Japanese · The Basics
くそ
kuso
KOO-so · /kɯ̥so/
Damn! / Crap! / Shit!
2/5 Bar-safe
coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances
Literally
"excrement"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
The single most useful all-purpose curse: mutter it when you drop your phone, miss the train, or lose in a game. Alone it's a light "damn"; as a prefix it turbo-charges anything — kuso-atsui (damn hot), kuso-mazui (tastes like garbage), kuso-gee (a shit game). Written くそ or 糞; you'll see it censored as "○ソ" on TV.
Heard in the wild
くそ、また終電逃した。
Damn, missed the last train again.
Where it lands
Nationwide
Quick answers
- What does "くそ" mean?
- In Japanese, "くそ" means "Damn! / Crap! / Shit!". Literally it's "excrement". The single most useful all-purpose curse: mutter it when you drop your phone, miss the train, or lose in a game. Alone it's a light "damn"; as a prefix it turbo-charges anything — kuso-atsui (damn hot), kuso-mazui (tastes like garbage), kuso-gee (a shit game). Written くそ or 糞; you'll see it censored as "○ソ" on TV.
- Is "くそ" 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 "くそ"?
- Say it "KOO-so" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: kɯ̥so.
Related in Japanese
うるさい urusai oo-roo-SIGH Shut up / you're too loud / quit nagging 何だよ nanda yo NAHN-dah yo What the hell / what's your problem 面倒くさい mendōkusai men-DOH-koo-sigh What a pain / can't be bothered / such a hassle 畜生 chikushō chee-koo-SHOH Dammit! / God damn it! しまった shimatta shee-MAHT-tah Damn / oops / oh no, I blew it たっけえ takkee (takai) tahk-KEH Damn, that's expensive! / highway robbery
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!
- Italian Cazzo! Fuck! / Damn! / The all-purpose Italian curse.
- 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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