French · Québec Sacres (Cursing by the Altar)
Ostie !
os-TEE · /ɔs.ti/
Damn! / F***! — and an all-purpose intensifier
3/5 Watch your audience
genuinely rude; friends only, never at work
Literally
"Host (the communion wafer)"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
The Eucharistic wafer as a curse — also spelled "hostie." Works alone or as an intensifier glued to other sacres ("ostie de câlisse"). "Un ostie de bon film" = a damn good film. Rated 3 for Québec. Softened to "esti" or "ostination." The building block of the famous sacre chains (see the next entry).
Heard in the wild
Ostie qu'il fait frette à matin !
Damn, it's freezing this morning!
Where it lands
Québec (Canada) — liturgical curse
Quick answers
- What does "Ostie !" mean?
- In French, "Ostie !" means "Damn! / F***! — and an all-purpose intensifier". Literally it's "Host (the communion wafer)". The Eucharistic wafer as a curse — also spelled "hostie." Works alone or as an intensifier glued to other sacres ("ostie de câlisse"). "Un ostie de bon film" = a damn good film. Rated 3 for Québec. Softened to "esti" or "ostination." The building block of the famous sacre chains (see the next entry).
- Is "Ostie !" offensive?
- It's genuinely rude — a 3/5 (Watch your audience) on the Punch-o-Meter. Fine among friends, never at work or with people you've just met.
- How do you pronounce "Ostie !"?
- Say it "os-TEE" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: ɔs.ti.
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 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!
Reviewed by native speakers. Rate it differently? Tell us what we got wrong.