Japanese · Japan
くそ
kuso[kɯ̟̊so̞]
Listen to how locals say it.
Meaning
Excrement; as an interjection “damn it!”, and as a prefix a derogatory intensifier (くそ〜).Machine-assisted translation
Pronunciation
- Romanization
- kuso
- IPA
- [kɯ̟̊so̞]
“KOO-so” — flat, short vowels.
How it's used
Japanese profanity works through register rather than a large swear lexicon: くそ is mild in absolute terms but breaks です・ます politeness instantly.Machine-assisted translation
Cultural context
Wiktionary lists the noun, the interjection and the derogatory prefix/suffix uses (くそ爺い, 下手糞) under the entry 糞.Machine-assisted translation
Literal meaning
excrement
When to avoid it
Situations where people would rather you did not say it.
- At school — Avoid
- At work — Avoid
- On the street — Depends. Said out loud in public it draws looks.
Sources
Every claim on this page traces back to these entries.
Passages derived from these dictionary entries are redistributed under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.