Even among the Russian intelligentsia centuries ago, the word "pots" was the beginning of the appearance of the word "kid". But this version is fundamentally wrong, any resident of Israel will tell you about it. What does “potz” really mean, and where did this word come from in Hebrew?
History of the word. Mystic variant
Before starting to understand what is the meaning of the word "pots" among the Jews, I would like to give statistics. According to analysts and historians, "potz" is the third most popular word frequently used by Jews. The first are mom and grandmother, but in third place are po.
Let's start, perhaps, from the very beginning, with the history of the appearance of the word. Here it is, as they say, shrouded in darkness and mystery. There are several versions of the origin of this word. One of the most popular is as follows.
From an early age, Jewish children, already knowing exactly what “potz” means, are afraid to pronounce this word out loud. They only whisper, so that the parents do not hear, they say: "This is the man who deprives virgins of virginity." For somefictional linguistic data, Jews in ancient times never buried women if they were virgins. They certainly had to go to the other world as full-fledged women. Before the funeral, they were required to be deprived of this " title". For such work, the priest was involved. As a rule, these were people who were mentally ill, underdeveloped, fools, as they were often called.
Really
The older the child became, the more clearly he understood that this mystical story is not in vain bears such a name. For an adult, “potz” in Hebrew is a kind of abusive word that is used quite often. It can have two meanings. The first is negative, derogatory, while the second is more playful, positive, and intended to tease and bully more than offend.
Many adults will say that "potz" in Hebrew is the male sexual organ. In Russian, there are a large number of analogues to it. But in fact, historical references indicate that this is more of a canine genital organ than a human one. Often, scolding someone, a Jew will say: “Oh, you, dirty punk!”. And all the same, it will be said not with anger, not with a desire to offend or humiliate, but with laughter, with a joke or mockery.
Variant word meanings
There are several more options for what "pots" means. If we draw an analogy with the Russian language, then from the Jewish priest came such curses as a fool, a goat, an idiot. Often this meaning is implied in conversation. For example, the Russian classicwould say: "Prince Myshkin is a fool." And the inhabitant of Odessa will say: “You are shot, prince.”
Odessites consider this word not offensive at all. For example, they can easily ask: “Potz, is your mother at home?”. And this will simply mean a mockery and an open hint that your pants are unbuttoned in the fly area.
The kid is not a potz
Many scientists and representatives of the Russian intelligentsia of the twentieth century sincerely believed that "pots" came from the word "potsan". And it was from him that the more modern - "kid" came from. Dmitry Ushakov, compiling his explanatory dictionary, did not even want to include the word "kid" in his list, since he sincerely believed that it happened, as it turns out, from the name of the male genital organ. In fact, one word has nothing to do with another.
Only after a good two decades, changes were made to the explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. And then angry letters and messages immediately went from the people: “What have you done! How could a swear word be included in the lexicon of a Russian person?! Ozhegov would never approve of this!”.
A lot of Jewish words and expressions went to the people - to Russian concentration camps, and then to the Soviet Zekovian jargon. And this is where the tangible difference between the “poets” and the “kid” is visible. A person who speaks "on a hair dryer" will not overuse a controversial word borrowed from Yiddish. In terms of tone of speech, it is, of course, much softer than the Russian "idiot". Anyone who knows what "pots" means will always think before using it.
Yes, and they are written, ifgo deep, these two words are completely different. “Pots” is spelled with the letter “o”, but the well-written word “boy” will be with a completely different letter.
STOP
Have you ever noticed the fact that in Israel you will never see a stop sign? In this country, a prohibition road sign simply looks like a red stop hand in the middle of a white square. Why? The answer is very simple.
Every local resident understands who the Jews are. And after reading this word, as is customary in Israel, the word “pots” is obtained from right to left. A swear word on a road sign? Yes, that is right. It was customary to change the word to a forbidding and stopping hand gesture. So that drivers do not “stumble” over it every time.
Movie mistakes
Jews know several variants of how "potz" is translated from their language. In one context, it can mean a fool and an idiot. As they say in Odessa: "Pots potsu strife." Let's take a simple example to explain. There are two people, one of them is very literate, well-read, knows several foreign languages and speaks and even reads them fluently. But the second, in comparison with him, turns out to be a pots (fool). In the sense that he is not so educated, etc.
Or take two social strata as an example: a poor person from the street and, as they are often called, a "golden" boy. This boy is puffed up, but he cannot achieve anything on his own. Only with the help of parents with money. And he himself is zero. But the poor guy is studying, buildingcareer and achieve great heights. Here already the "golden" boy is an idiot, not a fool.
So in some films that describe the life of Odessans, for example, during the Great Patriotic War, pots is often used incorrectly and not in the context in which it should actually be used. Recall the most interesting series "Liquidation". That's where very often you could hear this word from different heroes. But in most cases, they all meant more "kid" than a fool, idiot, etc. "Some kind of potz came in." "Potz asked what time it was." "Poc, come here." I mean an ordinary, maybe a little annoying, person. And there are very, very many such examples, if you listen carefully to the speech of the heroes of some films.
