Russian · The Basics
Чёрт возьми!
chyort voz'mi
CHORT vahz-MEE · /t͡ɕɵrt vɐzʲˈmʲi/
Damn it! / For God's sake!
2/5 Bar-safe
coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances
Literally
"Devil, take it"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
"Chyort" with the volume turned up — the register of an exasperated boss or a subtitled action hero. Still perfectly printable and TV-safe. Variants swap the target: "chyort poberi" (devil take it) is interchangeable and maybe a shade more literary.
Heard in the wild
Чёрт возьми, где мой телефон?
Damn it, where's my phone?
Where it lands
Russia (universal)
Quick answers
- What does "Чёрт возьми!" mean?
- In Russian, "Чёрт возьми!" means "Damn it! / For God's sake!". Literally it's "Devil, take it". "Chyort" with the volume turned up — the register of an exasperated boss or a subtitled action hero. Still perfectly printable and TV-safe. Variants swap the target: "chyort poberi" (devil take it) is interchangeable and maybe a shade more literary.
- Is "Чёрт возьми!" 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 "Чёрт возьми!"?
- Say it "CHORT vahz-MEE" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: t͡ɕɵrt vɐzʲˈmʲi.
Related in Russian
Блин! blin BLEEN Damn! / Darn! / Shoot! Чёрт! chyort CHORT Damn! / Hell! 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! Иди в баню! idi v banyu ee-DEE v BAH-nyoo Get lost! / Buzz off! (gentle)
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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