Italian · The Basics
Porca miseria!
POR-kah mee-ZEH-ryah · /ˈpor.ka miˈzɛ.rja/
Dammit! / For heaven's sake!
1/5 Grandma-safe
mild, playful; fine on daytime TV
Literally
"Pig misery"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
A minced oath and one of the safest ways to blow off steam — the "porco/porca ___" formula normally leads somewhere blasphemous (see the never-say section), but tacked onto "miseria" (poverty) it's completely harmless. Grandmothers use it. Think "good grief." Cousins: "porca paletta," "porca vacca," "porca l'oca."
Heard in the wild
Porca miseria, ho dimenticato le chiavi!
Dammit, I forgot my keys!
Where it lands
Universal across Italy
Quick answers
- What does "Porca miseria!" mean?
- In Italian, "Porca miseria!" means "Dammit! / For heaven's sake!". Literally it's "Pig misery". A minced oath and one of the safest ways to blow off steam — the "porco/porca ___" formula normally leads somewhere blasphemous (see the never-say section), but tacked onto "miseria" (poverty) it's completely harmless. Grandmothers use it. Think "good grief." Cousins: "porca paletta," "porca vacca," "porca l'oca."
- Is "Porca miseria!" offensive?
- It's on the mild end — 1/5 (Grandma-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. mild, playful; fine on daytime TV.
- How do you pronounce "Porca miseria!"?
- Say it "POR-kah mee-ZEH-ryah" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: ˈpor.ka miˈzɛ.rja.
Related in Italian
Cazzo! KAHT-tso Fuck! / Damn! / The all-purpose Italian curse. Merda! MEHR-dah Shit! / Damn it! Che palle! kay PAHL-lay What a pain in the ass! / So annoying! Minchia! MEEN-kyah Holy shit! / Wow! / Damn! Cavolo! KAH-vo-lo Darn! / Shoot! / The clean stand-in for cazzo. Mamma mia! MAHM-mah MEE-ah Oh my! / Good heavens! / Wow!
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "Damn".
- French Putain ! Damn! / F***! / The all-purpose intensifier — punctuation, really
- German Scheiße! Shit! / Damn! — the all-purpose German expletive
- Greek γαμώτο Damn it! / Dammit!
- 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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