Castellano (Spanish) is
famous for the ruggedness (and frequency) of its swearwords. But in
respect of one particular word, it can't hold a candle to Gallego (Galician).
In Spanish, the word is
Carajo and in Galician it's Carallo. Here's how it's described in a
document I have in front of me:-
CARALLO: Pronounced
smoothly and clearly, without emphasis or stress, it means the male
member.
!!!CARALLO!!!: As an
exclamation, it can indicate astonishment, admiration, and,
especially, assent.
An on-line dictionary
translates Carajo! as Fuck! Damn it! (Very informal).
And Google Translate is
very specific with Carallo:- Cock.
These are the examples
of common (!) usage among Gallego speakers given by said document:-
Carallazo - Blow.
Annoyance.
Carallada - Drinking
spree. Binge.
Carallán - Joker
Caralludo - Denotes
quality
Escarallado - Broken.
Dislocated.
Escarallación -Peak,
height.
Escarallar - To damage.
Dying with laughter.
But [says the document] the variety and
richness of the meanings of Carallo are almost limitless, given that
it's used to both praise and denigrate. To say something is good and
to say quite the opposite. It can also express tiredness,
resignation, amusement and an infinity of states of mind, depending
on the context. Here's some examples[all in Gallego]:-
Resignation: Ay que
carallo! [Ay, what a cock]
Joke: Bueno, carallo
bueno! [Good, cock. Good]
Rudeness - Vai o
carallo! [Go to cock]
Enquiry - Que carallo e
iso! [What the cock is that?]
Contrariness - Tócache
o carallo! [Touch your cock]
Offence - Iste carallo
é parvo! [Your prick is a fool!]
Temperance - Cámate .
. . carallo! [Calm down, . . . prick]
Threatening - Ven . . . carallo . . . Ven! [Come on, prick. Come on!]
Denial - Non carallo.
Non!
Rotund denial - Nin
carallo nin nada![Neither prick nor nothing!]
Oath making - Me cago
no carallo! [I shit on my prick]
Anger - Me cago no
carallo . . . carallo [I shit on my prick . . . prick]
Praise - É un home de
carallo [He's a man of prick]
Doubt - O carallo
vintenove! [The 29th prick]
Strangeness - Pero . .
. Que carallo pasa? [But . . . What the prick is happening?]
Contempt - Pásame por
debaixo do carallo! [It passes me below the prick! (?)]
Animation - Dalle,
carallo. Dalle. [Go for it, prick. Go for it!]
Whimsy - Salíume de
carallo! [????]
Evaluation - Non vale
un carallo! [It's not worth a prick]
Fatality - Ten carallo
a cousa! [Have prick the thing! (???)]
Frustration - Xa estou
o carallo! [Now I've had it up to my prick]
Meteorology - Fai un
tempo de carallo! [It's prick weather!]
Distance . No quinto
carallo [In the 5th prick]
On many occasions, it's
used as a conversational catchphrase or as a wildcard in a long
phrase or in difficult situations:-
Entón, chegou Pepiño
e un servidor díxolle: Carallo, Pepiño. ¿Que carallo fas aquí?
Then Pepiño arrived
and a waiter said to him: Prick, Pepiño, what the prick are you
doing here?
To finish, and as a
concession to the rich and flourishing literature of South America,
here's a fine phrase: MANDA CARALLO NA HABANA!!, which was apparently
uttered by Christopher Columbus himself, when the the Catholic Kings:
LO MANDARON AL CARALLO! [Sent him to prick].
Finally . . . Here's a
few phrases from a Spanish dictionary:-
Me importa un carajo -
I couldn't give a shit
Irse al carajo - To go
down the tubes
¡Vete al carajo! - Go
to hell!
Needless to say, I welcome any and all additions and corrections from Galician and Spanish readers. Or even from foreigners who undestand these things better than I do. Dwight, for example. Even Peter. But not that bloody carallo Alfie Mittington!
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