Editing Mat (profanity) (section)

== Four pillars of mat ==
In 2013, [[Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media|Roskomnadzor]] compiled a list of four lexical roots, with any words derived from these roots &ndash; nouns, adjectives, verbs, participles etc. &ndash; of the Russian language which it deemed "absolutely unacceptable in the [[mass media]]": ''khuy'' ("cock"); ''pizda'' ("cunt"); ''yebat''' ("to fuck"); and ''blyad'' ("whore"). Roskomnadzor defined the banned terms as follows: "Obscene designation of the male genital organ, obscene designation of the female genital organ, obscene designation of the process of copulation and obscene designation of a woman of dissolute behavior, as well as all linguistic units derived from these words".<ref name=iz20131225>[https://iz.ru/news/563178 Роскомнадзор накажет СМИ только за четыре матерных слова], ''[[Izvestiya]]'', December 25, 2013</ref>

[[David Remnick]] writes that ''mat'' has thousands of variations but ultimately centers on those four words.<ref name="Putin">{{cite magazine| url=http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/putins-four-dirty-words|title=Putin's Four Dirty Words |first= David| last= Remnick|date= 5 May 2014|magazine= [[The New Yorker]]| access-date= 6 September 2017}}</ref>

Mat-words were included by Polish publisher [[Jan Baudouin de Courtenay]] in the 3rd and 4th editions of the ''[[Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language]]'', which was printed four times in 1903–1909 (twice) and in 1911–1912, 1912–1914.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:%D0%A2%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8C._%D0%A2%D0%BE%D0%BC_4_(%D0%94%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C_1909).djvu&page=626|title=English: Explanatory Dictionary of the Live Great Russian language|first=Владимир Иванович Даль, Jan Niecisław Ignacy Baudouin de|last=Courtenay|date=31 May 1909|via=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:%D0%A2%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8C._%D0%A2%D0%BE%D0%BC_3_(%D0%94%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C_1907).djvu&page=140|title=English: Explanatory Dictionary of the Live Great Russian language|first=Владимир Иванович Даль, Jan Niecisław Ignacy Baudouin de|last=Courtenay|date=31 May 1907|via=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:%D0%A2%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8C._%D0%A2%D0%BE%D0%BC_1_(%D0%94%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C_1903).djvu&page=669|title=English: Explanatory Dictionary of the Live Great Russian language|first=Владимир Иванович Даль, Jan Niecisław Ignacy Baudouin de|last=Courtenay|date=31 May 1863|via=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:%D0%A2%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8C._%D0%A2%D0%BE%D0%BC_1_(%D0%94%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C_1903).djvu&page=140|title=English: Explanatory Dictionary of the Live Great Russian language|first=Владимир Иванович Даль, Jan Niecisław Ignacy Baudouin de|last=Courtenay|date=31 May 1863|via=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rsl.ru/datadocs/doc_9784ni.pdf |title=В. И. Даль. Биобиблиографический указатель / Рос. гос. б-ка, НИО библиографии; Сост. О.Г. Горбачева. Ред. Т.Я. Брискман. Библиогр. ред. Е.А. Акимова. — М.: Пашков Дом, 2004. — С. 9—11. — 134 с. |access-date=14 April 2019 |archive-date=30 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190130221230/https://www.rsl.ru/datadocs/doc_9784ni.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The inclusion of rude and abusive words became an obstacle to the reprinting of this version of the dictionary in the Soviet Union for censorship reasons.<ref>Предисловие от редакции // Толковый словарь живого великорусского языка. В 4 т. Том 1 / В.И. Даль. — 6-е изд. стер. — М.: Дрофа, Русский язык-Медиа, 2011. — С. III—XII.</ref>

=== Khuy ===

''Khuy'' ({{lang|ru|[[wikt:хуй|хуй]]; {{audio|Ru-Khuy.ogg|хуй}}}}), often also written in Latin as "hui" or even "hooy" by Russian schoolchildren/beginners in their English studies, means "cock", "[[penis]]", or for an equivalent colloquial register: "[[Dick (slang)|dick]]". The etymology of the term is unclear. Mainstream theories include from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo European]] (PIE) *''ks-u-'', related to ''хвоя'' (''khvoya'', "pine needles"), attributed to Pederson, 1908.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://monstar.nnover.ru/blog/abuse/27651.html#Comments| title= Comments| website= monstar.nnover.ru| access-date= 16 March 2007| archive-date= 9 May 2007| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070509170209/http://monstar.nnover.ru/blog/abuse/27651.html#Comments| url-status= dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.philology.ru/linguistics2/kovalyov-05.htm| website= philology.ru| trans-title= Russian Mat – Consequences of Destruction of the Taboo; Cultural taboos and their influence on the result of communication |author= Voronezh| year= 2005| pages= 184–197| script-title=ru:РУССКИЙ МАТ – СЛЕДСТВИЕ УНИЧТОЖЕНИЯ ТАБУ (Культурные табу и их влияние на результат коммуникации.)| access-date= 6 September 2017| language= ru}}</ref> 

From PIE *hau-, related to ''хвост'' (''khvost'', "tail"), attributed to Merlingen, 1955; from [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] хуй (''khui'', meaning "sheath" or "scabbard"). This was the etymology endorsed by the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] government and attributed to [[Maxim Gorky]], who claimed it was a loan word, imposed during the [[Mongol yoke]]. Alexander Gorokhovski suggests the derivation from the [[Latin language|Latin]] ''huic'' (lit. ''"for that"'', used on prescriptions for genital diseases) as a [[euphemism]], because the old Russian ''"ud/uda"'' (from PIE root *''ud-'' meaning ''"up, out"'') became taboo in the mid-18th century.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.russki-mat.net/e/mat_Gorokhovski.htm | website= russki-mat.net| script-title=ru:Матерщина: седая древность и цветущая юность| trans-title= Foul language: gray antiquity and blooming youth| first= A. | last= Gorokhovsky| language= ru| access-date= 6 September 2017}}</ref> 

The first volume of the ''Great Dictionary of Mat'' by the Russian linguist and folklorist {{ill|Aleksey Plutser-Sarno|ru|Плуцер-Сарно, Алексей Юрьевич}} treats only expressions with the stem ''хуй'' (''khuy''), numbering over 500 entries; 12 volumes are planned.{{cn|date=December 2023}} The word ''khuy'' also appears in various other Slavic languages with the same meaning and pronunciation but not always the same spelling, such as the [[Polish profanity|Polish]] ''chuj''.

A minor [[internet meme]] swept the Russian segment of the internet with a clip from the Chinese play ''[[Li Huiniang]]'', where the heroine's name was repeated several times, which for a Russian ear sounds like "khuynya" ({{lang|ru|хуйня}}), an obscene term for something unknown or unimportant or strange.<ref>Николай Ищущий, [https://proza.ru/2024/06/28/100 *** Ня? Шинима *** ня?], ''proza.ru''</ref>

=== Pizda ===
''Pizda&#769;'' ({{lang|ru|[[wikt:пизда|пизда́]]; {{audio|Ru-Pizda.ogg|пизда}}}}) means "[[cunt]]". A derivative of this word is the interjection and noun ''pizdets''. This word, depending on the situation, can express a vivid form of almost any emotion, ranging from sadness and annoyance ("Pizdets, my girlfriend cheated on me", or "Pizdets, I missed my flight"), to an expression of joy ("Pizdets, my son has just been born!") <ref name="Putin"/> As a noun, it generally denotes an extremely unfortunate event ("This is pizdets, my car has broken down").

=== Yebát' ===
''Yebát{{'}}'' ({{lang|ru|[[wikt:ебать|еба́ть]]; {{audio|Ru-Yebat.ogg|ебать}}}}) means "to fuck (somebody)". This verb usually expresses a unilateral action and requires (or implies) a [[direct object]].The mutual action expressed in English with verbs "to copulate", "to have intercourse" is rendered in mat by the [[Reciprocal construction|reciprocal form]] of the verb, ''yebát{{'}}sya'' ({{lang|ru|[[wikt:ебаться|еба́ться]]}}): "to fuck each other". Historically, women have been perceived as sexually submissive, so the verb mostly refers to an action of a man. In modern times it may refer to a woman's action, in contexts when she initiates (or plans to initiate) the intercourse or plays an active role. See the wiktionary entry for some figurative uses of the word.  

It can also be used as an objectless interjection ({{lang|ru|"Ебать, вот это удача"}}, meaning "Fuck, what a luck!"), or can be used as an intransitive verb meaning "to know", "to care" ({{lang|ru|"А я ебу?"}} is translated "Like I know?" or "I don't care", {{lang|ru|"Не ебу"}} means "I don't know" or "I don't care".). In that latter meaning the word can only be used with implicit or explicit negation - one cannot say "я ебу" to convey the meaning of "I know" or "I care".

=== Blyád'  ===
{{Redirect|Blyat|the album by Capital Bra|Blyat (album)}}
''Blyád''' ({{lang|ru|[[wikt:блядь|блядь]]; {{audio|Ru-блядь.ogg|блядь}}}}) means "[[whore]]".<ref name=Putin/> In the [[Old East Slavic]] the word блѧдь (блядь in modern orthography) – ''blyad'', meaning: "deception, nonsense, insane, adulteress",<ref>[[Izmail Sreznevsky|Срезневский, Измаил Иванович]]. [https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Srez1.djvu&page=73 "Материалы для словаря древнерусского языка по письменным памятникам" ("Materialy dlya slovarya drevnerusskogo yazyka po pis'mennym pamyatnikam") – ''The Materials for a Dictionary of the Old Russian Language on manuscripts''. Том 1 А–К (1893)/ С. 123]</ref> is preserved in the [[Church Slavonic]] in three meanings: "deception, delusion", "idle talk, trivia" and "debauchery, adultery".<ref>[[:ru:Дьяченко, Григорий Михайлович|Дьяченко, Григорий Михайлович]]. [[:ru:Полный церковнославянский словарь|«Полный церковнославянский словарь» («Polniy cerkovno-slavyanskiy slovar»)]] – [https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3APolniy_cerkovno-slavyanskiy_slovar_dyachenko.1900.pdf&page=87 «Complete Church Slavonic Dictionary» / С. 47]</ref>

To enhance the expressivity, the word may be combined with the non-''mat'' insult "suka" ({{lang|ru|[[wikt:сука|сука]]}}, [[Bitch (slang)|bitch]]) to form "suka, blyád" (сука, блядь) especially among Internet users and memes, an approximate analogue for the expression "fucking shit". The term is popular in the ''[[Counter-Strike]]'' video game community in the stylized form of "rush B, cyka blyat".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Villanueva |first1=Jamie |last2=Heath |first2=Jerome |title=CS:GO Dictionary: A Complete Guide to Counter-Strike Slang |url=https://dotesports.com/counter-strike/news/csgo-slang-guide-dictionary-23242 |website=Dot Esports |date=3 March 2021}}</ref>