11 Foreign Words That Sound Filthy In English

If you’re in an English-speaking country, you surely know how to mind your manners (at least in public, anyway). There are words that we were taught not to say, especially in the company of others. But, what if you’re in a foreign land, where the native language is not English? This may not be the case! In fact, there are quite a few filthy English words that are normal, everyday words in other countries, and you should definitely know them before booking your trip!

What’s That Smell?

Somehow the word fart makes everyone laugh. Whether you’re four or forty, passing gas, wind, or hot air is sure to bring on a laugh. Although it’s probably not in your everyday speech if you’ve finished high school. But watch out if you end up in Germany. Fahrt (pronounced “fart”) means ride in German, so you’ll be hearing it plenty. Do you want to fahrt together to school? I need a fahrt. I’m fahrting there with my mom and dad!

What Did You Just Call Me?

If we want to mark the moment something stops, we’re talking about the end. It could be the end of a book, the end of a race, or the end of a relationship. Seems harmless enough, right? But if you’re in Sweden, you aren’t saying “end” to mark this moment. The Swedish word for end is slut! Next time you pass a store in Sweden that has “slut” on the window, just know that there’s a sale ending. Seriously, no one’s being rude to you.

One You May Not Want To Win

Speaking of that not-so-nice word slut, it seems to be quite popular in the northern European countries. But in Denmark, it gets just a little dirtier. If you’re running a marathon in America, you’ll reach the finish line , that final point of completion. You might even see a big banner that says “finish line.” But if you are running a marathon in Denmark, don’t be shocked to see slut spurt on that banner. Yep, the end of a race is a slut spurt. Kinda gives you a dirty yucky feeling inside, huh? I mean, who wants to cross a slut spurt? Sounds dangerous, like you might catch something. Yuck.

What’s At The Beach?!

Remember sex education class, when you learned anatomy? The word clitoris probably came up and was greeted with a roomful of giggles. Shortened, its slang word “clit” is extremely offensive amongst most company. Well, prepare yourself if you’re heading to Denmark. Klit (pronounced clit), simply means dune (as in sand dune) in Danish. Don’t be shocked if you’re told to drive past the klits when receiving directions to the beach in Denmark.

Not A Winter Wonderland

Snow brings to mind many things, such as: pristine surroundings, holiday skiing trips and utter peace and beauty. However, it doesn’t bring to mind gross bodily functions such as puking. Well prepare yourself if you have a trip planned to Iran. You may hear someone say they wish it would barf, since the farsi word for snow sounds like the word barf. Does that mean they have barf-flakes and build barfmen?

Learning More Than Numbers

We all know how to count in English. One, two, three, and so on. How many times a day do you use the word “one“? Maybe you swing through the drive through and ask for one burger? Or you give a phone number with the number one in it. Or maybe you tell your boss you need one minute to finish something before your meeting. Well if you were in Burma, you’d be talking about tits all the time! Tit is the word for one in Burmese. So do you still want a tit burger for lunch?

Don’t Count In Public, Sweetie

Speaking of numbers, it would be pretty darn fun to learn to count in Burmese after all. We already know that tit is the word for one, but eight is even funnier. In Burmese, the number eight is shitt. That’s right. And it sounds the same as if you took that last “t” off the end. Imagine your child or niece coming home from school and proudly counting their numbers in Burmese. Or telling you that they want shitt cookies when you offer them seven. Ahhh, words!

But I Just Want To Mail The Letter

One of the more offensive words in English is, you guessed it, the f-bomb. F-ck is used as an expression of frustration or a slang word for doing the deed. Add “ing” to it and you have an adjective that adds color for days to your speech. But, unless you’re a wild animal of a human, f-ck is not a word to keep in your vocabulary, especially in the company of others. Except, of course, if you’re in France. Phoque (pronounced f-ck) means seal in French. So, when in France, if someone wants to phoque you with a kiss or asks you to phoque an envelope, don’t be alarmed!

Thankfully, Latin Is Dead

Some words are foul even if no one were ever to hear you say them. And thankfully, you won’t hear Latin spoken much outside of a classroom or the Vatican these days. They have some doozies for everyday words that sound downright dirty in English. The commonly used word “with” would be hard to avoid in any language and in Latin, the word for with is cum. Now imagine having to say that word all the time. Will you dance cum me? I am cum the child. Yes, let’s be happy this language is dead.

Maybe I’d Rather A Necklace

Latin is the language that keeps on giving in this case. Imagine you’re in a relationship with someone. You’ve been together for a couple of years and the big proposal is coming up. After asking her to marry him, she says yes. All good so far, right? Now he wants her thoughts on the ring. Did he choose the right one? Does she like it? All flows smoothly since she does like the ring. But if he was speaking Latin, we’d have a different twist on this evening. He’d be asking if she likes the anus! Yep, anus is the Latin word for ring. Bet you won’t forget that next time you’re jewelry shopping.

Hold Off On The Gas

We started with farts so we might as well finish with them. Imagine being pulled over and given a ticket for farting. Or, maybe you just get a little warning and are told to “stop farting or you’re in trouble!” You’d think the policeman was nuts (or psychic if you had actually been passing gas). Not if you were in Sweden though. Fart means speed in Swedish. So when you visit Sweden, just know that you need to stop farting when you’re driving too fast and you need to fart more when you’re walking too slowly. There. That covers it!