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cursing.in curse like a local

German · The Du/Sie Trap

Du kannst mich mal!

doo KANST mikh MAHL · /duː kanst mɪç maːl/

You can get stuffed / up yours — the polite half-curse

2/5 Bar-safe

coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances

Literally

"You can me sometime... (trailing off)"

Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.

How to use it

A masterclass in German euphemism: it's "Leck mich am Arsch" with the rude part bitten off, leaving a dangling "You can [do that thing to] me sometime..." Everyone hears the missing arse. Because it's technically incomplete, you can deploy it more freely than the full version — the polite way to be thoroughly impolite. "Er kann mich mal" (third person) works the same.

Heard in the wild

Mehr Überstunden? Der Chef kann mich mal!

More overtime? The boss can get stuffed!

Where it lands

Germany, Austria — universal

Quick answers

What does "Du kannst mich mal!" mean?
In German, "Du kannst mich mal!" means "You can get stuffed / up yours — the polite half-curse". Literally it's "You can me sometime... (trailing off)". A masterclass in German euphemism: it's "Leck mich am Arsch" with the rude part bitten off, leaving a dangling "You can [do that thing to] me sometime..." Everyone hears the missing arse. Because it's technically incomplete, you can deploy it more freely than the full version — the polite way to be thoroughly impolite. "Er kann mich mal" (third person) works the same.
Is "Du kannst mich mal!" 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 "Du kannst mich mal!"?
Say it "doo KANST mikh MAHL" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: duː kanst mɪç maːl.

Related in German

Leck mich am Arsch! LEK mikh am ARSH Kiss my ass! / Get stuffed! (and, oddly, 'well I'll be damned!') Wir haben zusammen keine Schweine gehütet! VEER HAH-ben tsoo-ZAM-en KINE-uh SHVINE-uh guh-HUE-tet Don't you dare address me so familiarly — we're not on 'du' terms Sie Arschloch! ZEE ARSH-loch The formal-register insult — cold, deliberate contempt Quatsch! KVATCH Nonsense! / Rubbish! / No way! Arsch ARSH Arse / ass — and the second great compound-engine of German Halt die Klappe! HALT dee KLAP-uh Shut your trap! / Shut up!

The same idea, elsewhere

Via concepts like "Screw you".

how to say "Screw you" →how to say "Get lost" →

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