“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 to those who have not read it yet).

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. The word was “stronzo.” Not sure if the word was mentioned in the movie, but 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, read, or even think of words thought of as “bad words.” Yet, I still said, read, and thought of those words because I wanted to be “cool” and stuff, ha.

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

• damn: porca puttana (por-ka pu-tah-na)
• f*ck off: vai a cagare (vay ah ka-ga-reh)
• f*ck off: vaffanculo (vah-fan-koo-loh)
• 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 an asshole: sei uno stronzo (sey oo-noh stron-zoh)
• 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)
• fool: cretino (kreh-tee-noh)
• dumb: deficiente (deh-fee-chen-teh)
• crap: cavolo (kah-voh-loh)
• damn: accidenti (ak-chee-den-tee)
• asshole: buco del culo (boo-koh del koo-loh)
• holy crap (pig dog): porco cane (por-koh ka-neh)
• holy crap (pig uncle): porco zio (por-koh zee-oh)
• holy crap (pig madonna): porca madosca (por-kah ma-dos-kah)
• holy crap (pig misery): porca miseria (por-kah mee-sehr-yah)
• what the heck (pig cow): porca vacca (por-kah vah-kah)