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Polish · The Essential Ten

masakra

mah-SAHK-rah · /maˈsak.ra/

A disaster / unbelievable / total carnage — the all-purpose 'this is insane.'

1/5 Grandma-safe

mild, playful; fine on daytime TV

Literally

"massacre"

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

How to use it

Poles narrate daily life in the vocabulary of atrocity, and masakra is the flagship: the queue at the post office is a massacre, the weather is a massacre, Monday is a massacre. "Ale masakra!" covers everything from genuine outrage to admiring disbelief ("the party? masakra!" — meaning it was wild). Grandma-safe despite the gore, and so overused that complaining about its overuse is itself a national pastime. A close sibling: "dramat" (drama) and "tragedia" (tragedy), deployed with equal shamelessness.

Heard in the wild

Dwie godziny w kolejce do lekarza. Masakra.

Two hours in line at the doctor's. Carnage.

Where it lands

Poland (universal)

Quick answers

What does "masakra" mean?
In Polish, "masakra" means "A disaster / unbelievable / total carnage — the all-purpose 'this is insane.'". Literally it's "massacre". Poles narrate daily life in the vocabulary of atrocity, and masakra is the flagship: the queue at the post office is a massacre, the weather is a massacre, Monday is a massacre. "Ale masakra!" covers everything from genuine outrage to admiring disbelief ("the party? masakra!" — meaning it was wild). Grandma-safe despite the gore, and so overused that complaining about its overuse is itself a national pastime. A close sibling: "dramat" (drama) and "tragedia" (tragedy), deployed with equal shamelessness.
Is "masakra" 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 "masakra"?
Say it "mah-SAHK-rah" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: maˈsak.ra.

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. kurczę KOOR-cheh Shoot / darn — the softest rung of the euphemism ladder. no co ty! noh TSOH tih No way! / Come on! / You can't be serious. no weź! noh VESH Oh come on! / Give me a break!

The same idea, elsewhere

Via concepts like "What a mess".

how to say "What a mess" →how to say "Unbelievable" →how to say "That's crazy" →

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