Italian profanity  

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Italian profanity ("bestemmie" when referred to religious topics, "parolacce" when not) refers to a set of words considered blasphemous or inflammatory in the Italian language.

Italian language is considered a language with a large set of inflammatory terms and phrases, almost all of which originate from the several dialects and languages of Italy, such as the Tuscan dialect, which had a very strong influence in modern standard Italian, which is widely known to be based on Florentine language. Several of these words are cognates to other Romance languages, such as Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian and French. Profanities differ from region to region, however a number of them are diffuse enough to be more closely associated to Italian language and featured in all the more popular Italian dictionaries.

List of profanities in Italian language

Generally speaking, the following words provide a sufficient representation of Italian profanities used universally in the whole country:

  • bordello: literally meaning brothel, it is also used to describe a state of disorder, messiness. An equivalent lighter word is casino;
  • cacare/cagare: verbal form of the same context of merda, meaning to shit, or to "take a dump", etc. It derives from Latin cacare, which is still widely used, especially in Central and Southern Italy. It is cognate to the Spanish caca;
  • cazzo (pl. cazzi): is the equivalent to dick or cock, also used as an expletive. When used in compound expression, cazzo almost always indicates a negative meaning; for instance:
    • amico del cazzo, a bad friend, or che cazzo di amico, what a bad friend;
    • cazzata, bullshit or a stupid action;
    • cazzaro, a liar by habit;
    • testa di cazzo, dickhead.
    • a cazzo di cane, doing things in a very bad/messed up way (lit. "as the dog's dick way").
    • cazzuto, on the other hand, is used as a vulgar substitute for "tough" or "cool".
    • fatti i cazzi tuoi, an expression to denote "mind your own business" (lit. "make your own dicks").
The expression Col cazzo is used to violently contradict what was being discussed, like "my arse" in English ("Col cazzo che vincerete la partita!" = "You'll win the match, my arse!"). 'Sto cazzo (literally meaning This dick) is used to express admiration and/or surprise as in " - Ho vinto alla lotteria! - 'Sto cazzo!" (- I won the lottery! - Wow!). The same expression at plural, 'Sti cazzi, is often used ironically to express and exhibit lack of interest in something, like "I don't give a fuck" in English ("Abbiamo perso pure stavolta, eh? E sti cazzi!" = "So we lose again, huh? Well, I don't give a fuck!"). The expression Grazie al cazzo (lit. Thanks to the dick) is used to address a trivial statement, as in " - Parla inglese molto bene. - Grazie al cazzo, sua madre è inglese!" ("He speaks very good English. - Not surprising, his mother's English!");
  • coglione (pl. coglioni): roughly equivalent to testicle; where referred to a person, it usually means burk, twit, fool. In addition, it can be used on several phrases such as avere i coglioni (literally, to have testicles; actually, to be very courageous) or essere un coglione (to be a fool). Coglione was also featured in worldwide news when used by former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi referring to those who would not vote for him during the 2006 Italian election campaign. It derives from Latin culio, pl. culiones, and is thus cognate to the Spanish cojones;
  • cornuto: cuckold - referring to a person whose spouse is cheating on him. Occasionally it might be coupled with the corna when saying that. It is considered a rough insult especially in Southern Italy
  • culo: rough name for buttocks or anus, comparable to the English word arse. It can also mean luck. It derives from Latin culus;
  • ciornia is a typical espression used in piedmont which meaning pretty pussy.
  • fica in Central and Southern Italy): is the rough name for vagina, equivalent to pussy or cherry. However, it can also roughly mean sexually attractive woman. Vagina is also used, but, as in English, it is not outrageous. Figa is unique in that it has generally positive meaning (albeit vulgar), can be used as an adjective and even conjugated in masculine form: as an adjective, it is the most common translation for "cool"; as a masculine noun, figo, it indicates a "cool guy". In Lombardy, it is also used as a common interjection with no particularly rough meaning;
  • fottere: equivalent to the English verb to fuck. From Latin futuere;
  • frocio: roughly equivalent to the English faggot, this term originated in Rome but is now widely used nationwide. Less used forms include ricchione (mainly Southern Italy, especially in the Naples area), culattone (mainly in Northern Italy), busone (common in Emilia-Romagna and also a rough synonym for lucky) and, curiously, finocchio, whose main meaning is fennel. Apparently the latter derives from the age of the Holy Inquisition in the Papal State, when fennel would be thrown on homosexuals executed by burning at the stake - in order to mitigate the stench of burned flesh;
  • gnocca (pl. gnocche): typical Bolognese version of figa; is mostly conjugated in its feminine form although sometimes can be used on the masculine form. It is diffuse nationwide to refer an attractive woman;
  • inculare, which literally means "to penetrate somebody's ass" and the related term inculata or inculone which refers to the act of inculare can also be used figuratively meaning respectively "to deceive" and "fraud".
  • mannaggia: a generic expression of frustration, mostly used in Southern Italy; often translated as damn, but has no direct translation. Actually, it comes from the contraction of a former utterance, mal ne aggia, which literally means "may he/she get mischief out of it". Used also in English books, such as Mario Puzo's The Fortunate Pilgrim.
  • merda (pl. merde) : is the equivalent to shit. It can be used in some extent as an interjection, as happens with cazzo;
  • minchia: the same meaning as cazzo, it originates from Sicilian language, but is also used as exclamation of surprise, or even appreciation. It is used in the expression "testa di minchia", meaning dickhead. It is also featured in a song by American musician (of Sicilian descent) Frank Zappa, named Tengo na minchia tanta (I've got a dick this big). It derives from Latin mentula;
  • mona: used mainly in Venice and Veneto, has a double meaning: "pussy" and, more commonly, "idiot";
  • mortacci tua: used mainly in Rome, it is an insult to somebody's dead familiar members, and is the shortening of "L'anima de li mortacci tua" (lit. The soul of your bad deads). In Romanesco it's also used as an exclamation ("Ho vinto alla lotteria! - Mortacci tua!" = "I won the lottery! - Wow, you're so lucky!"). It is the cognate of Neapolitan "L'anema de chi t'è muorto" (lit. The soul of whom is dead to you) even if it has a worse insulting meaning in Naples.
  • pirla, pistola: twit; they are both mainly used in Lombardy, the latter literally meaning "gun" (but it's a metaphor for "cock", hence the derogatory meaning);
  • pompino: blow job (literally "a little pump"); also bocchino is used;
  • puttana: from barbaric Latin putana, is roughly equivalent to the English bitch, or whore. For instance, "Figlio di puttana" = "Son of a bitch". Equivalent but more insulting forms are troia (lit. female of the pig), zoccola (lit. female of the rat) and mignotta (from "madre ignota", unknown mother), the latter mainly used in Rome;
  • sborra: is equivalent to the English "cum", meaning sperm;
  • scopare: literally to sweep, but now means to fuck. The most used term for to fuck and it is vulgar. The way to motion this is by motioning a honk with the hand.
  • sega (pl. seghe): (literally "saw"); used to refer to male masturbation or a handjob;
  • sticchio: "pussy" in Sicilian language;
  • stronzo (pl. stronzi): asshole, bastard. literally it means "turd", "piece of shit";
  • suca!: suck (my dick/cock); mainly used in Southern Italy, it may have Sicilian origins;
  • vaffanculo: "fuck you!", "fuck off!", "bugger off!". It's a contraction of "vai a fare in culo" (literally "go to do it in the ass"). "Vattela a pijà 'n der culo" is the Romanesco form for vaffanculo, while in Northern Italy is also used "Vai a cagare" (lit. go to shit"). Famously used by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in reference to his critics. [1] [2]




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