Cursing in Russian with Lenin: A Beginner's Guide to Russian "Mat"

Russian “mat” — a remarkably expressive, linguistically fascinating, and utterly hilarious system of obscenity that builds a wide variety of words from a handful of extremely vulgar roots — is never taught in the classroom, but is absolutely essential for anyone looking to master Russian in all of its fullness. Russians widely consider “mat” to be much more obscene than anything in English. Its words were long unprintable, and their use in public performances remains punishable by Russian law. Yet when Russians really want to make their feelings known, many will resort to “mat” — for it alone has the power to express everything from utter despair, to incandescent rage, to bottomless disdain, to uproarious defiance of a fallen world.

This beginner’s guide introduces the basics of “mat” in an in-depth yet manageable fashion, including detailed descriptions of word-building principles, the literal and figurative meanings of “mat” expressions, and extensive coverage of euphemism — explaining how Russians can use “mat” without really using it! The text presents a manageable list of all the basic “mat” vocabulary — nouns, verbs, adjectives, and phrases — that you’ll actually hear, with simple examples of usage. English transliterations are provided alongside the original Russian Cyrillic (marked for stress!), making this book useful both for serious students of Russian and for inquirers who don’t even know the alphabet. Along the way, we’ll review certain key points of Russian declension, conjugation, and grammar in a refreshingly obscene context.

For anyone with a sense of humor and an appreciation of the “lower” registers of human experience and expression, “mat” is sure to become one of the real joys of learning the Russian language. Embark on this journey of discovery — with Lenin as your guide!