Italian profanity

The definition Italian profanity ("parolacce") 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 and Spanish. 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 are a good example 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;
• 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 or un cazzo di amico, a bad friend;
  • cazzata, bullshit or a stupid action;
  • cazzaro, a liar by habit;
  • testa di cazzo, dickhead.
  • alla 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".

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, 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 ass. It can also mean luck. It derives from Latin culus;
• figa (also fica, mostly in southern Italian dialects): 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 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, 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, 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, more commonly, "idiot";
• 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 forms are troia, zoccola and mignotta (from "madre ignota", unknown mother), the latter mainly used in Rome;
• sborro, 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 vulgare. 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 dialect;
• 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 origin;
• vaffanculo!: "fuck you!", "fuck off!", "bugger off!". It's a contraction of "vai a fare in culo" (literally "go and penetrate somebody's ass").

Profanity as blasphemy, scoff, curse and insult at deity

Profanities in the original meaning of blasphemous profanity are part of the ancient tradition of the comic cults, which laughed and scoffed at the deity. In the Middle Ages Europe the most improper and sinful "oaths" where those invoking the body of the Lord and its various parts, as the Italian Pote de Christo! ("Christ's cunt"), and these were precisely the oaths most frequently used.

In Italian language profanities belonging to this category are called 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/filthy"; roughly equivalent to English goddamnit.
• Dio maiale: God (is a) pig.
• Dio cane: God (is a) dog. In Venice and Veneto dio can (spelt this way according to local dialect) is the most common bestemmia.
• Dio merda: God (is a) shit.
• Dio boia: God (is an) executioner; roughly equivalent to bloody God. Used mainly in Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna.
• Dio infame: God (is) infamous.
• Dio serpente: God (is a) snake.
• Dio verme: God (is a) worm.
• Dio bestia: God (is a) beast. Used mainly in Umbria.
• Dio zozzo: God (is) filthy.
• Dio stronzo: God (is an) asshole.
• Dio schifoso: God sucks.
• Dio sorcio: God (is a) rat.
• Madonna maiala: Virgin Mary (is a) pig/slob.
• Porca Madonna: Virgin Mary (is a) dirty pig/bloody Virgin Mary.
• Madonna troia / zoccola / mignotta / puttana: Virgin Mary (is a) slut / whore.
• Madonna avvelenata: Virgin Mary (has been) poisoned.
• Madonna bocchinara: Virgin Mary (is a) cocksucker.
• Madonna strega: Virgin Mary (is a) witch.
• Madonna schifosa: Virgin Mary sucks.
• puttana (la) Madonna / Madonna 'sta puttana: 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
• Can-dal-ostia o can-del-ostia: 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.
• Dio maglietta rather than Dio maiale, where maglietta is Italian for t-shirt.
• 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, is commonly assumed to violate the second commandment of not making "wrongful use of the name of the Lord Thy God".

Bibliography and sources

• Bakhtin, Mikhail. Rabelais and His World [1941]. Trans. Hélène Iswolsky. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993.

See also

• Latin profanity