Faerûnian Curses and Oathes (Swearing)

[Mr_Rieper]

Porting this thread forward.

Lathanderite curses:

Realms exclamations appear alphabetically, followed in parentheses (with asterisks to lessen the obscenity impact) by the real-world equivalent:

"Beard!" (contraction of "[by the] Beard of Omthas!") [Omthas was an early prophet of Lathander, last heard from over six centuries ago]
"Bitterblood!" (contraction of "By the blood of Alathan!")
"By the Beard of Omthas!" ("Holy crap!" or: "Jesus!" [profane amazement])
"By the blood of Alathan!" ("Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!" or: "Bloody hell!" or "Jesus f*cking Christ!" [profane shock or disgust]) [Alathan was a high priest of a Lathanderite temple who was martyred four centuries back for preaching the faith of Lathander by the local Tethyrian duke -- who hated and feared change, and didn't want any commoners getting uppoty ideas about starting ANYTHING new]
"Darkrose!" ("Blast!" or: "F*ck!")
"Dawnfire!" ("(censored)!")
"Dusking!" ("Damnation!")
"Redblood!" ("Bloody hell!" or "Damn!" [upset Lathanderites have been heard to say things like "They even stole the redblooding candles!" so "redblooding" is the form that lets this word be used directly in place of the real-world "bloody" or "f*cking"]
"Star of the Morning!" ("My word!" [usable even when speaking to superiors in the church 'polite oath' that denotes surprise or dismay])
"Starfall!" ("Damn!" or "Blast!" [ancient oath, now considered almost poetic or flowery])
"Zustrin!" ("Bloody marvellous!" or "F*cking wonderful!" [used only when pleased, but so shocked or surprised as to burst out into profanity; considered poor form by clergy of Lathander]


Banite curses:

Here are some naughty words apt to be uttered by worshippers of Bane today. Where the curse seems an invented word and no 'name origin' is given, it derives from an ancient, ill-remembered 'temple tongue' or cant used by the very early cult of Bane, to keep secret the nature of converse between priests.

"Aumarrath!" (contraction of "In memory of Aumarrath!" [Aumarrath the Tyrant-King was an early prophet of Bane, and this oath is polite enough to be used to superior clergy, denoting holy awe or satisfaction, somewhat akin to the real world: "Blood of the Virgin!" or "Name of the God!"])
"Blackfire!" ("Blood of the God!" [used in awe, admiration, or profane amazement, but never when angry or disgusted; is much less formal than "Aumarrath!"])
"Clathenar!" ("Holy crap!" or: "Jesus!" [Clathenar was an unintentional martyr of Bane whose long-ago holy service was one long sequence of disastrous screwups, so this oath is always used like a groan of dismay or spat out in despairing anger, when something has gone seriously wrong]; pronounced 'CLATH-en-ar')
"Embarranar!" (a gloating thanks to Bane for something that's gone well, or a victory, or unlooked-for aid or good fortune, roughly equivalent to a delighted: "Son of a BITCH!" or "Don't that take all!"; pronounced 'Em-bar-RAN-ar')
"Hand of Hate!" ([contraction of the rarely-heard "Feel the Hand of Hate!"] an expression only snarled at foes or victims being slain; rough equivalent of a real-world: "DIE, motherf*cker!")
"Holy Fist!" ("Jesus Christ!")
"Krisk!" ("Sh*t!")
"Lurruk!" ("Bloody hell!" or "Damn!"; pronounced 'LUR-uh-kh')
"Sark!" ("Blast!" or: "F*ck!")
"Talar!" ("Well, damn!" [a mild expression of surprise or dismay])
"Tondrabbar!" ("To the God!" [a war-cry or exulting expression uttered when an offering is touched aflame or broken, a foe is struck, or an attack is launched (i.e. it would be the first shout of a surprise attack); pronounced 'Tawn-DRAB-bar')
"Whiteblood!" ("Bloody hell!" or "Jesus f*cking Christ!" [profane shock or disgust])
T
his is of course the very sort of detail dropped because of the original TSR Code of Ethics AND the desire to simplify speech (doing away with dialects/accents, and so on) to make the game more accessible when it first appeared. If your players don't feel comfortable using any of these expressions, or they seem silly when uttered, don't use them. Bane will understand.


Red Knight curses:

Obscenities uttered by faithful of the Red Knight when personally upset include these:
"Alavaerthus!" (equivalent of "God-damn-it!" or "Jesus f*cking Christ!" [this word, pronounced "Alah-VAER-thus," was the name of a member of the Fellowship who had a large hand in founding the church of Red Knight, but went mad in a battle and sent his forces to their dooms through a series of stupid or reckless commands; "playing Alavaerthus" is an informal Fellowship expression meaning to 'totally screw up')
"Blood of the Lady!" (equivalent of "Oh my [insert strongest personal obscenities here] God!" [used as a stronger replacement for "Alavaerthus!")
"Checkmate!" (formal, usable-in-polite-company equivalent of "Damn!" or "(censored)!" or "Blast!" [invoking the name of the Lady's blade])
"Keltor!" (equivalent of "Damn!" and pronounced as "KEL-tor" [spat out swiftly])
"Teskyre!" (equivalent of "Sh*t!" and pronounced as "Tess-kEYE-ur")
"Witless!" (equivalent of "F*ck!" [the strongest personal oath of a faithful of the Red Knight alludes to stupidity in strategy or tactics])


Now, a few 'polite oaths,' that can be used in front of priests, or by one priest to another, without any rebuke or sin at all:

"Blood of the god!" [also uttered as: "Blood of Tempus!"]
"Hooves!" [a reference to the mounts Tempus rides or stands on, Deiros and Veiros, and therefore to the god at work]
"Steel!" [short for "Thirsty steel!" (this longer form is now very rarely heard), and expresses an eager desire to take part in battle]
"Sword and Stars!" [a saying derived from the belief that stars flash to mark the god's approval when a favored attack is made or a champion draws his or her sword for purposes of battle]
"Warhorn!" [short for "Warhorn forlorn!" (a line from a temple hymn about aid arriving too late to save the lives of heroes dying heroically in a 'last stand' because they upheld their duty rather than departing and so saving their lives), and expresses regret at a battle defeat or at poor tactics that resulted in losses because allies or sword-comrades came too late, or went in the wrong direction, or chose opponents or terrain poorly]
"Zelzing!" [a word from an old, now-lost battle song of Tempus, that poetically described the sound of ringing swords in battle; this is now used triumphantly to mark a blow struck, or battle joined, or a foe struck down]


Tempus Curses:

And now, the "hard swearing" indulged in by believers in Tempus who have lost their tempers and let lapse all guard over their tongues. As usual, I've provided modern real-world equivalents in parentheses. Almost all of these words derive from ancient temple cant of the Wargod, now forgotten except for these oaths and a few sacred phrases used in altar prayers.

"Arntarmar!" ("Jesus Christ!"; pronounced "Arn-TAR-mar!" [Arntarmar was a long-ago mortal war-hero who worked wondrous victories in the name of Tempus, and died willingly on a battlefield to allow wounded and children to escape while he singlehandedly held off a vastly more numerous foe in a narrow gorge])
"Caztul!" ("F*ck!" [profane shock or disgust] and pronounced "CAZZ-tuhl")
"Gelkor!" ("Sh*t!"; pronounced with a hard 'g': "GEL-kore!")
"Harcrimmitor!" (akin to shouting: "DIE, motherf*cker!" and pronounced: "Har-CRIM-ih-tor")
"Kelstyn!" ("Blast!"; pronounced: "KEL-stinn!")
"Malagard!" ("Well, damn!" [mild surprise or dismay])
"Ralimralar!" (a delighted: "Son of a BITCH!" and pronounced: "RAL-im-RAL-ar!")
"Sakros!" ("Holy crap!" [astonishment, not necessarily bad] and pronounced "SACK-roe-sss")
"Talandor!" ("Bloody hell!"; pronounced: "Tel-an-DOR!")


To tide you over on the swearing, here are just a few key words, with various regional variants given (I'll leave the more colourful genitalia descriptors for the full piece):

(non-deity-specific) damn! = hrast, hrammar (hur-RAST, hur-RAM-uh) ["hrammar" is southern]
sh*t! = naeth, naed, orbal (NAY-thh, NAYdd, ORR-ball) ["orbal" is southern]
f*ck! = tluin (tuh-LOOO-in)
f*ck you/f*ck off = sabruin (sah-BROO-in)


These two miscellaneous curses have also been introduced by Ed, and I believe the latter's been used in novels (I seem to recall Schend using it in either Blackstaff or Blackstaff Tower): Haularake, stlarn (something akin to "damn it" and "f*uck", IIRC)

These've been compiled by Dagnirion/Lord Karsus, but I recognize several of them from canon sources. I don't guarantee they're all correct, though:

Elven curses:

Elven:Biir is a term that is translated into 'garbage/waste', and is used in the context of calling someone else garbage.

Dhaerow, we know, means ‘Face of Shadow/Traitor’, and is used in the context of equating someone to a Drow.

Filliken is a term that is translated into 'open skirt', and is used in the context of calling someone a prostitute.

Hahlorkh is a term that means 'Un-Elflike Butchers and Savages', and is used in the context of insulting another Elf.

Lorkh is a term that means '‘Savage Butchers who Lost Their Elven Nature Long Ago Through [savage] Behavior’, and is a grave insult to any Elf.

Saurot is a term that means 'Taint/Rot', and is normally used to refer to something that N'Tel'Quessir do to a lesser quality than Elves. A drink, for example, would be described this way. It can also be used to describe a person.

Vyshaan, as we know, means 'Power Mad', and is used to equate someone to the Vyshaanti, which is a grave and vile insult among Elves.

This is merely a copy paste from another forum, and none of this is my work at all. Giving credit where credit is due. All of this belongs to IronAngel.