Bosnian (BCS): ma boli me briga

[vatreno]

1) Can some one help me translate this Bosnian phrase: ma boli me briga.
It was said "grrrrrrrr... ma boli me briga."

I am guessing that ma is just short of mama and that briga- brigati= to care for?

xxx


Thanks.

 

[dudasd]

"Ma" is similar to English "well", though a bit more energetic. The whole phrase is hardly translatable word by word; but the meaning is:

Well, I don't give a damn!

 

[vatreno]

haha ok that makes sense!

Hvala

 

[farisca]

I don't care...

 

[musicalchef]

If it's closer to dudasd's translation, is it a bit naughty in Bosnian? For example, is it something you could say among: observant Muslims; someone's grandmother; your boss and senior coworkers; or just close friends?

 

[Athaulf]

If it's closer to dudasd's translation, is it a bit naughty in Bosnian? For example, is it something you could say among: observant Muslims; someone's grandmother; your boss and senior coworkers; or just close friends?

The expression is neither vulgar, nor offensive in any way. In that regard, it's more similar to "I don't care" than to "I don't give a damn", since "damn" can still be considered as an expletive, especially among religious people (although not a very strong one these days).

On the other hand, the expression is informal and a bit slangy, so I wouldn't use it in very formal situations. Still, I'd say it's totally OK for all informal situations -- for example, I've used it in front of my parents and other older relatives, in front of whom I never swear and instinctively speak and behave politely. You could definitely use it among your coworkers, and even in front of your boss, unless he expects you to use a very formal and distant tone.

 

[jazyk]

When I first saw it, I thought it meant My stomach hurts. Any relation?

 

[Athaulf]

When I first saw it, I thought it meant My stomach hurts. Any relation?

Good guess. Generally, boli me X, with X in nominative, means "my X hurts". Thus, "my stomach hurts" would be boli me stomak/trbuh. The expression in the title sarcastically exclaims "my worry hurts [me]".

Grammatically, the construct is analogous to the Spanish me duele el estomago, except that me in BCS is the accusative, not dative (whereas in Spanish, it would be le duele, not *lo duele in the third person where the difference still exists).