An official dictionary of swear words has been published in Luxembourg

The Centre for the Luxembourgish Language (Zenter fir d'Lëtzebuerger Sprooch) has announced the publication of the eighth volume in the ‘Lëtzebuerger Wuertschatz’ series of lexical reference works. Unlike previous editions, the new book is entirely devoted to swear words and offensive expressions, which traditionally attract a great deal of interest when studying the language.

The printed edition contains 117 words. To provide a clearer understanding of the context, each word is accompanied by a relevant illustration, an example of its use in a sentence, and an official translation into German, French, English and Portuguese.

In the foreword to the dictionary, Luxembourg’s Minister for Culture, Eric Thill, noted that the decision to publish a dictionary in this format was based on analytical data. According to statistics on user queries, the category of swear words remains consistently one of the most popular in the online dictionary of the Luxembourgish language. At the same time, the minister emphasised that the aim of the publication is not to encourage rudeness in society, but to showcase linguistic creativity. As examples of unconventional word formation, the authors cite such specific local terms as ‘Leitsgeheier’, ‘Intebinni’, ‘Kriddelschass’ and ‘Muertentrëppelesch’.

The eighth volume in the series officially went on sale in bookshops on 29 June. The retail price of the book is €12.50.