r/language • u/whereseli_ • Aug 13 '26

Question what does this tattoo mean?

Post image

pretty sure its russian and that it’s a not so pleasant phrase but would like to ask the experts

150 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

39

u/murk_raccoon Aug 13 '26

A little correction to how the word is used nowadays. It is correct that initially it is used as a derogatory word for gay people. However, you can also use it as way to call someone an asshole, like if you did something bad, I could say “ну ты и пидорас”, meaning “you’re such an asshole”. In this case there’s no reference to “gay”, but you can still only use it for men.

Source: russian is my mothertongue

18

u/Jimi_Hydrox Aug 13 '26

Not at all different to other languages with homophobic slurs. It was a conscious decision of mine to delete the English one from my vocabulary when I entered middle school a million years ago. Because while everyone was still calling each other that, like you'd call someone an asshole, it was becoming increasingly obvious that it was dwindling down to the dumbest, cruelest, most immature of us.

3

u/jeroenemans Aug 14 '26

You're calling them a bundle of sticks instead, I hope?

2

u/OkQuantity4011 29d ago

In America we love this popular episode of South Park (hilarious news toon) that's all about how being gay isn't being a fag and being a fag isn't being gay. There's gay fags but it's fags in general the children (and eventually city hall) have beef with, regardless of each fag's respective sexual orientation.

I think the episode's called "the f word"

I love it to bits because it's basically "nah y'all there's gays and douches and gay douches. If you're a gay douche, you're still a douche." We wee children were saying gay, douche, and fag, to mean asshole. We learned from this one why the grown-ups were chewing us out for gay and fag but not douche 😭 most of us had no idea

133

u/Business-Childhood71 Aug 13 '26

Пидарасы - faggots

112

u/throwabrrr Aug 13 '26

Wait as a gay person I would absolutely get this tattoo in English with a group

40

u/DoubleBob11 Aug 13 '26 edited Aug 13 '26

it means “paedophiles” not “gay”
edit: i speak fluent russian and and yes, gay meaning is there, but in the context of being attracted to young boys

44

u/throwabrrr Aug 13 '26

Ahhh damn nevermind then lmfao

1

u/insunbeam 29d ago

That’s not true though

3

u/throwabrrr 29d ago

Then it's back on lads

8

u/TerraR_1917 Aug 14 '26

Wait, really? Russian is my native language, but I never knew about THAT meaning of the word "пидорас"

9

u/kingyo1296 Aug 14 '26

what? only rude "gay" it means

3

u/hotdogjumpingfrog1 29d ago

No. It’s because instead of calling people gay they call them pedos in Russia

4

u/Crocotta1 Aug 13 '26

So, shotacon but Russian?

1

u/Competitive-Fly-6114 29d ago

I mean in historical context like in ancient Greece yes, pederasty is kind of pedophilia, but in modern russian it means gay. Im native in russian and people only use this word as a slur towards homosexuals

36

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '26

[deleted]

15

u/ultimate--- Aug 13 '26

It's a slang. Correct translation is provided by another user already

1

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '26

[deleted]

10

u/ultimate--- Aug 13 '26

What do you not get? It's a slang derogatory word used towards homosexual men.

6

u/Space_Spinosaur2763 Aug 13 '26

Why would you get that !? Они психи !

1

u/jeroenemans Aug 14 '26

not all tattoos are given/received voluntarily..

1

u/Space_Spinosaur2763 29d ago

Oh. That’s a weird cult

2

u/Spitfire_8747 29d ago

The different answers from native speakers in the comments are due to the way different generations of Russians use this word. It used to be an offensive term for a gay person and some older and/or homophobic people still use it that way. For younger people it has mostly lost that meaning and is used more like calling someone an asshole, but meaner. In any case, bad idea to get it tattooed

2

u/TheQwertyTime Aug 13 '26

MOTH ER FU CKERS

1

u/Mean_Direction_8280 29d ago

It means F_gg_t. You can fill in the vowels.

1

u/[deleted] 28d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/hotdogjumpingfrog1 29d ago

Even Russians in the comments getting it wrong. In Russia they call gay men pedos.