One of the most common Ukrainian expletives is “kholiera” – in English “cholera.” Another swear word is “zaraza” – in English pestilence/disease. Comprehensive dictionaries of the Ukrainian language fail to provide the etymology of those expletives, although it’s not hard to figure out.
Cholera is a horrific disease: a highly contagious bacterial infection of the small intestine that rapidly depletes bodily fluids through severe diarrhea. Spreading through contaminated water, foods, flies and people-to-people contact, cholera can quickly reach epidemic proportions with half or more of the infected dying within the first two days if left untreated.