Woah, hey, what's this? The answer is simple, good people. You set stories in a foreign land with foreign folks and you'll find your characters uttering foreign tongues. Wow! I know, amazing stuff indeed.
So, for fun, I figured I'd actually help y'all along in understanding some of the more oft repeated foreign terms and phrases that make this little action opus so much more happy colorful and educational. Ain't I a swell guy?
(And yes, it's separate from the main, big-honkin' Glossary. Whelp, this here's a purty dang technical novel, and so I reserved all that detail for the separate sections below. As for here, enjoy learning to swear like a sailor from a couple different navies. You're welcome, buckos!)
•Afrikaans
•Af / Afs — African / ~s. Southern Africa slang referring to pure blooded black folk born and raised on the African continent. NOT a pejorative either. (For those of you still experiencing some sort of "huh? factor: Africa is full of Arabs, Berbers, Arab / black mixes (Ethiopis / Somalis), whites, South Asians, and mulatto / "coloureds". Though they're all nominally as African as you humble white-boy author is American, "Afs" are only those people who 100% pass for Homo Sapiens negroid actually from Africa itself. (Bantus, Ashantis, Yorubas, Nilotes, Bushmen, etc.) Clear? Good. On with the Dictionary.)
•gook — Derived from han-guk, which is Hangul (Korean) for a Korean person. Came to be derisive American slang for Koreans and, later, Vietnamese; especially the belligerent commie variety. What most Americans don't know is that the term was carried over to Rhodesia in the 1970's as a moniker for the Communist terrorists those guys had to deal with. From there the South Africans picked it up, especially so during the South West African campaign. Today, in African English slang it can heard in reference to any indigenous personage (especially "revolutionaries") whose behavior warrants a swift death, be they mouthing Communist rhetoric or not.
•Arabic and related languages
(Author dude (Me) has not relegated himself to any specific transliteration standard, as I’m simply far too unfamiliar at present with all the nagging details of this entire kit and kaboodle to even pretend I know all but barely more than the vanilla-grade cable news TV watcher. (<pant, pant> That was one lengthy sentence there.) Therefore, anything I write in these languages is likely the most common rendering of the word that I’ve pulled from my source material. In other words: read on, enjoy, get smartitized, but don’t ever ever ever mistake me as some kind of reputable scholar. Ick!)
•Al-Shabah — “The Ghost”, “The Phantom” or”The Wraith”.
•Inshallah — “As God wills”. Typical fatlistic Muslim idiom for “shit happens”.
•Jahannam — Hell.
•jihad — "Battle on the path of God". Used in modern times to refer to a holy war against the "enemies of Islam".
•mujahid/mujahideen (Slang: muj / mujs)— "Soldier/soldiers of the jihad".
•mujtahid — Shi’ite Muslim scholar and clergyman right below rank to an ayatollah. Well studied enough to issue fatwas (formal religious opinions) and serve as community leaders. Often also carrying the title “hojjatoelslam” or “proof of Islam”.
•Salat — Contact Prayers.
•shaheed — martyrs (noun) / martyred (verb).
•Shaitan — Satan.
•Shari'a — Islam’s code of laws.
•Taghid — Transgressor.
•Zakat — Obligatory charitable giving to the poor.
•German
•Arschloch — Asshole.
•Chaot — One who causes chaos.
•Fettsack — Someone grossly obese.
•Kotzbrocken — Asshole; literally: a fleck of vomit.
•Sheißkerl — Shithead.
•Spitzel — A traitorous informant.
•Japanese
(Mostly Modified Hepburn rômaji. But will depend on author’s source material. Author (yep, that me) makes no claims at being so damn smart as to distinguish various rômaji (Romanization) styles.)
•baka — Stupid.
•bôzu — “bald man” (lit. temple abbot). Pejorative.
•chimpira — (litterally: "little pricks") Social dregs who hang around the Yakuza, aspiring to become one of the Yaks. The Yakuza usually give them work too demeaning even for their regular tsukaiipa errand boys.
•deshi — Student. (Traditional. Used especially in context of martial arts.)
•gaigokujin — Japanese for foreigner. Slightly more polite than gaijin or jingai.
•hiden — “Hidden” or “secret”.
•jingai — The Japanese characters for "gaijin" ("foreign devil") pronunced backwards. The Japanese started this when Westerners became wise to what "gaijin" meant, hoping to again snicker at foreigners without their knowing.
•kansai — “Mother countryside of Japan” (West Honshu).
•kobun — A "soldier" or "slave" or, probably closer to literal translation: an underling. Typically used to describe a person of such status in Yakuza organization.
•kumi-cho — Mid-level Yakuza gang boss. (Like a Italian mafia "capo")
•niramiai — “concentrated waiting in a jûdô fight.”
•Oij sofu — Grandfather.
•onmitsu — Tokugawa-jidai-era spies. Worked out of an intelligence service called the kôgi onmitsu.
•oyabun — Yakuza "godfather".
•sakki — “bloodthirst”, “murderous air”, killing intent.
•tsukaiipa — Yakuza errand boys.
•uyoku — Japanese ultra-right fringe groups.
•zakennayo — A common Japanese curse. Roughly translates to "Don't fuck with me!" or "Give me a wide berth!"
•Portuguese
On the off chance it ain't obvious, some of these novels' happenings are set in a big ol' patch of land known the world over as Brazil. And even though I wrote 99.9% of these suckers in English, Brazilians through and through speak Portuguese. And not just any Portuguese, but a dialect (Brasileiro) as different from European Portuguese as American English is from British English. What a frickin' travesty if the guy here typing this (me) didn't sprinkle in some Brasileiro in for flavor. Especially since that's what many of the principal characters would have flying past their gums in real life anyway.
Spoken Portuguese / Brasileiro can be a heckuva chore to discern even for fluent Spanish speakers. Personally, I think it sounds like Spanish spoken with a French accent. (Or maybe Borat with a lisp.) But no matter, since written down it looks enough like Spanish that most anybody picking up this tome shouldn't go too nuts sounding out the random phrase here and there.
That said, there are some quirks one should be aware of, lest massive head-scratching ensue:
•Some say "J" and "j"s sound more or less like English "j"s or some would say "g"s. And others claim it's more like the "s" in "sit" and "pleasure".
(And yes I know "j" is pronounced like an "h" in Spanish / Español / Castiliano. But fuck all that, this ain't Spanish, so don't get that shit confused. Got it?) Either way, it's frickin' wierd.
Let's move on.
•"R"s and "r"s are often pronounced like "H"s, though sometimes with a soft "r" sound to them. I'm gonna haveta shrug at the rules on this one.
•"ç" gets pronounced like a "z". Prime example: Mozambique is actually properly spelled Moçambique. Same pronunciation, just a wierd letter.
•Any vowel with one of them squiggly lil' tildes over it, especially near the end of the word, such as "ã" or "õ" means it's "nasalated". Nasalated, huh? That's a great bit of terminology. Never mind it doesn't mean diddly-squat to people lacking a Bachelors in linguistics. It wasn't even until I flew over to Brazil, that I figured out that means you stick an unwritten "n" at the end of the word. Tourist guides be damned!
BUT, here's even an easier way to think about it:
João —> Joawn = John
Introdução —> Introduzawn = Introduction
Compensação —> Compensazawn = Compensation
And so on. Easy breezy little way to turn something so foreign looking into almost English.
Ok! That's enough of that. Y'all got the idea. Ya wanna know more? Do your own damn research.
•13 ou 22 — Crazy.
•abacaxi — Pineapple, also slang for a “troublesome problem”.
•amigo — Friend.
•aqui — Here.
•bagunça — A mess. (Brazilian slang)
•barra-pessada — lit. "Heavy rough person." A hardcore, violent criminal. (Brazilian slang).
•Bom — Good.
•branco — Portuguese for white. Often in the Brazilian vernacular, branco has been understood to connotate a person in charge, while preto (black) refers to a subordinate. Even today, if you were a white Brazilian with a black supervisor, you might refer to your boss as "meu branco" ("my white").
•bunda — Butt. Rear end. Posterior. Bum. (Brazilian slang)
•cabeça-dura — Someone stubborn, insistent, closed minded.
•caboclo — (Literally: "copper coloured"). Similar in meaning to mestiço. (Brazilian slang)
•cangaceiros — Bandits, historically from early 20th century Northeastern Brazil.
•cangaços — Gangs of cangaceiro outlaws.
•capanga — Hired gunman. (Brazilian slang)
•Cale-se!/ Calar-se! — Shut-up!
•cão — "Dog", often used pejoratively. (Brazilian slang)
•cerveja — Beer.
•chefe — "Chief" or "Boss".
•chegado — Close friend. (Brazilian slang)
•Chocante! — That's great! / Cool! (Brazilian slang) lit. Shocking.
•comandante — Commander.
•conto — A huge sum of money. (Brazilian Slang)
•crápula — Scoundrel.
•dedo de Seta — Sneak. (Brazilian Slang)
•delegacia — Police station.
•Dona — Miss, often with a first (Christian) name. (e.g. Dona Mônica = Miss Mônica.)
•Égua! — Interjection of fright.
•esculacho — A mess. (Brazilian slang)
•escroto — (Literally: “scrotum”). Jerk. (Brazilian slang)
•favelado — Someone from the favelas. (Brazilian slang.)
•favelas — Slums. Specifically refer to the large shantytowns often covering the hills of Brazilian cities. (Brazilian slang.)
•fidalgo — Gentry. One who is rich and of "noble birth", so to speak.
•filho de puta — Son of a bitch.
•Foda / fode / foder — Verb forms of "fuck".
•futebol — Soccer.
•grana — Money. (Brazilian slang)
•Grato — lit. “grateful”. Used like “Thanks” in English.
•gringo — In Brazil this can refer to any light-skinned and/or light haired person, foreign or domestic. Is not necessarily a put down.
•Hã? — Like the English interjection, "Eh?"
•imediatamente — Immediately.
•jagunço — Hired gunman.
•jeito — Skill.
•lenhadores — Lumberjacks.
•louco — Crazy.
•mala-sem-alça — lit. "Suitcase without a handle". An annoying, troublesome person. (Brazilian slang)
•mandachuva — Big boss. (Brazilian slang)
•mentiriso — Liar.
•Merda! — Shit!
•mestiço — Someone of mixed European and Native American descent.
•meu — My (as in my possessions).
•Meu deus! — My God!
•muito — Much or Very.
•mulatto — Someone who's pedigree includes European and Sub-Saharan African DNA swirled together.
•não — No.
•negro do caralho — “Damned black.” Analogous to “nigger”.
•nojento — Disgusting creep. (Brazilian slang)
•Nossa / Nossa Senhora — Our lady! (i.e. Mary, Jesus Christ's mom.) Used in the same sense as "Gosh!"
•Oba! — Wow! or Great! (Brazilian slang)
•Obrigado — Thank you.
•Opa! — Whoops! (Brazilian slang)
•Palavrão — Term for curse words.
•Percebe? — Understand?
•pistoleiro — "Pistol shooter." Used to refer to an armed henchman.
•poltrão — Coward.
•Por favor — Please.
•preto — black. (See branco).
•primeiro — Primary. First.
•prontidão — Pronto.
•safado — A devious trickster. (Brazilian slang)
•Senhor — Mister or sir.
•Seu — Also means Mister, often with a first (Christian) name. (e.g. Seu Sergio = Mr. Sergio).
•shiitas — Though orginally refering to those few, particularly wacky, bomb-happy Shiite Muslims; now can refer to any fanatic, whatever the cause. (Brazilian slang).
•socorro — Help.
•'Ta lógico! — Great! (Brazilian slang)
•'Ta louco! — That's crazy / You're crazy. (Brazilian slang)
•'Ta ótimo! — Cool! ['Tis optimal!] (Brazilian slang)
•tchau — Bye-bye. Used and pronounced the same way Italians and Argentines say "Ciao". (Brazilain slang)
•tem jeito? — Is there a way? (Brazilian slang)
•truta — (Literally: “trout”). Comrade, friend, etc.. (Brazilian slang)
•Ué — (Literally “hang on”). An expression of doubt. (Brazilian slang)
•viado — Faggot. (Brazilian slang)
•Spanish
•amigo — Friend.
•aqui — Here.
•cabrón — asshole.
•¡Chingao! — Fuck! (as an interjection).
•¿Comprende? — Understand?
•jefe — "Chief" or "Boss".
•mestizo — Someone of mixed European and Native American descent.
•muchaco — A familial address, akin to "guy" or "dude."
•mulatto — Someone who's pedigree includes European and Sub-Saharan African DNA swirled together.
•pendejada — Clusterfuck.
•pendejo — Someone who's a screw up. Also used as a familial address, especially by those of Mexican descent.