Welcome to Toolpaq

This guide contains Polish curse words the author likes. It doesn't contain weak curse words, only those that are considered highly offensive and unacceptable when used in public. That is, you will not find here 'dupa' (which is Polish equivalent for 'ass' both literary and in usage) or 'gówno' (which is Polish equivalent for 'shit') since I consider them weak. It also doesn't contain many variations that can be created and used ad hoc. It contains only the most important words with precise meanings that are highly independent from their context. Otherwise this short guide would become a hundred-page dictionary.

I was inspired to create this guide after noticing how few English curse words exist. (My knowledge is based on a survey among native speakers, listening to hip hop, and intensive TV watching, including South Park, The Wire, and many other shows and movies rich in contemporary English.) In English, there is practically only one highly offensive and broadly used curse word: 'fuck.' With some modifications it can be used as a verb, noun, adjective, adverb, exclamation, and can be combined to create other equally offensive words like 'motherfucker.' There are also other interesting words (e.g. deepshit, dickhead, cocksucker etc.) which are mostly nouns and they are either weak or used very infrequently in everyday speech. Thus, there is a huge difference in swearing between Polish and English. In English swearing can be quite boring when we use the same word all the time. In Polish, thanks to prefixes and changes caused by conjugation and/or declination, swearing becomes an art. As a way of expressing emotions, it often makes life brighter and more interesting. In fact, it seems that vocabulary of a Polish street thug is way more developed than that of his English-speaking counterpart.

In this document I am focusing on words used in a regular speech as a way of expression of thoughts and emotions. There are some very rude words in English which have different usage and whose idea may not be understood by people speaking Polish. An example may be 'nigger' which is currently used mostly among black people with low socioeconomic status (they use this word to refer to each other). However, this is not a curse word in a sense I use here. Polish equivalent (czarnuch) is considered a rude racist expression, not a curse word.

The verbs below are presented in their basic form, but usually they are conjugated in a particular context. Many verbs are in imperfective aspect (to be doing sth). A suffix s- or z- (and many others) usually turns them into perfective aspect (to have sth done). This also often changes the meaning. I try to report each verb in imperfective aspect and I indicate the aspect when the imperfective version of a verb does not exist or has a different meaning. Suffix 'się' means 'oneself' and is used with reflexive verbs. The origins of most meanings stem from the similarity between a curse word and a regular word which sounds similar due to a particular prefix or suffix.

Please let me know if you have any remarks, questions and suggestions. The best way to contact me is via e-mail. I will post valuable comments down below the dictionary.

The translations are organized as follows:

I. Root word 'kurwa.' This word is used most commonly. It is equivalent to English 'fuck.' When you drop a heavy box on your foot you say 'oh, fuck' in English or 'o, kurwa' in Polish. However, the literal meaning is slightly different.

II. Root word 'pierdolić.' This is equally rude word. It has way more variations and applications.

III. Root word 'jebać.' This also means 'fuck' but it is hardly ever used with this meaning.

IV. Root word 'srać.' I consider this verb itself as a weak curse word. However, some variations can be considered as strong curse words, stronger that English counterparts.

V. Root word 'pizda.'

VI. Root word 'chuj.' This word is way more offensive that its English equivalent.

VII. Root word 'ruchać.'

VIII. Root word 'dymać.'