The essay by Lu Xun on the Chinese national curse, mentioned in this post and the comments to this one, has been translated by Huichieh Loy of From a Singapore Angle; you can read it here. It begins:
Those who live in China will often have occasion to hear the swear: tamade (他妈的) and others like it. I think the geographical distribution of this phrase is probably as wide as the lands upon which the Chinese have set foot; and I’m afraid the frequency of its use may not be less than that of the polite nin hao ya (您好呀). If, as some have put it, the peony is China’s “national flower”, then this has to be considered China’s “national swear” (guoma 国骂).
It’s funny and interesting; Huichieh Loy says “The language used—earlier twentieth century (‘May Fourth’) Chinese, plus the many learned classical citations, make the piece not that easy for me to translate. I have not been literal in all instances, and suggestions for improvements are most welcome.”
My apologies: there is a type–should be guoma, not huoma. Also editing “I’m afraid the frequency of its use may not be less frequent than the polite…” to “I’m afraid the frequency of its use may not be less than that of the polite…”
Fixed it — thanks!
Joss Whedon’s sci-fi western Firefly used Chinese insults extensively, to help portray a universe ruled by the ‘Anglo-Sino Alliance’ and also to get around network rules on swearing. Tamade was used several times — details are at the Firefly-Serenity Chinese Pinyinary. (I don’t speak a word of Chinese, so I can’t comment on the accuracy or lack thereof of the translations on that site.)
I have wanted to ask someone this forever and maybe here there will be somone who can help – how is the Cantonese curse “ham ga chang” written? Is it used anywhere else in the country. It is may favorite curse in the world – such ruthless evil, so straightforward. It may be unique in that it seems never to be used jokingly. Maybe someone can confirm or deny that bit too.
I always understood “ta ma de” as an abbreviation of cào ni tā mā de ge bī, which I won’t translate.
See Wikipedia’s instructive page, Mandarin Chinese profanity.
FWIW, at Danish (semi-)formal festivities (weddings, significant birthdays, …) someone who isn’t the organizer or the celebré(e)(s) will be charged with keeping track of speeches (always ending with a toast) and songs (ditto) and adding their own toasts if things are getting too calm. Now called by the well-pedigreed native term toastmaster, but magister bibendi was also a thing in the past (when people needing to keep track of toasts were probably learnèd [and drunk] enough for that word; of course the father of the bride vel sim, would make a speech no matter what the societal standing of the company, but a long list of speakers is a middle class thing. [And the Queen has her Master of Ceremonies, of course]).
@David F.: The Uncomfortable Truths Well
The Cantonese profanity page at WP says:
In Norwegian tradition the master of ceremonies was called kjøgemester/kjømester/kjøkemeister (in various degrees of danification). The first element must be Nyn. kjøken, Sw. kök < Lat. cucina “kitchen”, so I suppose it originated as a “master of servings”, planning and portioning out the speeches and other entertainment according to the needs of the kitchen.
ODS indeed sv. Køgemester ~ “Master of Provisions” adduces MLG köke = ‘kitchen’, side form of kökene < L cucina.