Is "Leche" really a bad word?

In this case you are wrong, Hatley. The OP is Filipino and Spanish is a major influence on language and culture in the Philippines. 'Leche' is the Spanish word for 'milk' and, as the link I gave shows, is used pejoratively in many Spanish-speaking countries. The English words 'lechery', 'lecher' and 'to lech' (which, by the way, are correctly spelled without a 't') derive from an Old French word meaning 'a glutton' or 'a libertine' and are quite likely derived from the same Germanic word which gave us 'lick'. It is just possible that, very far back in time, the Latin words 'lac', 'lactus' (from which the Spanish word came) were related to the same word which gave us 'lick' and 'lechery' - milk being something which is licked - but I can find no etymological reference for that.

In English, many people say "Oh, Sugar!" instead of another word which begins with 'sh' and "My golly!" or "Oh gosh!" are euphemisms (but nonsense words) which replace the name of the deity. I think that every language has words like this which swear or blaspheme without actually doing so. I don't know enough Spanish to know what word 'leche' might replace or sound like but it seems as if it is used to mean a bad word without actually being one. 'A lecher' in Spanish is 'un hombre lascivio', so I don't think that the Spanish word 'leche' has anything whatsoever to do with 'lecher', as Hatley seems to have assumed. In any case, there is nothing 'bad' about the word itself - it is simply a description of an immoral person.

I realize that. Filipinos also have such a behavior where they replace certain sounds that makes up an offensive word to something that has no sense at all. Such example I can give is what I literally learned from my teachers when I was still in high school. Instead of saying "puta!" (which means "sl*t") they say "putik" which means "mud". And yeah, I believe that there is nothing bad about our words at all but what makes it bad is our usage of them. After all, words are tools for us to communicate, is it not? Originally neutral in nature. It is us, who use them, that gives them certain characteristics--whether they are positively or negatively affecting the receiver.

I wonder if the Spanish merely say "Milk" when they cuss just to prevent saying anything really rude out of impulse. After all, people, hundreds of years ago are very conservative compared to how we are today...

I also was wondering how milk can be connected to a bad word.. but i have seen that there are some words which are opposite to each other in different languages. like for example Sona in Hindi is Gold but Sona in Fijian is very very bad word..

Very nice sharing here especially the one that Hatley has contributed. I think that would be the nearest meaning of what this "Leche" means. I did not expect that it was of American or some French origin that these expression came from. I thought it was all a Spanish expression since I noticed most from those with Spanish decent are using this expression when they are cussing someone.

Thank you Hatley for taking the time to explain it, I comprehend now, lecher.

I had not misspelled the word nor do I mean the American English "Lecher" word, wolfie. To make things clearer, I think it is best for you to look up at response #6 to have a clearer view on the discussion. I really do mean the Spanish exclamation of profanities used by the Filipinos most of the time when they themselves cuss. Do notice also that I placed this discussion under the Philippines category since this discussion is related specifically to Filipinos' word usage.

I don't really know the meaning of the word being used Hatley. Since most adults used the word when they are either pissed off or frustrated at something. Maybe it is "letch" but I frequently hear the exclamation on people who don't speak English. People in my country often call them the uneducated. So I don't think they really mean the "letch" word but the "Leche" of Spanish--since it's the language that stuck to us Filipinos the most.

I don't think my elder would do that to me--no matter how traditional they are--since I say "Leche Flan" instead of just "Leche" alone. Just kidding! Anyways, yeah, maybe it is what you say. I wouldn't put it past the possible answers to the question I've raised. But why? If what you say is the answer, then why is the term rude? The exclamation could be something else but it is the one term that is offensive. I might have understood the other profanities but what is it about this word that is considered bad?

Only maybe. There was a time I mentioned only the words "ewan ko" to my father--not rudely--and I was told off quite vehemently. He said that when he was still young, he said that to his grandfather as well. The result was his grandfather's felt broke after he disciplined my young father. When I say my family is very traditional, I mean that my family had never let go yet of what the culture was hundreds of years ago. Words, even little and how normal they are in this generation, so long as it breaks the moral code of hundreds of years ago, would be corrected quite strongly as it was done in the past.

Well, there are times that when you use the word, it wouldn't sound rude. Like for instance, you made something stupid or embarrassing, you might utter to your self "leche", but you do not sound rude. You uttered the word to express that you were laughing at your own action. I think the accompanying emotion would put some weight on your statement especially when you use the word. Would you agree with me on that?

help shes got leche mixed up with letch short for letcher a man who is sexually promisous and who makes p hysical passes at the lasses. a notnice person the word is letcher and comes from old french and old german. I looked it up on the o nline dictionary.let me look the word up for the spelling

sorry I mispelled it its lecher for the promiscuous creep who is not a nice m an.

@Hatley, sorry maam but I beg to disagree with you and all our foreign friends who seems to be getting this discussion all wrong. see it was posted in the Philippine section so I know exactly what she means. The word "leche" in the Philippines is used as a cuss type of expression as how English speakers would use or say " get lost" or "son of a b****". It is also used in in dire or disappointing situation such as getting a flat when you are in a hurry or not meeting a very important deadline, in this case the Filipino would say " na leche na" or similar to the English expression " I'm screwed" Another word used by Filipinos in a similar manner to leche is the word " lechugas" that means nothinjg more but a lettuce in Spanish

The Philippines and Mexico were sister cities during the the Galleon trade so what you say is possible, we just sort of lost track as to milk being in a way related to mean semen and what's left of it now is just a cuss word ( obviously after a hundred pus years), so is it evaporada or condensada?

Sorry, I meant Manila was a sister city, my apologies

I know the consequences of using at least that word very much. I had seen it with my own eyes how adults disapprove of such behavior. No, the one who said the word is not me. I can't help but depend on the meaning of the word in Spanish because the word is Spanish to begin with. Though borrowed, the Filipino meaning of "Leche" or "Letse" is still one and the same with the Spanish meaning.

Well, some Filipinos hate deviating from what is right and polite thus instead of saying anything rude, we say something else. An example is, for others who would like to use the profanity like "puta", they say "putik" instead since saying the latter would be very rude and against our morals. So yeah, we might have just adopted the word for milk from our Spanish conquerors to say anything but the profanity that is usually used. After all, Spanish was once one of our language before the modern Filipino was born.

Hello, mikyung! I would like to know though, since you said that your aunt used to say that word when she's frustrated, whether you asked your aunt for the meaning of the word. I know I asked my elders but they didn't give any explanation or the full meaning of the word--considering that I was still less than 9 years old, I think, when I asked. So now that it came up to me again, I am now asking people, especially Filipinos online as to what that word is since when I researched, I was only given the Spanish term and all I can get was that it is a blasphemy or profanity of sorts.

I've checked it and I was right. In Margarita Cundín Santos´ master thesis (or PhD dissertation), which I found in the Internet, she mentions that J. Sanmartín, whoever he was, claims that it´s the byword for semen because of it whiteish colour.