Warning – this blog post will contain some harsh and foul language, as well as blasphemy. Please do not continue to read if this will offend you. Italians love to swear, though. It is very much a cultural difference! 

The other week I wrote a blog post about love and admiration, well this will be the exact opposite of that. L’odio, la rabbia, e le parolacce – hate, anger, and swear words.

Ti voglio male

This is something that can be said jokingly as an opposite way to say “ti voglio bene”. It would translate as “I want you poor”, instead of well. It’s not really used in Italian, but again, I’ve heard it as a joke between friends. Think of it as a play on words! 

Ti odio 

Questa significa “I hate you” in un senso tradizionale. Traditional way to say I hate you!

Le altre espressioni dell’odio e della rabbia

• Mi sei antipatico (I dislike you –as opposite of “mi sei simpatico”)
• Ti detesto (I detest you)
• Non ti sopporto [più] (I can’t bear you [anymore])
• Ti disprezzo (I despise you –this one is not often used because it’s quite refined)
• Mi ripugni/Sei ripugnante (You repulse me/You’re repulsant –even less used and more refined than the previous one)
• Mi fai schifo (You make me sick –common way to say “mi ripugni”)
• Mi fai ribrezzo (You disgust me/you’re repulsant, less refined than “mi ripugni” but more than “mi disgusti”. I’ve not included “mi disgusti” in the list because it has a more physical, than moral, connotation.)
• Vaffanculo (“fuck you”, or more precisely “go fuck yourself” –Italian way to angrily end a conversation. It has a lot of dialectal versions)
• Vai al diavolo/Va’ all’inferno (go to hell –not very much used, it’s a more “polite” way to say fuck you)
• Vai a mori’ ammazzato (highly offensive, borrowed from Roman dialect. Literally: “go get yourself killed”)

Another very common and extremely inflammatory way to swear is with bestemmia – blasphemy. As a culture deeply rooted in Catholicism, you could imagine that this is highly offensive. You can hear bestemmie like Dio cane (God is a dog) or porca Madonna (Madonna is a pig). Some play on these that can be considered a “low-level” curse word would be something like zio cane (uncle is a pig) or porca vacca (cow is a pig). 

Some other examples of “low-level” curse words could be as follows:

cacchio – darn !

cavolo – cabbage !

Tocca a voi! Have you ever heard any other parolacce, bestemmie, or some other “low-level” ways to swear? Write them below! Like I said, Italians do love their swear words. 🙂