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Portuguese · The Basics

Bosta!

BOSS-tah · /ˈbɔs.ta/

Crap! / (a) piece of garbage

2/5 Bar-safe

coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances

Literally

"Dung / animal droppings"

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

How to use it

Scatological cousin of "merda," specifically manure. As an exclamation it's "crap!"; as a verdict, "esse celular é uma bosta" means the phone is junk. "Seu bosta" calls a person worthless. Coarse but not shocking — bar-safe.

Heard in the wild

Que filme bosta, dormi no meio.

What a crap movie, I fell asleep halfway.

Where it lands

Brazil (universal).

Quick answers

What does "Bosta!" mean?
In Portuguese, "Bosta!" means "Crap! / (a) piece of garbage". Literally it's "Dung / animal droppings". Scatological cousin of "merda," specifically manure. As an exclamation it's "crap!"; as a verdict, "esse celular é uma bosta" means the phone is junk. "Seu bosta" calls a person worthless. Coarse but not shocking — bar-safe.
Is "Bosta!" 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 "Bosta!"?
Say it "BOSS-tah" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: ˈbɔs.ta.

Related in Portuguese

Porra! POH-hah Damn! / Fuck! — but mostly used as pure punctuation Caralho! kah-RAH-lyoo Fuck! / Hell! — exclamation and all-purpose intensifier Merda! MEHR-dah Shit! / Crap! Droga! DROH-gah Darn! / Damn it! Cacete! kah-SEH-chee Damn! / Bloody hell! — also 'a ton' as 'pra cacete' Que sacanagem! sah-kah-NAH-zhang That's so unfair! / What a low blow!

The same idea, elsewhere

Via concepts like "Disgusting".

how to say "Disgusting" →

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