French · Exclamations
Nom de Dieu !
nohn duh DYUH · /nɔ̃ də djø/
Goddammit! / For God's sake!
2/5 Bar-safe
coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances
Literally
"Name of God"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
French blasphemy still carries a faint old-Catholic charge but has mostly worn down to a hearty "goddammit." "Nom de Dieu de nom de Dieu" doubles it for effect; the euphemistic "nom d'un chien" (name of a dog) or "nom d'une pipe" dodges the deity entirely and is charmingly retro. Bar-safe, tips ruder in front of the devout.
Heard in the wild
Nom de Dieu, ça suffit maintenant !
Goddammit, that's enough now!
Where it lands
France (universal); euphemism 'nom d'un chien' reads retro/gentle
Quick answers
- What does "Nom de Dieu !" mean?
- In French, "Nom de Dieu !" means "Goddammit! / For God's sake!". Literally it's "Name of God". French blasphemy still carries a faint old-Catholic charge but has mostly worn down to a hearty "goddammit." "Nom de Dieu de nom de Dieu" doubles it for effect; the euphemistic "nom d'un chien" (name of a dog) or "nom d'une pipe" dodges the deity entirely and is charmingly retro. Bar-safe, tips ruder in front of the devout.
- Is "Nom de Dieu !" 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 "Nom de Dieu !"?
- Say it "nohn duh DYUH" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: nɔ̃ də djø.
Related in French
Putain ! poo-TAN Damn! / F***! / The all-purpose intensifier — punctuation, really Merde ! MEHRD Shit! / Damn! — and, bizarrely, 'good luck' 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'
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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