“Porca Miseria” & More Italian Swear Words

Several summers ago, I got this book called Love & Gelato. It was a fun and fast read for me, and I loved every bit of my time reading it. The pages made me feel as if I was having an Italian adventure with Lina and Ren all over Florence (nope, not Rome like in the movie, sorry for the book spoiler).

Reading the fiction book helped me see a different side of Italy, and that was really nice. Along the way, I learned some Italian words. One of the words I learned was considered a vulgar Italian word: “stronzo.” I remember that specific word because I laughed out loud when I read it. I laughed because it reminded me of my sandbox playing time when I was told not to say “bad words.” Yet, I still said them because I wanted to be “cool,” ha.

Anyway, ‘stronzo’ is not the only vulgar Italian word out there. There are actually pages of them. I can’t cover all of them, but here’s a list to get you started.

Italian Swear Words & Slang

• damn: porca puttana (por-ka pu-tah-na)
• f*ck off: vai a cagare (vay ah ka-ga-reh)
• go f*ck yourself: vaffanculo (vah-fan-koo-loh)
• what the f*ck: che cazzo (keh katz-zoh)
• what the f*ck: che minchia (keh min-kee-ah)
• what the f*ck are you saying: che cazzo dici (keh katz-zoh dee-chee)
• bastard: bastardo (bas-tar-doh)
• asshole: stronzo (stron-zoh), stronza (stron-zah)
• balls: coglione (koh-lyoh-neh)
• shit: merda (mer-dah)
• you are a fool: sei un cretino (sey oon kreh-tee-noh)
• you’re a pain in the ass: sei un rompicoglioni (sey oon rom-pee-koh-lyoh-nee)
• dumb: deficiente (deh-fee-chen-teh)
• crap: cavolo (kah-voh-loh)
• holy crap (pig dog): porco cane (por-koh ka-neh)
• holy crap (pig uncle): porco zio (por-koh zee-oh)
• holy crap (pig misery): porca miseria (por-kah mee-sehr-yah)
• what the heck (pig cow): porca vacca (por-kah vah-kah)