• Lvxferre
    link
    fedilink
    English
    210 months ago

    It’s Polish in origin, as ⟨bydło⟩ ['bɨd.wɔ]. In the language it refers directly to cattle, but metaphorically to cattle-like people, like a herd of people who don’t think by themselves.

    The way that you spelled it in your nickname is as Russian borrowed the word from Polish, ⟨быдло⟩ ['bɨd.ɫə]. In Russian I think that the meaning as “cattle-like people” is default.

    • andrew_bidlaw
      link
      fedilink
      English
      310 months ago

      TIL.

      Thank you. That makes a lot of sense. I’d reconsider my relationships with that word in the future.