Egyptian Arabic insults and crude language


Here are some insults, swear words, and general crude words used in Egyptian Arabic. I tried to arrange them generally from least to most insulting — but all of these are (obviously) impolite, so be careful how you use them!

A lot of these insults use ابن الـ (ibn il-), "son of a..." The equivalent for a woman would be بنت الـ (bint il-), "daughter of a..."

ابن كلب (ج) ولاد كلب (ibn kalb [pl.] welaad kalb)
Son of a dog. This is insulting, but on the milder end of the scale. Parents even call their kids "ibn/bint kalb" when they're mad at them, so it's not too bad. And it can be used in all kinds of ways:
دى شركة بنت كلب (di šerka binte kalb)
This company is a bitch.

مشوار ابن كلب (mešwaar ibne kalb)
a bitch of a commute

طعمه ابن كلب (Ta3mu ibne kalb)
It tastes horrible.

يخرب بيتك. (yixrib beitak.)
May God destroy your house. Also on the milder end of the scale of insults. Can be embellished by adding something like وبيت اللي خلّفوك (wa-beit illi xallafuuk), "and the house of those who gave birth to you."

ابن الحمار (ibn il-Homaar)
Son of a donkey. You can also just say يا حمار (ya Homaar).

أبو قرع (abu 'ara3)
Someone bald from ringworm.

جربوعة (garbuu3a)
The jerboa (little jumping rodent that lives in the desert). A woman can be called garbuu3a or bint garbuu3a as an insult.

اطفح بسمّ الهاري. (iTfaH be-somm el-haari)
You can say this to someone eating, kind of like "I hope you choke on it!" اطفح means "Eat," but it's not a nice word and is often used in reference to sewage. So the phrase means something like, "Eat burning poison."

طز فيك (Tozz fiik)
"Screw you." Can be embellished with something like وفي اللي جابوك (wa filli gabuuk) - and those who gave birth to you.

ياتك ضربة في قلبك. (yaatak Darba fi 'albak.)
Sort of like "Drop dead." Literally something like "I hope your heart gets hit." Insulting, but not too bad.

عقله ضارب. (3a'lu Daarib.)
Like "The fuse went out" (i.e. he's an idiot). The literal meaning is something like "His head was hit."

يلعن أبو أمك. (yil3an abu ommak.)
Curse your grandfather (mother's father).

الله ينعل أبوك. (allaah yin3al abuuk.)
May God curse your father.

مخه جزمة. (moxxu gazma.)
His mind is (as low and dirty as) a shoe. This is pretty insulting.

هو عاوز الضرب بستين جزمة. (howa 3aawiz iD-Darb bi-sittiin gazma.)
He deserves to be hit with sixty shoes.

يا جزمة يا ابن الجزمة (ya gazma yibn ig-gazma)
You shoe, you son of a shoe. Shoes are associated with dirt and connote impurity and degredation, so this is pretty insulting.

طيزك حمرا. (Tiizak Hamra.)
Your ass is red (i.e. like a monkey's).

جاتك داهية. (gaatak dahya) - جاتك نيلة. (gaatak niila)
Both are roughly equivalent to "Go to hell." اتنيل بنيلة (itnayyil bi-niila) means about the same. You can also say روح في ستين (ألف) داهية (ruuH fi sittiin (alf) dahya) - go to sixty (thousand) hells. And ياتك داهية تخدك (yaatak dahya taxdak) - I hope a disaster takes you.

مالوش زبر. (maluuš zobr)
He has no dick.

كس أمك. (kuss ummak.)
Your mother's cunt; the equivalent of "Fuck you," except worse. This is as insulting as it gets.

Here are some more insults:
بهيمة (ج) بهايم (behiima [pl.] bahaayim)livestock (i.e. stupid or uncouth)
حيوان (ج) حيوانات (Hayawaan [pl.] Hayawanaat)animal
أهبل - هبلة (ج) هبل (ahbal - feminine form habla, [pl.] hubl)foolish
عبيط (ج) عبطاء (3abiiT [pl.] 3ubaTa)simple-minded, silly
قليل\عديم الأدب ('aliil/3adiim [pl.] 'ulalaat il-adab)rude
قليل\عديم الحيا ('aliil/3adiim [pl.] 'ulalaat il-Haya)shameless
قليل\عديم الأصل ('aliil/3adiim [pl.] 'ulalaat il-aSl)from a bad family
كذاب (kaddaab)liar*
حرامي (ج) حرامية (Haraami [pl.] Haraamiyya)thief
نصاب (naSSaab)swindler
سافل (saafil [pl.] safala)base, loathsome
همجي (ج) همج (hamagi [pl.] hamag)uncivilized, barbaric
وسخ (wisix)dirty, filthy (has connotations of moral filth as well)
مخنث (moxannas)effeminate, sissy
خول (ج) خولات (xawal [pl.] xawalaat)faggot
علق (ج) علوق (3il' [pl.] 3iluu')faggot
معرّص (mi3arraS)pimp
ابن العرص (ibn il-3arS)son of a pimp
ابن الوسخة (ibn il-wisxa)son of a filthy woman
ابن الشرموطة (ibn iš-šarmuuTa)son of a whore
ابن القحبة (ibn il-'aHba)son of a whore
ابن المتناكة (ibn il-mitnaaka)son of a whore
ابن اللبوة (ibn il-labwa)son of a lioness**

* Calling someone a liar in Arabic is really, really insulting, more so than in English. The same goes for "crazy" (مجنون magnuun); in English, it can be a joke to call someone crazy, but in Arabic people take it really seriously.
** The lionness is like a symbol of an over-sexed woman, so this is very insulting.

Some general crude language:
زي الزفت (zayy iz-zift)
Like crap, horrible (lit. like tar). This is on the milder end of things. Ex. العربية الزفت دى (il-3arabiyya z-zift di), this crappy car.

أحا (aHHa)
An interjection expressing frustration or anger. Considered vulgar because it supposedly represents the sound of a woman's orgasm.

خرة (xara)
Shit. Can be used as an interjection of frustration as in English. You can also say أخرة من كدة مافيش (axra min kida mafiiš) - There's nothing shittier than this.

سخة \ شخاح (šaxxa/šuxaax)
A crude word for urine.

ناك - ينيك (naak - yiniik)
To fuck. Obviously very crude.

بيضان (beiDan)
A very crude word for testicles; can be used to describe something really annoying.

فشّخ (faššax)
A really crude word meaning "to spread something widely," usually used in reference to legs; you can describe something you strongly dislike as "fašx," but it's very crude to do that.

All vocabulary lists Colloquial proverbs