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No problem with Afrikaans or Dutch; even in German, kacken is...

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picksel

1,009 Posts.

25/02/18

15:22

Post #: 31325674

Originally posted by Pioupiou ↑

Kakocracy (alternative Latinised spelling is cacocracy). Rule or government by the worst of the people. Kakistocracy means the same thing. Kakos in ancient Greek means shitty, and kakistos means shitty people – that is, using “shitty” as a metaphor for “bad”, rather than meaning covered in faeces. Within family circles, I often use the word “cacophony” to describe the music that my son and my son-in-law like, and which one hears in public places, like supermarkets.

If you are familiar with earlier English, or current Afrikaans, you would know the meaning of cack, or cuck, in English, and the much-used “kak” in Afrikaans, and I am sure one would find cognates in other Indo-European languages. There are many Afrikaans sayings that incorporate the word “kak”. Here are some relating to talking crap.

As kakpraat grassprietjies was, was jy lank al donkiedrolle.
If talking crap were grass shoots, you would have long been donkey droppings.

As kakpraat siekte was, was jy lank al dood.
If talking crap were a disease, you would have long been dead.

As kakpraat geld was, was jy 'n miljoenêr.
If talking crap were money, you would have been a millionaire.

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No problem with Afrikaans or Dutch; even in German, kacken is the vulgar verb version for to defecate.
However, "kakos" (κακός) simply means bad. Extract from a Greek Thesaurus yields -

1 Translations of κακός

2 - adjective

3 bad κακός

4 evil κακός

5 vicious φαύλος, μοχθηρός, κακός, βιτσιόζος, διευθαρμένος

6 ill άρρωστος, κακός

7 wicked κακός, κακοήθης, φαύλος, αισχρός

8 mischievous άτακτος, κακός, σκανδαλιάρικος, ζημιάρης

9 spiteful μοχθηρός, πεισματάρης, κακός, κακεντρεχής

10 awful απαίσιος, κακός, τρομερός

11 naughty άτακτος, κακός, σκανδαλιστικός

12 maleficent κακός, επιβλαβής, βλαβερός

13 sinistrous αριστερός, δυσοίωνος, κακός

You probably confused it with κόπρος (kopros), translating as manure or dung. It's used in words like κοπρόφαγος (koprophagos) which, in English, is the biological/ medical term coprophagous describing animals like dung beetles, blowflies, as well as a certain human mental aberration.


1	Translations of κακός
2	- adjective
3	bad	κακός
4	evil	κακός
5	vicious	φαύλος, μοχθηρός, κακός, βιτσιόζος, διευθαρμένος
6	ill	άρρωστος, κακός
7	wicked	κακός, κακοήθης, φαύλος, αισχρός
8	mischievous	άτακτος, κακός, σκανδαλιάρικος, ζημιάρης
9	spiteful	μοχθηρός, πεισματάρης, κακός, κακεντρεχής
10	awful	απαίσιος, κακός, τρομερός
11	naughty	άτακτος, κακός, σκανδαλιστικός
12	maleficent	κακός, επιβλαβής, βλαβερός
13	sinistrous	αριστερός, δυσοίωνος, κακός