So badass

Hi everyone.

While writing my novel, I’ve come to appreciate what badasses each of my characters is in their own way.

This got me to thinking about what exactly is a badass? How can you tell if someone has achieved the state of badassery? Or if they’re merely posers who wish they were badass?

Please note, these are my personal definitions. There are other definitions out there, but if you want to be a badass in my book, here’s the deal …

First off, let’s talk about who is NOT a badass:

  • Anyone who thinks being an asshole to other people is a sign of strength
  • People who are cruel to animals for ANY reason
  • Anyone who never stops talking about how badass they are
  • People who do cruel or questionable things simply to impress another cruel or questionable person
  • Anyone who breaks shit just for the hell of it, or who starts fights for no goddamn good reason

Now, how do we define a true badass? A badass is:

  • Not an asshole
  • Someone who doesn’t go out of their way to look tough. They ARE tough.
  • Kind to animals. Period.
    True to themselves. They refuse to live inauthentic lives to try to impress others.
  • Someone who never preys on the weak
  • Never afraid to show kindness

How about you? Would you describe any of your characters as badasses? How so? Do you personally know any badasses? How does my definition measure up to yours?

I’d love to hear about it in the Comment section.

A rose by any other name

Hi everyone.

Today I want to share something from my current WIP.

One of the characters, Kostya, is Russian, and I am using Russian curses or insults wherever possible in order to give his dialogue some flavor.

It turns out, there are a LOT of Russian curses.

So here are a few of my favorites (so far). Please note, I’m not including the original Russian words, obviously, since that would require a Cyrillic font on my computer.

These are best spoken with a heavy Russian accent. Enjoy!

  • Durak – fool (starting off nicely. If you are easily offended, NOW would be a good time to visit some other blog.)
  • Govnyuk – shit, shithead (this was Vladimir Lenin’s favorite word, I’m told, so use it at your own risk)
  • Razyebi – a fuckup, a screw up (ah, this describes so many people I know)
  • Urodina – feminine: gargoyle (apparently, there are no masculine gargoyles? Who knew?)
  • Sukin syn – a son of a bitch (a classic)
  • Blyadina – a big-time whore (well, at least I’m a BIG-TIME whore, and not some nasty, little poser)
  • Huy – prick, dick, cock (that’s pronounced hoo-ey, ladies and gents and others)
  • Pizda – cunt, pussy, twat (is it just me, or does this sound a LOT like pizza?)
  • Zhopa – ass (well, what can you say after you’ve said zhopa? I mean, really?)

Well, let’s stop here.

There are SO MANY more it’s easy to fall down the rabbit hole.

Please don’t bother sending me hate over this. I’ve been in love with the Russian language since I was about 9 years old when I taught myself the alphabet. Don’t ask me why.

I would LOVE to know if you use words or phrases from other languages to give your characters some depth? If so, which ones?

Please let me know in the Comment section.

Thanks for reading.

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