Russian · Mat: The Four Roots
Пиздец!
pizdets
peez-DYETS · /pʲɪzˈdʲet͡s/
It's fucked / total disaster / holy shit
aimed at a person, will start something
Literally
"The end (from 'pizda')"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
Built on the "pizd-" root, this is the all-purpose mat noun for catastrophe — "everything's fucked" — or, as a bare exclamation, "holy shit." Perversely it can also intensify something amazing ("pizdato" = fucking great). Serious mat: unusable at work, in front of kids, or with strangers. The clean stand-in is "kapets" or "pipets."
Heard in the wild
Машину угнали. Полный пиздец.
The car got stolen. Total fucking disaster.
Where it lands
Russia (universal); mat — heavily restricted
Quick answers
- What does "Пиздец!" mean?
- In Russian, "Пиздец!" means "It's fucked / total disaster / holy shit". Literally it's "The end (from 'pizda')". Built on the "pizd-" root, this is the all-purpose mat noun for catastrophe — "everything's fucked" — or, as a bare exclamation, "holy shit." Perversely it can also intensify something amazing ("pizdato" = fucking great). Serious mat: unusable at work, in front of kids, or with strangers. The clean stand-in is "kapets" or "pipets."
- Is "Пиздец!" offensive?
- Yes — very. It rates 4/5 on the Punch-o-Meter (Fighting words). aimed at a person, will start something. Read the usage note before you even think about it.
- How do you pronounce "Пиздец!"?
- Say it "peez-DYETS" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: pʲɪzˈdʲet͡s.
Related in Russian
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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