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Greek · The Essential Ten

σκατά

skatá

skah-TAH · /skaˈta/

Shit! / Crap! — and 'garbage / terrible' for anything low quality.

2/5 Bar-safe

coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances

Literally

"shit (plural)"

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

How to use it

The workhorse scatological word. As an exclamation it's "shit!"; as a judgment it means something is garbage — "η ταινία ήταν σκατά," the film was crap. Milder than the English "shit" feels, sitting at bar-safe 2: you'll hear it from all ages. "Χέστηκα" (I shat myself) as an idiom means "I couldn't care less," and "στα σκατά" (in the shit) means a situation has gone to hell. A whole life philosophy lives in "έτσι είναι, σκατά" — that's just how it is, crap.

Heard in the wild

Σκατά, μας τελείωσε η βενζίνη.

Crap, we've run out of gas.

Where it lands

Greece & Cyprus (universal)

Quick answers

What does "σκατά" mean?
In Greek, "σκατά" means "Shit! / Crap! — and 'garbage / terrible' for anything low quality.". Literally it's "shit (plural)". The workhorse scatological word. As an exclamation it's "shit!"; as a judgment it means something is garbage — "η ταινία ήταν σκατά," the film was crap. Milder than the English "shit" feels, sitting at bar-safe 2: you'll hear it from all ages. "Χέστηκα" (I shat myself) as an idiom means "I couldn't care less," and "στα σκατά" (in the shit) means a situation has gone to hell. A whole life philosophy lives in "έτσι είναι, σκατά" — that's just how it is, crap.
Is "σκατά" 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 "σκατά"?
Say it "skah-TAH" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: skaˈta.

Related in Greek

γαμώτο gamóto ghah-MOH-toh Damn it! / Dammit! γαμώ το / τη / τον… gamó to / ti / ton… ghah-MOH toh The productive Greek curse engine — 'fuck the [anything]' — how most heavy curses are built. τι στο διάολο ti sto diáolo tee stoh THYAH-oh-loh What the hell / what the devil. αηδία aïdía ah-ee-THEE-ah Gross / disgusting / yuck. βρωμάει vromáei vroh-MAH-ee It stinks / this is fishy / something's off. μαλάκας malákas mah-LAH-kahss Asshole / idiot — OR — dude / mate. The single most important word in Greek.

The same idea, elsewhere

Via concepts like "What a mess".

how to say "What a mess" →how to say "Damn" →

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