German · Exclamations & Outbursts
Herrgott nochmal!
HAIR-got NOCH-mahl · /ˈhɛʁ.ɡɔt ˈnɔx.maːl/
For God's sake! / Good Lord!
2/5 Bar-safe
coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances
Literally
"Lord-God once again"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
The exasperated-Catholic classic, strongest in the Catholic south (Bavaria) where the religious registers still have force. Blasphemy-adjacent, so it'll raise an eyebrow at a church picnic, but on the street it's just a heavy sigh. Cousins: "Himmelherrgott!" and "Herrgottsakrament!" (Bavarian, spicier).
Heard in the wild
Herrgott nochmal, wo ist meine Brille?
For God's sake, where are my glasses?
Where it lands
Germany (esp. Catholic south), Austria
Quick answers
- What does "Herrgott nochmal!" mean?
- In German, "Herrgott nochmal!" means "For God's sake! / Good Lord!". Literally it's "Lord-God once again". The exasperated-Catholic classic, strongest in the Catholic south (Bavaria) where the religious registers still have force. Blasphemy-adjacent, so it'll raise an eyebrow at a church picnic, but on the street it's just a heavy sigh. Cousins: "Himmelherrgott!" and "Herrgottsakrament!" (Bavarian, spicier).
- Is "Herrgott nochmal!" 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 "Herrgott nochmal!"?
- Say it "HAIR-got NOCH-mahl" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: ˈhɛʁ.ɡɔt ˈnɔx.maːl.
Related in German
Scheiße! SHY-suh Shit! / Damn! — the all-purpose German expletive 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! 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!
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