Russian · The Basics
Капец!
kapets
kah-PYETS · /kɐˈpʲet͡s/
That's it, it's over / Damn / Whoa
2/5 Bar-safe
coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances
Literally
"The end / done for (softened)"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
The clean stand-in for "pizdets" — same job (marking a catastrophe, or just something extreme), no taboo. "Kabzdets" and "kapets kotyonku" are playful stretches of the same idea. Can be bad ("all kapets, we're doomed") or an intensifier ("kapets how tired I am").
Heard in the wild
Ну всё, капец, поезд ушёл.
Well that's it, we're done, the train's gone.
Where it lands
Russia (universal)
Quick answers
- What does "Капец!" mean?
- In Russian, "Капец!" means "That's it, it's over / Damn / Whoa". Literally it's "The end / done for (softened)". The clean stand-in for "pizdets" — same job (marking a catastrophe, or just something extreme), no taboo. "Kabzdets" and "kapets kotyonku" are playful stretches of the same idea. Can be bad ("all kapets, we're doomed") or an intensifier ("kapets how tired I am").
- Is "Капец!" 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 "Капец!"?
- Say it "kah-PYETS" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: kɐˈpʲet͡s.
Related in Russian
Блин! blin BLEEN Damn! / Darn! / Shoot! Чёрт! chyort CHORT Damn! / Hell! 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! Облом! oblom ah-BLOM Bummer / What a letdown / No dice
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "What a mess".
- French Bordel ! What a mess! / Chaos! — also 'what the hell' as an intensifier
- German Scheiße! Shit! / Damn! — the all-purpose German expletive
- Greek σκατά Shit! / Crap! — and 'garbage / terrible' for anything low quality.
- Italian Che casino! What a mess! / What chaos!
- Japanese めちゃくちゃ A total mess / all messed up (or: super, as an intensifier)
- Korean 어떡해 Oh no / what do I do?! — the national noise of small panic.
- Polish masakra A disaster / unbelievable / total carnage — the all-purpose 'this is insane.'
- Portuguese Merda! Shit! / Crap!
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