# Teach me to swear in other languages. Part 1: Interjections **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 28, 2019, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225 "2019-06-28T17:02:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/41 "2019-06-30T07:54:44Z")
> [@mandala](#): > > Gaandu = Asshole Fun Fact: Are you aware that Gaandu has be adopted into the Shanghaiese vernacular and means the same thing? seriously. There were Indians in the pre WW2 Shanghai that were bodyguards and such, and gaandu slipped into common vocabulary with the meaning unchanged. Chana is another good one in Shanghaiese. Kinda “fuck you” “nong nozi bq wu saporla” is my favorite Shanghaiese although it’s not so common. Literally your brain is filled with shit aka “shit for brains” ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/42 "2019-06-30T14:25:19Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > Sdi! (“Shit!” in Latvian. I had a Latvian GF at one time.) I have a friend from Lithuania. Are the two languages mutually intelligible enough that she would recognize this word, and be impressed that I knew it? 🙂 > [@jz78817](#): > > Italian: _che cazzo!_ “What the fuck?!?” > edit: “cazzo” is quite a flexible word. I worked one summer with a first-generation Italian-American guy and discovered that it might be the most beautiful language for swearing. Plus, it’s got nice hard consonants. > [@Acsenray](#): > > Bengali: [ala] shala — literally “ a man’s wife’s brother” —can be used as a general epithet, as an exclamation, or generally sprinkled throughout one’s speech. It’s considered extremely coarse when used in its not-literal sense. > > Its origin as a curse word is the implication that if I address you as “brother-in-Law,” I am implying an intimate relationship with your sister. The word for a man’s wife’s father— [our] svasur shoshur—works the same way for a man older than you. If I address you as “father in law,” I’m basically saying “I fuck your daughter.” Thanks, everyone (and please keep them coming)! These seem like the most likely to get incorporated into my repertoire; for this English-speaker, I think simplicity is the key to a good exclamation. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/43 "2019-06-30T14:30:04Z")
> [@carlb](#): > > \ I think simplicity is the key to a good exclamation. Fuckin’ A! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/44 "2019-06-30T19:00:37Z")
I have no idea if any of the below are, in fact, commonly used in these languages. But, that said: “Zut alors!” (French for “Damnit!”) Also, things I learned from reading _X-Men_: Bozhe moi! (Russian for “Oh my god!”) Was zum Teufel? (German for “What the devil?” / “What the hell?”) ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/45 "2019-06-30T19:41:12Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > [Would Unca Cecil let you down?](https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-straight-dope/Content?oid=877517) Well he has, actually, as he claims that no language lacks swear words. But that is true of Irish. There are no individual words that are unusable. I mean, a long postulation on the subject of feces would be as unwelcome at an Irish dinner table as anywhere else, but there is no equivalent for “shit.” This calls for a bit of creativity, almost always involving the devil and various actions he might take with the offensive object or person. The most common is probably “diabhal a chur air” which is simply just “Devil take it.” The worst I’ve ever heard was a simple aside in a conversation about an ex-girlfriend “is féidir leis an diabhal ream a asal” (the devil can ream her arse) said in the same under breath way one might say “May she rest in peace” mid-sentence when discussing a late friend. I’ve also heard cúl tóna which doesn’t translate literally at all, but is used much like “dickhead.” One I’ve seen written but never heard used is “Gabh Transna Ort Fhéin” which means “go sideways with yourself” but is understood like “F\*\*\* yourself sideways.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/46 "2019-06-30T20:46:27Z")
Stugots! The Neapolitan pronunciation of the Italian slang _sto cazzo_, meaning “my cock”. Thanks to The Sopranos for that one. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/47 "2019-06-30T21:34:12Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I have no idea if any of the below are, in fact, commonly used in these languages. But, that said: > > “Zut alors!” (French for “Damnit!”) > > Also, things I learned from reading _X-Men_: > > Bozhe moi! (Russian for “Oh my god!”) > > Was zum Teufel? (German for “What the devil?” / “What the hell?”) according to Dave Barry, “_zut alors!_” is French for “Look! A lors!” ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/48 "2019-06-30T21:46:45Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > _Cabrón_: lit. male goat. More usually, someone who pimps his direct relatives. Where I live, one is rarely called “_cabrón_ ”. It is nearly always “_¡Pinche cabrón!_” ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/49 "2019-07-15T23:40:59Z")
I am looking for Arabic! > [@jz78817](#): > > Italian: _che cazzo!_ “What the fuck?!?” > edit: “cazzo” is quite a flexible word. I believe that phrase can also mean “what a dick” depending on the context. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/50 "2019-07-16T15:44:59Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I believe that phrase can also mean “what a dick” depending on the context. If you mean in the sense of being amazed by a dick, for example because it’s a particularly beautiful one, then yes. But you can’t call a person a dick (cazzo) in Italian. In that case use, “che testa di cazzo”, I.e “what a dickhead”. Also popular is the originally Sicilian “minchia” (pronounced “minkia”) with the same meaning and use as “cazzo”. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/51 "2019-07-16T15:51:04Z")
In Dutch the English “shit” has become so imbedded in the language that it’s the first thing that would come out of my mouth if I stepped on a piece of Lego. Otherwise I might go to various forms of “God damn it” such as “Godverdomme”, Godver or even Godverdegodver. I’m hearing that last one in my father’s voice. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/52 "2019-07-16T17:43:31Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I am looking for Arabic! > > I believe that phrase can also mean “what a dick” depending on the context. yeah… supposedly when the Costa Concordia ran aground and the captain bailed, someone in the Italian coast guard yelled “vada a bordo, _cazzo_!” (“get on board, dick!”) at him. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/53 "2019-07-16T18:13:03Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > you can’t call a person a dick (cazzo) in Italian. In that case use, “che testa di cazzo”, I.e “what a dickhead”. Then I was mistaken, thanks for the tip (no pun intended). Although I wonder why it works for dickhead but not just dick. > [@jz78817](#): > > yeah… supposedly when the Costa Concordia ran aground and the captain bailed, someone in the Italian coast guard yelled “vada a bordo, _cazzo_!” (“get on board, dick!”) at him. I read one translation that rendered it as “get on board, for fuck’s sake!” ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/54 "2019-07-16T18:50:08Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I read one translation that rendered it as “get on board, for fuck’s sake!” That’s correct. “Cazzo” is an expletive here, it doesn’t refer to the captain. I don’t get it either, but in Italian you can call someone a dickhead but not a dick. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/55 "2019-07-22T23:44:03Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > …Scheiße… This is my go-to. Funny side story: we’ve hosted high-school students from China and Germany several times, typically for 2-3 weeks at a time. Last year, we agreed to host a student from Germany… and about a week later I found out I needed fairly painful wrist surgery. The surgery was accomplished before she arrived, but I was still in a lot of pain while she was with us. So she heard my one German word with more regularity than I like to admit. She corrected my pronunciation :D. I don’t find that “merde” has nearly the explosiveness that sudden, shocking pain requires. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/56 "2019-07-23T07:00:53Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Pendejo > from [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) the literal meaning is “genital hair”. It is derived from _pender_, “to be hanging down; to droop”. > [@](#): > > puta = whore > puto = gigolo,with an implication that you cater to the gay market. In Spain _puto_ doesn’t necessarily imply that he caters to gays, but _chapero_ does. From _chapa_ (cap as in bottle-cap), slang for coin. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/57 "2019-07-23T07:12:18Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > the literal meaning is “genital hair”. It is derived from _pender_, “to be hanging down; to droop”. I’ve had this one wrong for years, then – had always interpreted “pendejo” to self, as “someone who ought to be hanged”. (I basically don’t know Spanish, so could have been on more than one wrong track.) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225/58 "2019-07-23T07:25:19Z")
Well, [the official version](https://dle.rae.es/?id=SRWfvPH) is that it already meant pubic hair in Latin, but I find that many Spaniards find the unofficial version easier as a learning aid: - pendejo, ja Del lat. \*pectinicŭlus, de pecten, -ĭnis ‘vello púbico’. 1. adj. coloq. Tonto, estúpido. U. t. c. s. 2. adj. coloq. Cobarde, pusilánime. U. t. c. s. 3. adj. coloq. De vida irregular y desordenada. U. t. c. s. 4. adj. coloq. Perú. Astuto y taimado. U. t. c. s. 5. m. y f. vulg. Arg. y Ur. Muchacho, adolescente. 6. m. Pelo que nace en el pubis y en las ingles. 7. m. And. muérdago. 8. m. And. Especie de calabaza. - From Latin \*pectinicŭlus, and this from pecten, -ĭnis ‘pubic hair’. 1. slang, adj or noun: stupid 2. slang, adj or noun: cowardly 3. slang, adj or noun: someone who leads a disorderly life 4. slang, adj or noun, Peru: sly 5. slang, noun, Argentina and Uruguay: teenager (in this meaning it can be _m_, _pendejo_, or _f_, _pendeja_; every other meaning is _m_ only) 6. noun: Pubic hair 7. noun: Mistletoe 8. noun: A specific variety of pumpkin [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-swear-in-other-languages-part-1-interjections/836225.md?page=2)