Top euphemisms for “period” by language

Actualizado: Mar 11, 2016
Publicado: Nov 14, 2017

— Actualizado: Mar 11, 2016 | Publicado: Nov 14, 2017

Last week we published the findings of our international period survey. With the help of our international community (190 countries and counting!), we discovered over 5,000 euphemisms for the word "period." And a ton of interesting stats about education and cultural norms around menstruation.

Many of you reached out and asked if we could share more of the euphemisms we found. Here they are (see translations below):

German

Erdbeerwoche - Strawberry week
Rote Tante - Red aunt
Rote Armee - Red army (refers to the army of Soviet Russia or the Soviet Union)
Erdbeertage - Strawberry week
Rote Welle - Red wave
Rote Woche - Red week
Besuch der roten Tante - Red aunt is visiting
Mens - Short for "Menstruation"
Auf der roten Welle surfen - Riding the red wave
Emma - Emma (just a name)
Alarmstufe Rot - Code red alarm
Die rote Pest - The red plague
Besuch von Tante Rosa - Aunt Rose is visiting
Besuch aus Rotenburg - Relative from Rotenburg ("Red castle", a small town in Germany) are visiting
Ins rote Meer stechen - Entering the red sea
Tomatensaft - Tomato juice

French

Les Ragnagnas - Grumbling
La semaine Ketchup - Ketchup week
C'est une scène de crime dans ma culotte - It's a crime scene in my panty
Les équerres - It means "angle bracket." The joke is that you always carry your angle bracket (équerre) and ruler together to maths class (ruler=règle, which has the same spelling and sound than règles=period).
C'est la saison des fraises - It's strawberry season
Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé ! - The Beaujolais Nouveau wine has arrived (Beaujolais Nouveau Day is marked in France on the third Thursday in November with fireworks, music and festivals to celebrate the first wine of the season. Beaujolais is a light and young red wine.)
Les anglais ont débarqué dans ma culotte - The British army landed in my panty. It's related to the Napoleonic wars and the undesirable arrival of the English who wore red uniforms.
VHS (vaginalement hors service) - VOO (Vaginally Out of Order) The abbreviation VHS stands for Video Home System and is common in France
Les carottes sont cuites - The carrots are cooked. (It means there is nothing left to do to change the course of events. Carrots are the longest and always the last vegetable to be cooked in a stew. It also refers to the coded message send via BBC radio during WWII to tell the resistance of the upcoming invasion of Normandy.)
Le petit clown qui saigne du nez - The little clown with a nose bleeding
Contrôle technique - Technical control
Être en travaux - To be under construction / a work in progress
Faire du boudin - Cooking black Pudding
Les petits lutins rouges - The small little elves
Les chutes du Niagara - Niagara falls

Italian

Le mie cose - I have my things
Il marchese - The marquis
Sono arrivati i parent/la zia/gli ospiti - We have guests/aunt/relatives
E' arrivato Giorgio/Mario/Ugo/Smeo - Giorgio/Mario/Ugo/Smeo has arrived.
Mar Rosso - Red Sea
Sono indisposta - I feel sick
Semaforo rosso - Red light
E' quel periodo del mese - It's that time of the month
Settimana rossa - Red week
Palloncino rosso - Red balloon
Ho le inondazioni - I have a flood

Danish

Det røde - The red
Tante Rød - Aunt Red
Damedage - Lady days
Det Røde Hav - The Red Sea
Besøg fra Rødby - Visitors from Rødby
Den tid på måneden - That time of month
Malere i opgangen - Painters in the stairway
Rødbedeskede - Beetroot-vagina
Kommunister i lysthuset - Communists in the gazebo
Russerne - The Russians

Simplified Chinese

大姨妈 - Eldest aunt
来事 - The thing comes
例假 - Regular holiday
倒霉 - Bad luck
来那个 - That comes
好朋友 - Good friend
老朋友 - Old friend
m到 - M arrives
特殊情况 - Special situation
不方便 - Not convenient

Traditional Chinese

紅茶 - Red tea
例假 - Regular holiday
來那個 - That thing comes
小紅 - Little red
大姨媽 - Big auntie
好朋友 - Good friend
蘋果麵包 - Apple bread
嚟 M - Period comes
血腥瑪麗 - Bloody Mary
親戚 - Relatives

Japanese

月のもの - The monthly things
女の子の日 - Girl's day
あれ - That
あの日 - The day of that
お客さん　- Guest
血祭り- Blood festival
ブルーデイ - Blue day
月一　- Once a month
ガールズデイ　- Girl's day
ペリー来航 - Arrival of Matthew Perry

Spanish

La regla - The rule
Andres (el que viene una vez por mes) - Andrew (who comes once in a month) rhyme
Estoy Indispuesta - I'm indisposed
Estar del Tomate - Be like a tomato (means: being crazy)
Cosas de Niñas/Chicas - Girl's stuff
Descongelar el Bistec - Defrosting the steak
Caperucita Roja - Little Red Ridding Hood
La Colorada - The redhead
Me bajo/Me vino - It came down
Tus diablos - Your devils
Estar "mala" / Estar "sonada" - Beeing bad/broken
La prima roja - The red cousin
Pancho - A male nickname, it also means hot dog and it could refer in some country to the Pad.
La luna - The moon
Semaforo Rojo - Red traffic light
Chapulin Colorado - A Mexican character (The Red Grasshopper )
El Vampiro - The vampire
Huele a Pescado - Smells like fish

Russian

Эти дни — These days
Критические дни — Critical days
Дела — Business
Красная армия — Red Army
Красный день календаря — Red day / days of the calendar
Гости (из Краснодара) — Guests from Krasnodar (name of city that starts with "Red")
Праздники — Holidays
Красные Жигули — Red Zhiguli (Russian car brand)
Монстры — Monsters
Месики — Mensies