French · The Basics
Merde !
MEHRD · /mɛʁd/
Shit! / Damn! — and, bizarrely, 'good luck'
2/5 Bar-safe
coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances
Literally
"Shit"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
Milder than English "shit" — a two-fister at most, fine among acquaintances, a shrug at a dinner table. The famous twist: "Merde !" is how you wish someone good luck (theatre superstition, like "break a leg") — never say "bonne chance" to an actor or someone before an exam. Context tells you which one you got.
Heard in the wild
Merde, il pleut encore.
Shit, it's raining again.
Where it lands
France (universal); the 'good luck' sense is standard everywhere
Quick answers
- What does "Merde !" mean?
- In French, "Merde !" means "Shit! / Damn! — and, bizarrely, 'good luck'". Literally it's "Shit". Milder than English "shit" — a two-fister at most, fine among acquaintances, a shrug at a dinner table. The famous twist: "Merde !" is how you wish someone good luck (theatre superstition, like "break a leg") — never say "bonne chance" to an actor or someone before an exam. Context tells you which one you got.
- Is "Merde !" offensive?
- It's on the mild end — 2/5 (Bar-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances.
- How do you pronounce "Merde !"?
- Say it "MEHRD" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: mɛʁd.
Related in French
Putain ! poo-TAN Damn! / F***! / The all-purpose intensifier — punctuation, really Bordel ! bor-DEL What a mess! / Chaos! — also 'what the hell' as an intensifier Putain de merde ! poo-TAN duh MEHRD For f***'s sake! / Goddammit! Zut ! ZOOT Darn! / Shoot! Crotte ! KROT Poop! / Darn! — the polite-company dodge for 'merde' Putain de bordel de merde ! poo-TAN duh bor-DEL duh MEHRD For f***'s holy sake! — the full three-word combo
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "Damn".
- German Scheiße! Shit! / Damn! — the all-purpose German expletive
- Greek γαμώτο Damn it! / Dammit!
- Italian Cazzo! Fuck! / Damn! / The all-purpose Italian curse.
- Japanese くそ Damn! / Crap! / Shit!
- Korean 씨발 Fuck / fucking hell — the load-bearing Korean curse.
- Polish kurwa Fuck / damn / shit — the load-bearing word of Polish, and its most common comma.
- Portuguese Porra! Damn! / Fuck! — but mostly used as pure punctuation
- Russian Блин! Damn! / Darn! / Shoot!
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