Using curse words can make your stories legendary and help people remember them longer, although if you use them too much you might come off as a bit uneducated. When used in moderation, they can spice up the story you’re telling and also give you the ability to describe things beyond the limitations of polite ways of expressing yourself. If you pair them with good timing, you can steer attention to a specific subject by highlighting it when surrounded with swears.
Playing with these words for too long can result in using them as filler words, which is a slippery slope from there on, as you won’t notice when you start using them or whether they’re appropriate to the situation or not. And you probably don’t want to be that guy or gal.
So, in order to know how and when to use them, we’ve put together this article with all the necessary information to help you make more progress while you learn Estonian online with Lingvist.
*WARNING: Some Estonian curse words and their translations are very vulgar. Our aim is to provide factually correct information about the usage of Estonian curse words as a naturalistic human behavior to aid Estonian learners in understanding authentic Estonian, which in some cases may be graphic or offensive in their reference to religion, sexuality, or violence.*
Let’s dive into this crash course on Estonian curse words!
Start speaking Estonian fluently, fast.
Sending people somewhere
It’s very common to send people to certain places when cursing at them in Estonian. However, many of those phrases can’t even be considered curses, because they can be said either seriously or when joking around with friends and family. Let’s say your friend is teasing you – in this case, it’s perfectly fine to tell them, “Ah, mine metsa.” You’ll see these Estonian phrases in the first table below.
Estonian | English | Literal meaning | Vulgarity level |
Tõmba uttu | Get outta here | Pull into fog | None |
Mine metsa | Get outta here | Go to the forest | None |
Sõida seenele | Get outta here | Drive to pick mushrooms | None |
Käi kuu peale | Get outta here | Walk to the moon | None |
Käi kukele | Get outta here | Go to the rooster | None |
Tõmba lesta | Get outta here | Pull a flipper | None |
This second table has harsher-sounding curse words that are generally used when you’re actually angry at something or someone.
Estonian | English | Literal meaning | Vulgarity level |
Mine põrgu; Käi põrgu | Go to hell | Mild to medium depending on the tone | |
Mine vittu | F*ck you | Go into c*nt | High |
Mine putsi | F*ck you | Go into c*nt | High |
Mida perset | WTF | What the ass | Medium |
Mida põrgut | What the hell? | Mild | |
Mine munni | F*ck you | Go into c*ck | High |
Mine perse; Keri perse | P*ss off | Go into ass, reel into ass | Medium |
Keri kuradile; Käi kuradile | P*ss off | Reel to the devil, go to the devil | Medium |
Single-word swears
Some of these words you’ve definitely heard while spending time with your Estonian friends. Pagan and kurat are especially popular curse words.
Estonian | English equivalent | Literal meaning | Vulgarity level |
Pagan | Damn | Person believing in the local nature-based religion | Mild |
Kurivaim | Darn | Angry spirit | Mild |
Kuramus | Darn | Milder form of kurat | Mild |
Kurinahk | Bugger | Angry skin, also a milder term for a criminal | Mild |
Persevest | Asshole | Ass vest | Medium |
Sinder | Bugger | From German words Schinden which means to flay, to skin | Mild |
Türaürask | Bugger | C*ckbeetle | Medium |
Kurat | Sh*t | Estonian word for devil | Medium |
Raisk | F*ck | A waste | High |
Sitapea | Sh*thead | High | |
Tõbras | F*cker | Used to refer to an honourless person, an outdated meaning for animal | Medium |
Türapea | D*ckhead | High | |
Saatanas | Oh damn | A milder form of saatan | Mild |
Türa | F*ck | D*ck | High |
Vittu, Putsi | F*ck | Into c*nt | High |
Lits | Sl*t | High | |
Nahhui | F*ck | Estonian version of Russian word nahui | High |
Sitanikerdis | A piece of sh*t | A carving of shit | Mild |
Sitanikerdis
Is used to refer to something that has been very badly constructed, built, or put together. Example: See auto on täielik sitanikerdis – This car is a total piece of sh*t.
Calling someone stupid
In Estonian, the tone you use to say something matters a lot. Thus, the meaning of the curse word can have a very different feeling behind it depending on whether you say it playfully or seriously and angrily. In this list the first two, jobu and idioot, are the strongest sounding, so don’t use them too lightly.
Jobu – moron; idioot – idiot: these are the most common ways to call someone stupid.
Tainapea – dough head; tainas – dough; puupea – wooden head; jahupea – flour head
Sitaratas – shit wheel; sitavares – shit crow. Used to describe someone who is inept or lacks skill and competence.
Tumba – a type of seat that doesn’t have a backrest; tumbajumba – same as the previous word but jumba doesn’t mean anything on its own.
Turakas – from the Russian word durak (дурак)
Idu – sprout
Cursed verbs
If you know how to conjugate in Estonian, then you don’t need an explanation of how the verbs work. Almost all of these are harsh, so be cautious of using them.
Estonian | English | Literal meaning | Vulgarity level |
Nussima | To f*ck, to f*ck with someone’s mind | This is a native Estonian word and is an Estonian equivalent of the Finnish word nussia | High |
Keppima | To f*ck | To stick (by stick is meant a wooden stick) | High |
Panema | To f*ck | To put | mild |
Nikkuma | To f*ck | This verb comes from Low-German word Nicken, which means to move up and down | High |
Multi-word phrases
Estonian | English | Literal meaning | Vulgarity level |
Ära nussi minuga | Don’t f*ck with me | High | |
Mind ei koti | I don’t care | It doesn’t bag me | Mild |
Kurat seda teab | Who the hell knows | Devil knows it | Medium |
Kuradi kurat | F*cking hell | Devil of the devil | Medium |
Ime munni | Suck a c*ck | High | |
Kuradi türaimeja | F*cking c*cksucker | Devil’s c*cksucker | High |
Kuradi hoorapoeg | F*cking son of a b*tch | Devil’s son of a b*tch | Medium |
Peksa pihku | Wank off | Medium | |
Mida põrgut | What the hell | Mild | |
Mida kuradit | What the hell | What the devil | Mild |
Mida vittu | WTF | What the c*nt | High |
Kuradi pärast | For f*ck’s sake | Because of the devil | Medium |
If you don’t live in Estonia but would still like to hear kuidas ropendada (how to curse) in Estonian, you can watch these stop-motion animated shorts called Vanamehe multikas (“Old man’s cartoon”). Most of the videos have English subtitles and the character Vanamees curses like many older Estonian men do, with kurat and raisk in almost every sentence.
There’s also a movie called Vanemehe film (“The Old Man’s Movie”) that you can watch on this website.
A Word of Caution
When learning foreign languages, learners usually don’t understand and feel the deeper implications of curse words. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to what kinds of words you’re using and if they’re actually appropriate to use in this specific situation.
It’s also important to pay attention to how native speakers use these words and learn from them. Over time, as you continue learning, you’ll start to understand the deeper meanings behind them.
Some of the milder curse words from this article can also be found in our Estonian language course. Sign up on the web or download the app on your iOS or Android device to enjoy a free trial.
