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Polish · The Essential Ten

kurczę

KOOR-cheh · /ˈkur.t͡ʂɛ/

Shoot / darn — the softest rung of the euphemism ladder.

1/5 Grandma-safe

mild, playful; fine on daytime TV

Literally

"chick (baby chicken)"

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

How to use it

Same trick as kurde, one rung gentler: kurwa steered into the innocent word for a baby chicken. "Kurczę!" is what a kindergarten teacher says when the projector dies; "kurczę blade" (pale chick) is the deluxe version. If you want to curse in front of literally anyone in Poland — a priest, a toddler, your mother-in-law — this is your word. The pleasure of the ladder is that every Pole hears exactly which word you didn't say.

Heard in the wild

Kurczę blade, znowu pada.

Oh shoot, it's raining again.

Where it lands

Poland (universal)

Quick answers

What does "kurczę" mean?
In Polish, "kurczę" means "Shoot / darn — the softest rung of the euphemism ladder.". Literally it's "chick (baby chicken)". Same trick as kurde, one rung gentler: kurwa steered into the innocent word for a baby chicken. "Kurczę!" is what a kindergarten teacher says when the projector dies; "kurczę blade" (pale chick) is the deluxe version. If you want to curse in front of literally anyone in Poland — a priest, a toddler, your mother-in-law — this is your word. The pleasure of the ladder is that every Pole hears exactly which word you didn't say.
Is "kurczę" 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 "kurczę"?
Say it "KOOR-cheh" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: ˈkur.t͡ʂɛ.

Related in Polish

kurwa KOOR-vah Fuck / damn / shit — the load-bearing word of Polish, and its most common comma. cholera kho-LEH-rah Damn / darn it — the respectable person's curse. kurde KOOR-deh Darn / crap — kurwa with the fuse removed. no co ty! noh TSOH tih No way! / Come on! / You can't be serious. masakra mah-SAHK-rah A disaster / unbelievable / total carnage — the all-purpose 'this is insane.' o Jezu oh YEH-zoo Oh God / oh no / oh wow — everyday mild alarm, despite the holy name.

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