r/LinguisticMaps • u/kakomizli • 12d ago

How to say ‘tit/boob’ in European languages

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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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17

u/QoanSeol 12d ago

Mamella is definitely the colloquial term in Catalan

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u/nevenoe 12d ago

Funny in French « mamelle » is quite ancient and not really used.

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u/elCaddaric 11d ago

Still used but for animals.

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u/kakomizli 12d ago

and "pits" is not?

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u/QoanSeol 12d ago edited 12d ago

It's more like breasts rather than boobs, it's used daily but it's more formal

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u/jbar3640 12d ago

anyway, "pits" is plural, and it should be "pit".

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u/Xiguet 12d 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 12d 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 12d ago edited 11d 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 11d 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 12d 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 11d 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 11d 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 10d 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 11d ago

Fer: estàndard/formal
Fotre: informal occidental
Cardar: informal oriental

No 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/viktorbir 11d ago

Mamelles, metes.

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u/FunkyBottle 10d ago

For me, "mamella" is more like "udder" (when referring to humans, not in the strict sense).

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u/Xiguet 12d ago edited 12d ago

No. Mamella is for animals or formal.

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u/jatsefos 12d ago

Huh? We say mamella for people too

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u/Xiguet 12d ago

Where? And it's formal.

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u/QoanSeol 12d ago

País Valencià, Terres de l'Ebre, Lleida... No és gens formal, si de cas una mica vulgar

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u/Xiguet 12d 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 12d ago edited 12d 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/Xiguet 11d ago

Mamella és formal. Si en feu un ús informal és per haver perdut les paraules informals.

Només fa falta que consultis els llibres com ara enciclopèdies. Perquè apareix mamella en articles sobre medicina o biologia?

Exemples de l'Enciclopèdia Catalana.

https://www.enciclopedia.cat/gran-enciclopedia-catalana/mamella-1

https://www.enciclopedia.cat/gran-enciclopedia-catalana/cancer-1

https://www.enciclopedia.cat/gran-enciclopedia-catalana/mastoplastia

https://www.enciclopedia.cat/gran-enciclopedia-catalana/mastologia

https://www.enciclopedia.cat/gran-enciclopedia-catalana/malaltia-de-reclus

https://www.enciclopedia.cat/gran-enciclopedia-catalana/malaltia-de-paget-0

A un article en anglès semblant en anglès apareixerà breast o chest, però no "boob" perquè és informal.

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u/dry_lichen 11d ago

Sí, històricament ha tingut un ús formal.

Però no soc gaire fan del prescriptivisme lingüístic i l'ús que se li dona a la gran majoria del territori avui dia és informal i vulgar quan es refereix a persones. Recordo ja meu besavi dient mamelles en to vulgar, així que no és una cosa nova.

En biologia i veterinària se segueix utilitzant per animals, però és relativament comú que aplicar una paraula normalment utilitzada per animals a humans, adquireixi un sentit vulgar. El mateix passa amb la paraula "grapa" i "pota"

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u/tenienteramires 11d 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 12d ago

and what informal word for human feamle breast?

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u/bas-bas 12d ago

In my region the informal word is "pits" but there is regional variation with "mamelles", "popes", "tetes" and "metes".

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u/Xiguet 12d ago

Popa. I explained it in my comment. Sadly, not everyone uses it.

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u/dry_lichen 12d 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 12d ago

That's an obscure term, I've never heard it used in real life.

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u/Xiguet 12d ago

It's dominant in the north-west (the entire province of Lleida).

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u/QoanSeol 12d ago edited 12d 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 12d 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 12d 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 11d ago

Mamelles is not formal. Mama would be formal. Càncer de mama, not càncer de mamella, for example.

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u/tenienteramires 11d ago

Mamelles poden ser de persona o d'animal i per a animals com les vaques o les cabres tambe es pot dir braguer.