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Polish · Reactions & Outbursts

rany boskie!

RAH-nih BOSS-kyeh · /ˈra.nɨ ˈbɔ.skʲɛ/

Good grief / for heaven's sake — exasperated dismay, all bark and no bite.

1/5 Grandma-safe

mild, playful; fine on daytime TV

Literally

"God's wounds!"

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

How to use it

An oath on the wounds of Christ that time has sanded down to "good grief." Deployed at exasperating news, slow relatives, and bureaucracy: "rany boskie, ile można czekać?" (good grief, how long can this take?). Grandma-safe 1 — in fact it skews older and slightly theatrical, which travelers can weaponize for charm. Clipped versions: "rany Julek!" (comic, dated) and plain "rany!" This is the strongest the Polish religious register gets in daily speech, which tells you everything about where the real taboos live.

Heard in the wild

Rany boskie, znowu remontują ten most?

Good grief, they're redoing that bridge again?

Where it lands

Poland (universal); skews older, endearingly so

Quick answers

What does "rany boskie!" mean?
In Polish, "rany boskie!" means "Good grief / for heaven's sake — exasperated dismay, all bark and no bite.". Literally it's "God's wounds!". An oath on the wounds of Christ that time has sanded down to "good grief." Deployed at exasperating news, slow relatives, and bureaucracy: "rany boskie, ile można czekać?" (good grief, how long can this take?). Grandma-safe 1 — in fact it skews older and slightly theatrical, which travelers can weaponize for charm. Clipped versions: "rany Julek!" (comic, dated) and plain "rany!" This is the strongest the Polish religious register gets in daily speech, which tells you everything about where the real taboos live.
Is "rany boskie!" 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 "rany boskie!"?
Say it "RAH-nih BOSS-kyeh" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: ˈra.nɨ ˈbɔ.skʲɛ.

Related in Polish

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. kurwa mać KOOR-vah MAHCH Fucking hell / goddammit — the emphatic, two-barrel kurwa. ja pierdolę yah pyehr-DOH-leh Holy shit / un-fucking-believable — vulgar astonishment at the state of things. o w mordę! oh v MOR-deh Whoa / well I'll be damned — surprise, as if you'd just been punched.

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