What's the most brutal insult you've ever heard in your language? I think the most savagely specific one that I've ever encountered was from Finnish... sun gradu oli varmaan 20 sivua. It means "your thesis was probably 20 pages long"
Apr 29, 2025 19:05The most savage insult from New Zealand (in my opinion) was a put-down from a 1949 parliamentary session, where one member said of another that "his brains could revolve inside a peanut shell for a thousand years without touching the sides."
That insult was eventually added to the list of "unparliamentary language," which is forbidden from being used in debates in New Zealand. It also includes "idle vapourings of a mind diseased" (from 1946), "Merv the Swerve" (1980), and "energy of a tired snail returning home from a funeral" (1963)
It's not directed at a specific person, but I've always been fond of this from the conductor Sir Thomas Beecham...
"Brass bands are all very well in their place - outdoors and several miles away."
And while we're on the subject of music, a Hungarian expression for commenting on the quality of someone’s singing is erotikus a hangod, bassza a fülem. It means “your voice is erotic, it fucks my ears”
📌
I'm a fan of this one…
Most brutal put-down from my daughter, who was two at the time. When she told me to stop singing along to her music in the car, I said, “Excuse me, I’m a professional singer. People pay me to sing.” She folded her arms and, not missing a beat, replied, “Well, I’m not paying you.” 😳
🔥🔥🔥
I heard an Italian taxi driver in New York City tell another "You're not in your uncle's farm anymore!"
Player from opposing rugby team to our skinny scrum half:
“Shut it, Face on a Stick”
I’m a big fan of this
King Lear Act 2 Scene 2.
Ok, soy Mexa y acá le vamos a los insultos mexas.
Pero cuando un español dice "me cago en tus muertos"¿¿¿¿
jaja no pos, ostia
I love composite, vicious insults, but I’ve always thought the worst insult here in Ireland is when someone is simply described as “harmless”. It’s so totally, utterly dismissive. Almost pitying.
Probably one of the oldest insults in classical literature - the boorish remarks of Numanus to the Phrygians (shortly prior to his death in battle): "et tunicae manicas et habent redimicula mitrae" ("your tunics have sleeves and your bonnets, ribbons"). Virgil Aeneid IX, Book 9. l.616.
This guy couldn't find his ass with both hands.
You may be ugly but at least you don't have any money.
😆
Not sure if brutal, but
"Ei oo kaikki muumit laaksossa" = Not all the Moomins are in the valley = Someone's got a few screws loose.
"Siitä puhe mistä puute" = You talk about what you lack; mostly aimed at people who brag or yap about something constantly, for ex. sex. 😅
'Yer dad cried watchin' Titanic yer daff c#@t,now go n' boil yer ed.
Translation from scouse to English,
'Your dad cried watching Titanic you daft c@#t, now go and boil your head'.
A fairly common English one is I wouldn't piss on him if he was on fire.
Warning, Southern Hemisphere are inbound….. 😏
“Couldn’t get a root in a brothel"
sotto voce
"with a fistful of fifties"…..
This is fun, another from Welsh,
"Byddai'r byd yn well heb dy wynt yn ei wyneb."
The world would be better without your breath upon its face.
And another beautiful but savage Welsh one -
"Mae dy bresenoldeb fel niwl: yn lledaenu diflastod ble bynnag ei cherdded."
Your presence is like mist: spreading misery wherever it moves
Cherdded technically means walks but it sounds so poetic
Calling someone a "shilpit wee nyaff" is pretty brutal.
'Your mam sells Avon' is always a good one.
