synonyms for menstruation

[Theseus]

I should like to find out how many terms there are for menstruation from the standard to the colloquial. In a slang Greek popular text [Dirty Greek--a very misleading title as it 'covers everyday slang from what's up to f**ck off']. the author, Cristos Samaras, says that Greek, unlike English, has very few terms for the above. He gives only three έχω περίοδο, μόλις αδιαθέτησα & έχει λίγο PMS. I have heard, but it was used about a man, έχει τα ρούχα του (he's like a bear with a sore head). Students at my own school on occasions have excused themselves from lessons on the grounds that they are menstruating or have bad stomachache. Older terms in English talk about 'the curse' or 'the way/custom of women'. In slang.gr the term ήρθαν οι Ρώσοι is mentioned. Now more enlightened people talk openly about what is universal among at least half the human race, though I still have heard--relatively often--both men & women use terms like 'the decorators are in/she's got the decorators in' or who call menstruation 'Auntie Flo'. How many terms are current in Greek speech, ranging from the educated to the more colloquial, if there indeed are any of the latter apart from ήρθαν οι Ρώσοι, unless this too is only a term current among devotees of Λίλιαν...:blush:

 

[daeman]

...
Well, for once I'll start from the top, from the medical terms:

εμμηνόρροια η [eminória] : (ιατρ.) το φυσιολογικό φαινόμενο της περιοδικής εκροής από τον κόλπο της γυναίκας αίματος, εκκρίσεων και κατεστραμμένου βλεννογόνου της μήτρας· εμμηνορρυσία, έμμηνη ροή, έμμηνη ρύση, περίοδος, έμμηνα.
[λόγ. έμμην(α) -ο- + -ρροια μτφρδ. νλατ. menorrhea < αρχ. μηνο- (μήν) + -rrhea = -ρροια]

and then go way over that, to the moon: the phrase "έχει τα φεγγάρια" —although it applies to all genders, signifying sudden, intense changes in behaviour— when referring to women as "έχει τα φεγγάρια της" is (or was) frequently used by men to hint at menstruation, obviously a parallel of the menstrual cycle to the lunar one. As does "έχει τα ρούχα της"; that one is also unisex (and equally demeaning):

ΦΡ είναι με τα φεγγάρια του ή έχει τα φεγγάρια του, για κπ. που παρουσιάζει αιφνίδιες, έντονες αλλαγές στη συμπεριφορά του (ιδιοτροπίες, παραξενιές κτλ.)

(οικ., λαϊκ.) έχει τα ρούχα της : α. για γυναίκα που είναι σε περίοδο έμμηνης ροής. β. (και ειρ.) για πρόσωπο που θυμώνει, δυσφορεί, που έχει παραξενιές.

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Bitter Moon (Lunes de Fiel - Τα μαύρα φεγγάρια του έρωτα) - Vangelis

The film is known in France as Lunes de fiel (a pun on the French phrase "lune de miel", meaning 'honeymoon'). The script is inspired by the novel Lunes de fiel, written by the French author Pascal Bruckner.

Τριβίδι: στο σάουντρακ της ταινίας περιλαμβάνεται και η Φραγκοσυριανή.

 

[SBE]

Theseus, you say:
He gives only three έχω περίοδο, μόλις αδιαθέτησα & έχει λίγο PMS.

I have never heard anyone use the third unless referring to actual PMS, so I would cross that out. The other two expressions are the only ones in common use at least among the women I know. Everything else sounds old fashioned, contrived and not what grown ups would say. Of course the world is full of non-grown ups of both sexes.

 

[Theseus]

Thank you both for your answers. Having worked among labourers during the long vocation from University, you realise how immature & crude many of them are when it comes to such matters. But I have always found language registers fascinating, which is why I asked the question initially. In my neck of the woods anyway, most people speak on the subject openly or refer to it by way of euphemism.