Russian · The Basics
Блин!
blin
BLEEN · /blʲin/
Damn! / Darn! / Shoot!
1/5 Grandma-safe
mild, playful; fine on daytime TV
Literally
"Pancake"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
The single most useful word in this whole book. "Blin" is the sound a Russian makes when they stub a toe, miss a train, or realize they left the stove on — a socially frictionless minced oath standing in for "blyad'." Grandmothers say it, kids say it, your taxi driver says it forty times a trip. Deploy freely; there is no downside.
Heard in the wild
Блин, я забыл ключи дома.
Damn, I left my keys at home.
Where it lands
Russia and Russian-speaking world (universal)
Quick answers
- What does "Блин!" mean?
- In Russian, "Блин!" means "Damn! / Darn! / Shoot!". Literally it's "Pancake". The single most useful word in this whole book. "Blin" is the sound a Russian makes when they stub a toe, miss a train, or realize they left the stove on — a socially frictionless minced oath standing in for "blyad'." Grandmothers say it, kids say it, your taxi driver says it forty times a trip. Deploy freely; there is no downside.
- Is "Блин!" 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 "Блин!"?
- Say it "BLEEN" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: blʲin.
Related in Russian
Чёрт! chyort CHORT Damn! / Hell! Чёрт возьми! chyort voz'mi CHORT vahz-MEE Damn it! / For God's sake! Зараза! zaraza zah-RAH-zah You pest! / Damn you! (affectionate-rough) Ё-моё! yo-moyo YO mah-YO Oh boy! / Geez! / Good grief! Ёлки-палки! yolki-palki YOL-kee PAHL-kee Good grief! / For heaven's sake! Офигеть! ofiget' ah-fee-GYET Wow! / Holy cow! / No way!
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.
- Japanese くそ Damn! / Crap! / Shit!
- 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
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