Thus a pretty and well-dressed woman of about twenty in the company of a dozen or so of her peers, all university students, in a crowded café in the center of Zagreb. And at the top of her high-pitched voice. This is “prick” in most of Slavic languages including Croatian. What is she trying to say, though? “No,” “nothing,” “no way,” or “forget it” with a special emphasis. In this particular case, with bravado. But whence the negative connotation of the male sexual organ? And in a male culture, where swears often veer toward fucking everything under the sun. Except pricks, of course. You cannot fuck a prick. Once upon a time, the negative meaning used to be restricted only to men, who swore mostly in the company of other men. It is the emancipation of women, who now swear just like men, which ushers the linguistic puzzle.