OT: The all-purpose word

Yeah, fucking A.

Yes, most languages have such words.

In David Stuart's books about Guyams Mexico in the 1970's, the word was Cabrone, which basically means 'cuckold'. When some people talk, like working girls, it is used in every sentence.

SJG

Dr. Phil will have a field day, but the Germans are all partial to Schiessen (shit) the way American English speakers treat Fuck. Thanks SJG for the Mexican treatment.

Shit Fuck Bastard now covers all bases in 3 languages....

"Puta" is huge in Spanish, too.

Germans combine "Scheisse" with lots of other words to form earthy compounds, e.g.: Scheisskopf = shithead Scheissarbeit = shitty work Scheissantwort = shitty answer etc. etc. It does seem to play the role in German swearing that "fuck" does in English. BTW, "schiessen" means "to shoot", so I suppose if you were out on the gun range with a German and shot poorly, he might say "Scheissschiessen!", meaning "Shitty shooting!" :)

Also, Burro pronounced with a rolling 'r'. Never seen that written down though. Girl at hanky panky said I was a Burro, in an affectionate tone, and that I was looking for Puta. That was not really true though.

SJG

No other word is so versatile

@motorhead: "No other word is so versatile."

What about "smurf"?

@Meursault: You are smurfing hilarious! Good stuff.

SJG

Mr,

According to Gordon Shumway, Melmac ,

xenolingkopf = shithead xenolingbeit = shitty work xenolingwort = shitty answer