# Which language has the most swear words? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 21, 2001, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656 "2001-10-21T01:54:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/21 "2013-05-29T17:20:37Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > …And “blya” (a contraction for the word for prostitute) is very commonly used as a discourse particle or filler (as the word “like” is used in English). This strikes me as particularly weird. I can’t even get my head around it, and I know that etymological roots often govern expressions that don’t even make metaphorical sense. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/22 "2013-05-29T20:48:18Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > And “blya” (a contraction for the word for prostitute) is very commonly used as a discourse particle or filler (as the word “like” is used in English). “So, whore, I was, whore, at the mall and stuff, and, whore, Jimmy was, whore, totally there too, and so, whore…” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/23 "2013-05-29T21:14:16Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > “So, whore, I was, whore, at the mall and stuff, and, whore, Jimmy was, whore, totally there too, and so, whore…” Yep, works that way with Polish more-or-less, with the word “_kurwa_” which means “whore.” I think a better analogy would be, at least in Polish, that the word is peppered as punctuation much in the same way the word “fuck” is in English. So if you substitute “fuck” for the word “whore” above, you kinda get the idea. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/24 "2013-05-29T21:35:40Z")
I’m amused that someone bumped an over-a-decade-old thread just to post some Polish swear words. On the upside, a very educational thread. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/25 "2013-05-29T22:18:11Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > “So, whore, I was, whore, at the mall and stuff, and, whore, Jimmy was, whore, totally there too, and so, whore…” Kinda, except the word is such a filler now that the original meaning, though known to everyone, is completely diluted. Another fun language is modern Hebrew - few “native” swear words, so most are borrowed from either Russian or Arabic. Which is kinda fun, since the word for “tooth” in Russian means “dick” in Arabic, and the word for “my brother” in Arabic sounds like “dick” in Russian. Of course, the whole flavor of swearing in Arabic is lost when you use just single words and not full expressions. “Be cursed the donkey that brought you here” is much more colorful than your usual scatological references… ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/26 "2013-05-29T22:30:05Z")
I don’t know how German ranks in the number of swear words, but my impression has always been that words like _Scheiss_ (shit) are somewhat more acceptable in everyday discourse than in English. One can hear nice elderly ladies on the bus using that word or its related verbal and adjectival forms. The English word “shitstorm” has crossed over into German, where it may appear in the [headlines](http://www.manager-magazin.de/politik/artikel/0,2828,891966,00.html) [of](http://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/artikel/0,2828,889896,00.html) [mainstream](http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-91203413.html) [news](http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/kino/wie-pr-agenturen-die-oscar-verleihungen-beeinflussen-a-884918.html) [publications](http://www.spiegel.de/karriere/berufsleben/stress-job-social-media-die-shitstorm-manager-a-881673.html)–a thing which remains completely unacceptable in English language journalism. I definitely did a double-take the first time I saw that. ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/27 "2013-05-30T02:27:24Z")
There’s an interesting article on Russian profanity, **Mat** , on Wikipedia: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mat\_(Russian\_profanity)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mat_(Russian_profanity)) > [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I don’t know how German ranks in the number of swear words, but my impression has always been that words like _Scheiss_ (shit) are somewhat more acceptable in everyday discourse than in English. The Japanese word for “shit”, _kuso_, is also more acceptable than in English. It can be used on prime-time television. Interestingly, they have derogatory words for “deaf person”, _tsunbo_, and “blind person”, _mekura_, that you cannot use on television. French-Canadian swearing is almost all religious-based, with the use of terms from Catholic liturgy. I once read a joke somewhere that if you combined all of the French-Canadian swear words into one long and profane oath you’d end up with: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec\_French\_profanity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_French_profanity) ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/28 "2013-05-30T04:17:36Z")
> [@Suil\_Dubh](#): > > The Japanese word for “shit”, _kuso_, is also more acceptable than in English. It can be used on prime-time television. Interestingly, they have derogatory words for “deaf person”, _tsunbo_, and “blind person”, _mekura_, that you cannot use on television. So back in the day, my friend used to tell us all that _kuso kitsu_ was Japanese for “fuck you, asshole.” Any truth to that? ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/29 "2013-05-30T05:28:13Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > So back in the day, my friend used to tell us all that _kuso kitsu_ was Japanese for “fuck you, asshole.” Any truth to that? I’ve never heard that term before, and can’t find any obscene meanings for “kitsu” in either a regular dictionary, or a slang dictionary. So I’m guessing your friend either misheard, misinterpreted, or mispronounced a different phrase. The word _kuso_ gets a lot of use as a negative intensifier, like the word “fucking” does in English. So _kuso atsui_ would mean “really hot”, but again without quite the offensiveness of either the English word “shit” or “fucking”. You could say _kuso atsui_ on TV. You’d still sound crude though. A comedian could get away with it, but a newscaster couldn’t. _Kitsui_ with an “i” at the end means “severe, hard, tight”, so _kuso kitsui_ would mean something like “especially difficult” or “especially tight”. I can’t really see that phrase getting used in the same way as “fuck you” though. “You are an especially severe person” maybe, but not “fuck you”. You can also use the word _kuso_ with nouns, again as a kind of negative intensifier. So you could call someone a _kuso baka_, “especially stupid idiot”, or _kuso gaki_ “especially bratty kid”. My favourite insult with _kuso_ is “Kuso shite nero!” which translates directly as “Take a shit and go to bed!”, and this phrase does carry the same meaning as “fuck off asshole”. I’ve heard people use it in jest, but it would be fighting words if you were ever to use it seriously. Don’t ask me why I know so much about swearing in Japanese! ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/30 "2013-05-30T06:03:59Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I don’t know how German ranks in the number of swear words, but my impression has always been that words like _Scheiss_ (shit) are somewhat more acceptable in everyday discourse than in English. One can hear nice elderly ladies on the bus using that word or its related verbal and adjectival forms. The English word “shitstorm” has crossed over into German, where it may appear in the [headlines](http://www.manager-magazin.de/politik/artikel/0,2828,891966,00.html) [of](http://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/artikel/0,2828,889896,00.html) [mainstream](http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-91203413.html) [news](http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/kino/wie-pr-agenturen-die-oscar-verleihungen-beeinflussen-a-884918.html) [publications](http://www.spiegel.de/karriere/berufsleben/stress-job-social-media-die-shitstorm-manager-a-881673.html)–a thing which remains completely unacceptable in English language journalism. > > I definitely did a double-take the first time I saw that. This is very funny/interesting indeed. The cites are great. I’m imagining the articles having to be cited in US media. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/31 "2013-05-30T06:25:19Z")
> [@Suil\_Dubh](#): > > French-Canadian swearing is almost all religious-based, with the use of terms from Catholic liturgy. I once read a joke somewhere that if you combined all of the French-Canadian swear words into one long and profane oath you’d end up with: > > “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.” > > [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec\_French\_profanity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_French_profanity) French Canadian swearing (which has to be a contender for the antique OP’s question) has lots and lots of religious words, but certainly not exclusively. French Canadians gleefully use many if not most continental French swear words as well as most common English swear words. And, the 1960s comedy group _Les Cyniques_ had a famous sketch featuring a grammatically-correct sentence composed entirely of swear words. It comes off as something like this: _L’hostie de câlisse était en tabarnak, y’a crissé une ciboire au baptême._ (The gentleman was rather upset and served his comeuppance to the other party.) Note that in French Canadian, swear words can function as interjections, nouns, adjectives, verbs and pronouns; much like to f-word, but with dozens of words that can potentially used in creative portmanteaus if you’re running out of them. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/32 "2013-05-30T10:22:24Z")
I heard that there’s a rude Quebecois expression - “putain de merde.” Which means “shit whore.” ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/33 "2013-05-30T13:27:30Z")
Wiki has [this interisting list of articles on profanity by language](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Profanity_by_language). Profanities, obscenities, and taboo words, terms, and even actions vary greatly from one country to another. What is a perfectly acceptable term in one country may cause the utmost offense in another. That’s just the way humans work. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/34 "2013-05-30T13:35:23Z")
That would be _interesting_, not _interisting_ above. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/35 "2013-05-30T14:25:06Z")
I used to play backgammon on the internet (the site has since disappeared) and there was a conversation box. Some players, when losing, would deliberately play very slowly and I found a website with suitable insults in their own language to use when they did this. My impression was that for Mediterranean countries the most popular insults related to the individuals parentage:- Your mother was a whore; Your father was a camel, etc etc. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/36 "2013-05-30T14:49:55Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > So back in the day, my friend used to tell us all that _kuso kitsu_ was Japanese for “fuck you, asshole.” Any truth to that? My Japanese is pretty weak, but it looks like the literal meaning of that would be something like “eat shit”. I couldn’t tell you whether that’s a real Japanese expression or just someone’s attempt to translate the English expression, though. AFAIK there’s no real Japanese equivalent to the English obscenity “fuck”, although the English word itself is pretty widely known in Japan. When I lived in Japan I noticed when watching English language movies that when “fuck” was used in the dialogue it would just be spelled out phonetically in the subtitles, which suggests that the word would be recognized by Japanese audiences. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/37 "2013-05-30T23:16:07Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > I heard that there’s a rude Quebecois expression - “putain de merde.” Which means “shit whore.” That’s French French, although some French Canadians will also use it on occasion. In France, it’s basic profanity. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/38 "2013-05-30T23:25:04Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > So back in the day, my friend used to tell us all that _kuso kitsu_ was Japanese for “fuck you, asshole.” Any truth to that? No. In 14 years in Japan, I’ve never heard it, and a quick Google search didn’t turn up anything but: _kuso-kitsui_ (fucking hard – _kitsui_ in this context means “difficult”) and 糞吃, which would be read as _kuso-kitsu_ in Japanese, but it appears to be _Chinese_ profanity. ---
**Author:** ![Karelfromholland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4bbf92/32.png) [@Karelfromholland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karelfromholland)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/39 "2013-08-22T04:48:54Z")
What about Dutch, we use diseases for swears like kanker which means cancer. These words are very horrible to us because it is like cursing people so the english equivilent would be “I hope/curse cancer on you.” of couse we still have basic words like "whore = hoer. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656/40 "2013-08-22T05:33:14Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Of course, the whole flavor of swearing in Arabic is lost when you use just single words and not full expressions. “Be cursed the donkey that brought you here” is much more colorful than your usual scatological references… Aha! So that’s where Spanish got its own long-ass expressions. You know, “I shit on the breastmilk on which the priest who baptised him was fed” and stuff like that. Or, yes, “the horse on which he rode here”. Extra points-for-style for being able to make them up on the spot; square the points if the sentence does not contain any “official” swearwords. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-language-has-the-most-swear-words/88656.md?page=3)