Italian profanity

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Italian profanity ("parolacce") is 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. Several of these words are cognates to other Romance languages, such as Portuguese and Spanish.

Generally speaking, the following words are used universally in the whole country, and are some of the most vulgar:

  • belìn comparable to the English word dick or cock, basically used in Genoa and Liguria;
  • bordello: literally meaning brothel, it is also used to describe a state of disorder, messiness. An equivalent lighter word is casino;
  • 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 used in Central and Southern Italy;
  • cazzo (pl. cazzi): is the equivalent to dick or cock, also used as an expletive. When used in compound expression, cazzo always indicates a negative meaning. For instance:
    • amico del cazzo or un cazzo di amico, a bad friend;
    • cazzata, bullshit or a stupid action;
    • cazzaro, a liar by habit;
    • testa di cazzo, dickhead.
    • non me ne frega un cazzo, "I don't give a fuck"
The expression Col cazzo is used to violently contradict what was being discussed, like "my ass" in English ("Col cazzo che vincerete la partita!" = "You'll win the match, my ass!"). Sti cazzi (literally meaning These dicks) is used to express admiration and/or surprise as in " - Ho vinto alla lotteria! - Sti cazzi!" (- I won the lottery! - Wow!). The same expression 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 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 vote against their own interest during the 2006 Italian election campaign. It derives from Latin culio, pl. culiones;
  • cornuto: cuckold. Sometimes it might be coupled with the corna when saying that;
  • culo: rough name for anus, comparable to the English word ass. It can also mean luck or indicate a male homosexual. It derives from Latin culus.
  • figa (also fica): is the rough name for vagina, equivalent to pussy or cherry; also gnocca. 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";
  • fottere: equivalent to the English 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 only conjugated in its feminine 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; often translated as damn, but has no direct translation;
  • merda (pl. merde) : is the equivalent to shit. It can be used in some extent as an interjection, like it 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 "idiot". For example a very vulgar girl could say "Magname la mona" (literally "eat my pussy") to invite her boyfriend to perform cunnilingus, while ""Sei mona? would mean "Are you stupid?".
  • pirla: twit (mainly used in Lombardy)
  • pistola: gun (mainly used in Lombardy)
  • pompino: blow job (literally "a little pump"); also bocchino is used.
  • puttana: from Latin putana, is roughly equivalent to the English bitch, or whore. Ex. "Figlio di puttana" = Son of a bitch. Equivalent forms are troia, zoccola and mignotta, the latter mainly used in Rome;
  • sborro or sborra or sburro is equivalent to the english "cum", meaning sperm.
  • sega (pl. seghe): used to refer to male masturbation or a handjob;
  • stronzo (pl. stronzi): asshole, bastard. literally it means "turd", "piece of shit";
  • suca!: suck (my dick/cock); it may have Sicilian origin;
  • vaffanculo!: "fuck you!", "fuck off!";

[edit] Blasphemy

A particular category of profanities are bestemmie (singular: bestemmia), in which God, the Virgin Mary, Jesus, the Saints or the Roman Catholic Church are insulted. This category is so strong it is usually frowned upon even by people who would make casual or even regular use of the profanities above. In some areas of Italy, such as Veneto and Tuscany, blasphemy is somewhat more common. Until 1999, uttering this class of profanities in public was considered a misdemeanor in Italy (although the offenders were very rarely if ever pursued).

The most common are:

  • porco Dio / Dio porco: Literally "God (is a) pig"; roughly equivalent to English goddamnit.
  • Dio maiale: God (is a) pig.
  • Dio cane: God (is a) dog. In Venice and Veneto dio can (spellt this way according to local dialect) is the most common bestemmia.
  • Dio merda: God (is a) shit.
  • Dio boia / boia Dio: God (is a) executioner; roughly equivalent to bloody God. Used mainly in Tuscany.
  • Dio infame: God (is) infamous.
  • Madonna maiala: Virgin Mary (is a) pig/slob.
  • Madonna troia: Virgin Mary (is a) slut / whore.
  • porca Madonna: Virgin Mary (is a) dirty pig/bloody Virgin Mary.
  • puttana (la) Madonna: Virgin Mary (is a) whore.
  • Dio fa: God (is a) fake; typical of Piedmont, it originates from Dio faus, faus being the word for 'fake' in the dialect of that region.
  • Dio povero: God (is) poor, a somewhat lighter substitute for Dio porco
  • Candalostia o candelostia: Literally "The Eucharist is a dog", referring to the presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharistic Bread, according to the doctrine of transubstantiation. Used mainly in Venice and in Veneto

These profanities are also commonly altered to minced oaths with very slight changes in order not to appear blasphemies. For instance:

  • porco zio rather than porco Dio, where zio is Italian for uncle.
  • Maremma maiala rather than Madonna maiala, where Maremma is a seaside zone of Tuscany. Curiosly, the former is actually widely used in Tuscanian dialect, whereas the latter is seldom used.

Other minced oaths can be created on the fly when people begin to utter one of the above blasphemies but then choose to "correct" them in real time. The principal example is somebody beginning to say Dio can and choosing to say instead Dio cantante (God (is a) singer).

Also, it should be noted that Cristo! (used to express rage and/or disappointment), while not being a bestemmia it is commonly assumed to violate the second commandment of not making "wrongful use of the name of the Lord Thy God".

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