Here’s one that’s close to my heart – a list of Italian Swear Words, Slang, Curses, Insults, Colloquialisms and Expletives. A lesson in Italian Culture, and sometimes, Italian Stereotypes!
These Italian profanities expand on the ever increasing resources of colloquial language found on this silly website, which includes British Slang,Australian Slang, Irish Slang, Russian, French, Spanish and German.
Check out the below publications!
What are some top Italian Swear Words?
Alla pecorina – Literally translates as “sheep style”, but refers to “doggy-style”
Bafangu chooch – F*$% your self jackass
Brutto figlio di puttana bastardo – Ugly son of a bitch bastard
Cagacazzo – Lame ass dumb
Che due palle! – Literally means “what two balls” but actually means “What the heck!”
I used to laugh when my grandparents used to have an argument in Italian and they’d slip in a swear word that I understood. Needless to stay, they turned red with embarrassment and stopped arguing when they saw me laughing!
By the way, here is my favourite Italian joke:
Q: What does an Italian have if he has one arm shorter than the other?
A: A speech impediment! (boom boom – think about it – talking with your hands!).
Yes, sometimes the stereotypes are funny because there is at least an element of truth to it! Like eating lots of pasta!
So to share that joy with the world, and if you’re planning a trip to Italy sometime soon, store these words up your sleeve – you never know when you’re going to use them!
Here we go!
A Comprehensive list of Italian Swear Words, Slang and Expletives!
| Italian Swear Word | Rough English Translation |
| A fanabla! | Go to hell! |
| Accidenti! | Damn! |
| Alla pecorina | Literally means “sheep style”, but refers to “doggy-style” |
| Andare a puttane: | Go to whores and be f*$%ed |
| Avere la faccia come il culo | Literally means “to have one’s face like an arse”, but means “to be an assface” |
| Avere un culo così grande | Literally means “to have such a big arse”, but colloquially means “to be very lucky” |
| Bacha ma culo | Kiss my ass |
| Bafangu chooch | F*$% your self jackass |
| Baldracca | Whore |
| Bastardo | Bastard |
| Bocchino | Blowjob |
| Brutto figlio di puttana bastardo | Ugly son of a bitch bastard |
| Cagacazzo | Lame ass dumb |
| Cavolo! | Literally means “cabbage”, but really means “Holy smoke!” |
| Cazzata | Bulls#$t. |
| Cazzo | D#$k. Used to express anger, frustration or surprise. Like how “f#$%” and “f#$%ing” are used in English. |
| Cazzo di merda | D#$kfaced piece of s#$t |
| Cazzo Madre di Dio | F#$%ing mother of god |
| Cazzo si | f#$% you |
| Cazzo! | F*&$ |
| Ce l’hai piccolo | You got a small d#$k |
| Ce un cibirut | You have a small d#$k |
| Che cazzo | What the f#$% |
| Che culo! | Literally means “what a butt!” bu literally means “to be extremely lucky” |
| Che due palle! | Literally means “what two balls” but actually means “What the heck!” |
| Che palle! | What balls! |
| Che te pozzino ammazza! | You shall be butchered! |
| Che ti morisse la madre / la mamma | You mother / mom should be dead. |
| Coglione | Literally an offensive version of testicle. If you call someone this, you’re saying they’re an idiot or fool. |
| Cornuto | Cuckold, and literally means “horned”. Refers to a man whose wife is cheating on him. Very offensive in southern Italy |
| Cretino | Idiot |
| Culo | Arse |
| Curnut! | Your husband/wife is cheating on you |
| Dare un calcio nel culo a qualcuno | Literally means “to kick someone’s ass” but literally means “to help someone secretly” |
| Dio cane! | F#$%in’ god! |
| Dio cangurello | God little kangaroo |
| Dio santo! | Oh my God! |
| Ditalino | Literally means “small thimble” but refers to female masturbation |
| Essere un culo | To be an ass |
| Faccia a culo | Assface |
| Fare una sega | To masturbate |
| Fatti una pugnetta | Have A Wank |
| Fica | C#$% |
| Figlio di puttana | Son of a whore |
| Figlio di Troia | Son of a bitch |
| Figlio un cane | Son of a bitch |
| Fongoul | F#$% you |
| Gran’ disgraziato | Big disgrace |
| I coglioni | The balls |
| Incazzarsi | To get pissed off. |
| Inculare | Literally means to to sodomize but figuratively means to cheat |
| Intro culo di mammata | Up your mother’s ass |
| Ir budello di tu ma’ | Your mother’s a whore |
| Latrin! | Dirty sewer |
| Leccaculo | Kiss ass |
| Leccami il culo | Lick my ass |
| Leccami la figa | Lick my p#@$y |
| Ma’ va te ne a fanculo | Go f#$% yourself |
| Madonna santa! | Good God! But literally means Saint Madonna |
| Mafankulo | Mother f#$%er |
| Manache! | Oh Hell! |
| Mangia merda | Eat s#$t |
| Mangia merde e morte | Eat s#$t and die |
| Mannaggia tua | Damn, Hell |
| Merda! | S#$t |
| Mezza sega | Literally means half a saw but actually means lightweight or pipsqueak |
| Mignotta | Your mother is unkown |
| Minchia! | S#$t! |
| Mortacci tua | Your feeble ancestors |
| Nessuno mi unfungulo | nobody f#$%s me in the ass |
| Pezzo di merda | Piece of s#$t |
| Pompinara | C#$% sucker |
| Pompino | Literally means “small pump” but means blowjob. |
| Porca Madonna | Pig Madonna |
| Porca Miseria | Literally means “Miserable pig” by means dammit! |
| Porca troia | F#$%ing hell |
| Porca vacca! | Holy cow! Literally means pig cow |
| Porco cane! | For God’s sake! Literal translation is “pig dog” |
| Porco Dio / Porco Iddio | Literally means “Pig God” – this one is blasphemy! |
| Porco dio! | F#$%in’ god! |
| Posso leccare il tua figa? | Can I lick your…. |
| Prendere per il culo | Colloquially means “to pull someone’s leg” and literally means “to catch by the arse” |
| Puttana | Whore |
| Puttanaio | Brothel |
| Puttanata: | Crap, bulls#$t, rubbish |
| Puttaniere | Pimp |
| Rompere il culo a qualcuno | Slang meaning is “to cause serious damage” and literally means “to break someone’s ass” |
| Rottinculo | Gay |
| Rotto nel culo | Means “bastard”, but literally means “broken arse” |
| Santo cazzo Madre di Cristo | Holy f#$%ing mother of Christ |
| Sborra, sburro | Ejaculate |
| Scopare | To f#$% |
| Scoreggia | Fart |
| Sega | To jerk off |
| Segaiolo | Wanker |
| Segarsi | Jerk off |
| Segone | Loser |
| Sembri un peni | You look like a penis |
| Sfacim e merde | F#$%ing s#$t |
| Sfiga | Literally means “without p#$%y” but means “bad luck” |
| Smerdare | To shame someone |
| Spagnola | Literally means “Spanish Girl” but means “titty-f#$%” |
| Sputtanare | To discredit something |
| Sti cazza | F#$% that |
| Stronzo | Turd |
| Testa di cazzo | D#$khead |
| Testa di minchia | d#$khead |
| Ti ammazzo | I’ll kill you |
| Ti corro in culo | Means “forget it” but literally means “I run into your ass” |
| Troia | Whore |
| Tu ma’ piscia in piedi | Your mother urinates while standing |
| Tu piezza di merda! | You piece if s#$t! |
| Tua mamma bocchinara | Your mum’s a fluffer |
| Un pompino | Blowjob |
| Vaffanculo | F#$% off |
| Vai a farti fottere | Go f#$% yourself |
| Vai a farti fottere, puttana! | Go f#$% yourself, whore! |
| Vai a vendere il culo | “F#$% off” and literally means “Go and sell your arse” |
| Vai all’inferno | Go to hell |
| Zoccola | Whore, literally means ‘sewer rat’ |
| Zuia | Bitch |
There you go! Now you know more profanities in another language!
Now don’t blame me if someone punches your lights out because you offended them with these silly Italian Swear Words!
For something a bit different, check out Leaning Tower of Pisa Tacky Tourist Photos, the Taxi Fare Calculator, You Know You’ve Been in Italy Too Long When, You Know You’ve Grown Up In Italian Culture When…, the House of Cheese, Italian Television Explained and some Italian Immigration Stories.
If you’re planning a trip soon, check out my best travel insurance tips, and get a quote on some Backpacker Travel Insurance.
LOL hahaha…..I am literally laughing out loud here Anthony. Funny thing is I know more of these than I’d ever believe; growing up with many Italian Americans in New Jersey and spending many months with a whole crew of my Italian expat buddies in Chiang Mai, Thailand, these are popping up in conversations again and again.
Cool, then you’re fluent in Italian then… 🙂
I’m italian living in Italy and some of this are either written wrong or translated wrongly.
O sono dialettali
you know i said this to my italian friend and she nearly killed me
you know i said this to my italian friend and she nearly killed me
lol
oops!
What does drashule mean?
Not sure Im spelling it right
Drashule Drashool ?
I’ve been binge-watching the FABULOUS show ‘Gomorra’ and have been introduced to a plethora of fantastic new swearing options (ones which won’t offend my ‘sposo’ too much). This is a great resource for Italian cuss words but I have a correction that I need to make.
ZUIA translates to ‘aunt’ in Italiano. The word for ‘bitch’ (verified by ‘Gomorrah’ cast members) is ‘PUTTANA’.
Just wanted to make that clarification (double-checked by English-Italian Dictionary online).
A lot of those words aren’t Italian, they’re probably from some dialect
I often heard my grandmother say “boar-coo”. Phonetically written, of course. Any ideas on what it means?
Lol these are great! Thanks so much for sharing
What an entertaining article! I had a special feeling as I read it because my mother was full blooded Italian and her mother (my grandmother – Nana) was quite the character. As kids, we would ask her to teach us how to swear in Italian and she begrudgingly obliged for some of the words. We had a lot of fun with it and this article brought back so many fun memories with her.
I have heard “botta la bolt’ and/or “Votta la volt” when I was a kid. Many don’t know what it is when I ask,…..but my Grandpa was very upset when I said it once. He was from somewhere around Naples. Anybody here able to help me?