kurva

Kurva is a vulgar term used in several Central and Eastern European languages to refer to a prostitute. In everyday speech it also functions as an insult or interjective expletive, and its strength varies by context. It appears in Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian and Slovenian, among others, where it typically carries strong offense and is usually inappropriate in formal settings. In some contexts it may be used more casually among friends or in media with censorship or quotation marks. A closely related form exists in Polish as kurwa, with a similar force, though spelling and usage differ.

Etymology and cognates: The exact origin of kurva is uncertain. The word has numerous cognates across Slavic languages, often linked to historical terms for a sex worker and subsequently broadened to an insult. Theories about its roots span proto-Slavic connections related to prostitution to external borrowings from languages such as Latin or Turkish. There is no widely accepted single source.

Usage notes: Because of its vulgarity, kurva is typically avoided in formal writing and polite conversation. In fiction, journalism and everyday dialogue, it may be used to convey realism or character voice, though it is frequently censored or quoted. The phrase kurva matka (often translated as “mother of a prostitute”) is a particularly strong insult in several languages and can carry additional cultural weight depending on the speaker and region.