Saala: A Swear Word but Why?

[Cheegum]

Re: Saala: A Swear Word but Why?

@Jolie

And there is a very retro Bollywood song ‘Sala mai tou Sahab ban gya’ - now who is he swearing at? Looks it’s a figure of speech as well.

Oh and there is also that stupid Shehzad Roy song ‘sali tou maani nahi’ which is basically asking a girl’s hand in marriage. Quite ridiculous sounding song.

That saala is derived from the same derogatory word but is used for people, objects and situations. It is a bit like calling someone an idiot/cheeky bugger/wretched person but not as intense.

Eg.
To a person: Saalay tu boht chalaak haiy!
To an object: Yeh saali Candy Crush khatam hee nahi hoti.
To a situation: Apun ka to saala luck hee kharaab haiy!

It is used to the point where the literal meaning is no longer implied and can be used in friendly banter among friends too. Again, inflection matters.