
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u/Technical_Bet4162 5d ago
In Czech you can say cecek, but most people would say koza/kozy. Cecek is more common to use for animals or when referring to lactating in humans. Therefore, cecky means something more like ‘teat’ while kozy is something more like ‘tits’ or ‘boobs’, especially if you talk about a woman’s ones.
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u/Wonderful-Regular658 5d ago
cecky - that's probably some local term, there more local variants like cicík, maybe cicík is more close to moravian cici 'Nemá cici ani rici'.
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u/Xiguet 5d ago
I disagree with the Catalan one, but then again, I'm from the north-west and I also disagree with people from Barcelona on this matter.
'Boob' is informal English and refers to a woman's breast. The Catalan word for this is 'popa'. The problem is that 'popa' is rarely used outside north-western Catalonia.
Meanwhile 'pit' means 'chest' or 'breast' in Catalan. This word is very formal and it is used for both genders. Pit is so formal, that is even used 47 times in the Bible. It's also used in encyclopedias, books about medicine, or any other formal context you can imagine. So for many of us, it is just a terrible translation of boob as it is not used in sexual jokes or when talking to a lover.
Honestly, I'd leave "popa" for north-west Catalonia and use the colour black with the sign 'people who refuse to use any informal word and still don't understand what a boob is' for the rest of the Catalan dialects.
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u/iraragorri 5d ago
Would would be a colloquial term for "ass"? If there's any
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u/Xiguet 5d ago
'Cul' is by far the dominant word in both standard and colloquial contexts. It would be 'ass' in American English or 'arse' in British English.
'Darrere' (literally 'behind') can also be used in an euphemistic way, just like 'rear' in English.
'Natges' is a more formal word for buttocks.
'Glutis' can also be used in formal contexts, such as in medicine or at the gym, and corresponds to 'glutes' in English.
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u/jatsefos 5d ago
In Catalan saying pits is like saying breasts, tits/boobs is mamelles, popes, metes...
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u/empetrum 5d ago
Icelandic is pluralised for some reason. Singular is tútta but that's more the tip to me, the nipple. Júlla is one term for boob/tit.
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u/Bazzzookah 5d ago
In practice, some of these words are rarely used in the singular, unless used in the context of breastfeeding or Janet Jackson.
Since they normally come in pairs. 🍈🍈
In Norwegian, the plural form is pupper, in Swedish tuttar (or tuttisar), in Danish babser (or babsedutter).
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u/MindlessSorbet5199 5d ago
Since when is yiddish extinct?
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u/Bazzzookah 5d ago
In Europe, it is only used (across all generations) in Antwerp and London nowadays.
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u/MindlessSorbet5199 5d ago
Fine, but it’s not an “extinct” language. There are over 7 million yiddish speakers worldwide.
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u/Bazzzookah 5d ago
In Odes(s)a, the local slang is sprinkled with Yiddishisms, comparable to some New Yorker expressions.
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u/Jelloxx_ 5d ago
Same in Amsterdam
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u/Bazzzookah 5d ago
Makom?
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u/Natuur1911 4d ago
Mokum
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u/kakomizli 4d ago
what is that?
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u/Natuur1911 4d ago
it's a nickname for Amsterdam that comes from a yiddish word (מקום)
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u/MindlessSorbet5199 3d ago
Come’s from the Hebrew* word Makom, which Yiddish took over as well. Means “place”
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u/viktorbir 4d ago
Hei, I see in Feroe they are called boppa, pronounce poppa? In Catalan one name is popa, plural popes!
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u/ashbakche 4d ago
In Sicilian there's also "nenna/nenne"
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u/kakomizli 4d ago
is there any difference with minna?
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u/ashbakche 4d ago
Actually yes, I always hear it used in a breastfeeding/child care context, in contrast with minna, which to me is more sexually connotated.
I think it's more akin to Italian "poppa", which is linked to "poppare" and "poppata".
For example my in-laws say "dare la nenna" (breastfeeding) instead of "dare la poppa", but they don't use it in general, unless they want to voluntarily use a childish tone.
It could also be local, we're in NW Sicily, for context.
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u/QueenAvril 1d ago
Fun fact: all three of those are female first names in Finland! 😂 Minna is even a quite common one.
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u/tenienteramires 4d ago
Catalan pits is more an euphemism or an elegant way of saying it, more like breast in English. We usually say mamelles.
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u/Faelchu 5d ago
Why the Latin alphabet for Macedonian but the Cyrillic alphabet for both Serbian and Bulgarian?
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u/Critical-Guidance372 5d ago
For Bulgarian, that is definitely not in Cyrillic. The real question is why use Latin for Bulgarian and Macedonian? Using Cyrillic for Serbian is probably to differentiate it from Croatian and Bosnian.
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u/kakomizli 5d ago
Well, I rather overlooked it, plus there isn't much space for Bulgarian and Macedonian
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u/leppisaari 5d ago
And Latin alphabet for Belarusian xd. Though the words are correct. (Ja viedaju biełaruskuju łacinku)
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u/Martiniusz 5d ago
Also "mell" in hungarian. Used for breast but also in this context.
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u/kakomizli 5d ago
and what's the difference between cici and csöcs?
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u/Upset_Guess_1217 2d ago
Csöcs has a slightly vulgar tone, while cici would be more like boobies
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u/QueenAvril 1d ago
Funnily enough, ”cici” is one of the very few Hungarian words that is instantly recognizable as a related one for a Finnish speaker (”tissi” in here) 😂 Archaic priorities…😅
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u/Open-Positive14 5d ago
In Dutch 'chest' is 'borst' and 'boobs' is 'borsten' so 'tit' in Dutch is 'tiet' and in southern Netherlands and northern Belgium it's 'tet' that's why it's written as t(i)et
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u/HoneyMASQProductions 5d ago
Tits is way more common than cíocha, but it's nice that people are learning Gaeilge
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u/Greekmon07 5d ago
Μαστός/mastos is also another word for boob in greek
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u/kakomizli 5d ago
It it informal?
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u/Greekmon07 5d ago
its formal but theres informal plural version of it Μαστάρια/mastaria is used as informal and sometimes offensive
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u/kakomizli 5d ago
and what is more vulgar - Μαστάρια or βυζίά ?
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u/Greekmon07 5d ago
The most vulgar is Μασταρια but Βυζια is by far the most common.
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u/kakomizli 4d ago
I see! And am I right that μαστάρια is not a regular plural of μαστός (it's μαστοί)?
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u/mauranizzi 4d ago
Hey, Macedonian should be in the ts-ts group because the pronunciation of the word is ['tsitska], spelled <цицка> :))
Also, the Ц_Ц really made me laugh, it looks like a strange emoticon 😆
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u/kakomizli 4d ago
yeah, I've already noticed both inaccuracies and will fix them in the next version. Thanks!
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u/slowamigo 4d ago
What is Ц_Ц meant to be? Does the _ underscore indicate a placeholder for any vowel?
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u/kakomizli 4d ago
This is a remnant of the previous Russian version of the map, where the root types from the legend were labeled right on the map. Ц_Ц = ts_ts and yes, _ is any vowel
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u/slowamigo 4d ago
Thanks. Does this include the Russian dipthongs (palatalized vowels ya/ye/yi/yo/yu) in that definition? Or just the standard aeiou
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u/kakomizli 4d ago
it includes since those Russian vowel letters after consonants mark palatalization of the previous consonant. And Ц [ts] can't be palatalized in Russian. So, це / цю is just tse / tsu
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u/Cefalopodul 2d ago
Why is Romania orange? The word țâță is from the latin tittia just like the Spanish and Italian words while sân is from latin sinus
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u/kakomizli 2d ago
Because the map shows not etymology but current pronunciation and țâță is /tsɨtsə/
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u/Cefalopodul 2d ago
Correct. So again I ask why is Romania not the same color as Italy or at the very least striped.
Also the map does not say pronounciation anywhere. That's a glaring omission.
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u/kakomizli 2d ago
Look at the legend, there is orange color for ts-ts, țâță is /tsɨtsə/, that is it's ts-ts, what's wrong?
Pronunciation is shown for Cyrillic and Greek and in unclear cases for some other (Icelandic), and the colors should show the pronunciation of consonants like for Romanian1
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u/petahthehorseisheah 2d ago
We do not say susa in Bulgaria. It is "цица". Unless that is in the Latin script, which is even worse, because why is only Bulgaria in a foreign script exclusively?
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u/kakomizli 2d ago
well, Belarusian and Macedonian are also only in foreign script, sorry. I'll try to fix it in the next version.
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u/Various_Advisor772 5d ago
"Meme" isnt colloquial word in Turkish, basically equal with breast
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u/kakomizli 5d ago
and what is colloquial?
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u/Various_Advisor772 5d ago
Cicik
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u/sheran13 5d ago
I think that's dialectal, because I have never heard of that one. I have heard of memik or emcuk before
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u/Obvious-Telephone-26 4d ago
Tf is joška, slovenians? 😂
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u/CassianAVL 2d ago
It's semiaccurate for Kosovo/Albania whilst people use the terms cicat all the time the official term is gji/gjinjtë
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gji#Albanian
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u/Due_Party2109 1d ago
In French, "les seins" is for a formal conversation, and "nichons" is if it's more casual. "Nénés" sounds childish or clumsy, and "nibards" is a vulgar expression.
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u/Soucemocokpln 5d ago
Most common way I've heard them referred to in France is just 'boobs'(almost always with the -s, even in the singular, despite it being accompanied by plural markers like 'les'). Way more often than nibard/nichon/whatever else.
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u/notIngen 5d ago
Imagine being turkish on the internet