German · The Basics
Scheiße!
SHY-suh · /ˈʃaɪ.sə/
Shit! / Damn! — the all-purpose German expletive
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
The engine of the entire German cursing system — you drop your keys, you miss the Bahn, you say it. Coarse but everyday; you'll hear grandmothers use it. It's also the root of a hundred compounds (Scheißwetter, scheißegal, Scheißkerl), so learn it first and the rest fall into place. Softer dodge if kids are around: "Scheibenkleister" (window-putty) or just "Mist."
Heard in the wild
Scheiße, der Zug ist weg!
Shit, the train's gone!
Where it lands
Germany, Austria, Switzerland — universal
Quick answers
- What does "Scheiße!" mean?
- In German, "Scheiße!" means "Shit! / Damn! — the all-purpose German expletive". Literally it's "Shit". The engine of the entire German cursing system — you drop your keys, you miss the Bahn, you say it. Coarse but everyday; you'll hear grandmothers use it. It's also the root of a hundred compounds (Scheißwetter, scheißegal, Scheißkerl), so learn it first and the rest fall into place. Softer dodge if kids are around: "Scheibenkleister" (window-putty) or just "Mist."
- Is "Scheiße!" 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 "Scheiße!"?
- Say it "SHY-suh" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: ˈʃaɪ.sə.
Related in German
Mist! MIST Crap! / Rats! — the family-friendly 'damn' Verdammt! fair-DAMT Damn! / Damn it! Verdammt nochmal! fair-DAMT NOCH-mahl God damn it! / For crying out loud! Halt die Klappe! HALT dee KLAP-uh Shut your trap! / Shut up! Hau ab! HOW AP Get lost! / Clear off! / Beat it! Verdammte Scheiße! fair-DAM-tuh SHY-suh God-damn shit! / Bloody hell!
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "Damn".
- French Putain ! Damn! / F***! / The all-purpose intensifier — punctuation, really
- 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.