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72 comments to "10 Insulting Words You Should Know"
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World's Most Beautiful Girl
May 3rd, 2008 at
12:56 am
The terms may be boring - but that artwork ROCK!
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fz
May 3rd, 2008 at
2:03 am
Great post, bookmarked for further reference
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Divine
May 3rd, 2008 at
2:25 am
I sense that I am going to see a lot of weird words in forums from now on. Anyway, I know where to check the meanings and use a lot of different insult back at them! Good post.
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Edu
May 3rd, 2008 at
4:01 am
At the risk of bragging…isn’t it written caGafuego?
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Robert Seddon
May 3rd, 2008 at
5:59 am
You’re going out on a bit of a limb with miserere; it appears to have been in full ‘miserere mei’ (loosely, ‘pity me’) that referred to ileus, and the OED marks the sense obs. (with a religious sense still current). Saying ‘have pity’ in Latin isn’t very promising as an insult.
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Jo-Ann Burton
May 3rd, 2008 at
7:14 am
I love the new artwork on some of the posts. Who is the artist. Give them two high fives from me.
The blog just keeps getting better and better and in My Humble Opinion it’s the best blog around. Great work guys.
Jo-Ann
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HeartlessMachine
May 3rd, 2008 at
7:22 am
Edu- Cagafuego = fireshitter.
Cacafuego = shitfire.I personally loved this sentence: “The English language is chockful of colorful words meaning stupid person, such as: DUMMKOPF”
In all, a fantastic article. Thanks, Neatorama!
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CheeseDuck
May 3rd, 2008 at
7:24 am
The next time I get in an argument I will use these words.
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PeteRepeat
May 3rd, 2008 at
7:26 am
Great article! Now all I need to do is memorize some of these words and integrate them into my vocabulary.
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Grace
May 3rd, 2008 at
7:43 am
Well, that’s it for me & Neatorama. Ta.
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Jerse
May 3rd, 2008 at
9:57 am
Three letters work better, like:
Meh
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badgirl
May 3rd, 2008 at
9:59 am
Once resided in Buncombe county and yes, it is pile a shit
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bean
May 3rd, 2008 at
11:59 am
I’m sure that Canadian musician named Feist would appreciate this. Also, I have a massive book simply titled The Big Book of Insults, that is nothing but turn of the century American put-downs. They’re not very funny out of context. I will be using many, many of these though.
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Thomas
May 3rd, 2008 at
2:25 pm
Grace is leaving because of an article about words? I don’t get it.
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ted
May 3rd, 2008 at
3:57 pm
I think Grace’s last name is Cacafuego. She just googled herself and got a shock.
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kevin
May 4th, 2008 at
3:06 am
To see the insult “FAIL” in action, check out this video. There’s a part two. http://youtube.com/watch?v=Q5D7aZpzn8Q
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Divine
May 4th, 2008 at
3:17 am
@ted: lol, it’s funny just to think about it.
Hi, I’m Grace “shit fire”, nice to meet you.
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Shaggy
May 4th, 2008 at
11:24 am
Actually using any of these words to insult some douche would cause the douchery to instantly revert back on you.
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Gadgets
May 4th, 2008 at
11:42 am
it’s funny but I love the artwork!! haha
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AmZ
May 4th, 2008 at
1:49 pm
Highly excellent. I much approve.
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avraamov
May 4th, 2008 at
4:02 pm
they left out:
diamerdis
n. a man who is covered in feceswhich is my surname. actually.
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Jerse
May 4th, 2008 at
9:02 pm
I just saw this page on the front page of del.icio.us
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Leitermann
May 4th, 2008 at
10:23 pm
Scatophagus - scato- (poop), -phagus (eat-er, or -ing)
ex.
You, sir, are a scatophagus.
(or)
Why you lookin’ at me with that scatophagus grin on yer face? -
Taurusus
May 5th, 2008 at
5:25 am
‘Dummkopf’ is actually German, not English, literally ‘Dumb head’. I didn’t bother reading through the comments to see if anyone already pointed this out.
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Alex Baldwin
May 5th, 2008 at
4:18 pm
One time I called my girlfriend a trick. Were not together anymore.
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spelling police
May 5th, 2008 at
4:55 pm
Frenchification…compLeted, not competed
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irspariah
May 5th, 2008 at
5:12 pm
Since most of the intended targets of these missives will not understand, or care to, what in hell is the point?
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More Spelling Police
May 5th, 2008 at
5:17 pm
I’m speaking for BuncomBe!
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Dan
May 5th, 2008 at
5:24 pm
“Well, it’s hard to teach wit - but all of us can learn the next best thing: the approximation of it by obfuscation, i.e. using big, difficult, and obscure words.”
Maybe encourage people to read books to improve their vocabulary rather than add to the legion of dorks using words they’ve memorised but don’t properly understand? Just a thought.
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nel
May 5th, 2008 at
5:24 pm
as a french i love the frenchify insult (to contract a venerial disease!!) but i have to warn you: corpulent is a french word, you are going to frenchify yourself if you say it.
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Jill
May 5th, 2008 at
5:43 pm
I couldn’t help but notice how appropriate #2 is… as in #2…brilliant!
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Alex
May 5th, 2008 at
6:03 pm
@Jill - Neatorama readers are so smart! I’d never thought anyone would notice

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Johannes Vindenburg
May 5th, 2008 at
6:15 pm
You can’t be insulted by a word you don’t understand.
Only if everyone knew these words could they be insults.
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No Fan Of Hillary
May 5th, 2008 at
6:15 pm
What about the one word insult of being called a “Clinton”? For an ignorant, imbecilic, inbred purveyor of false tales (especially about snipers and nuking Iran).
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Alex
May 5th, 2008 at
6:46 pm
@Johannes Vindenburg: “You can’t be insulted by a word you don’t understand.”
Oh, no sir, I believe you’re mistaken. That’s the beauty of using these types of words to insult: the persons you just insulted may not know the exact meaning of the word, but they have a feeling that they’ve just been insulted.
Most of them don’t ask what the word means, because nobody likes feeling like a witling.

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Rik
May 5th, 2008 at
8:23 pm
You missed out on the best insult I’ve ever dished out.
Necropedaphilliac - someone who has sex with dead children.
Thats the sickest thing I’ve ever heard but also the best insult I’ve ever heard. I made it up about 19 years ago.
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lee lee
May 5th, 2008 at
9:30 pm
if you look up ”moron” in the Oxford English dictionary, it only shows one definition. salamander.
have a look see. -
Two Toe Joe
May 5th, 2008 at
11:22 pm
Hey Rik, add a ‘narco’ on the front of that. Then you randomly fall asleep while doing the ugly deed… Then maybe ‘bestial’ so its sex with dead young animals… We could go on and on… Narconecrobestialpedaphilliac.
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business
May 5th, 2008 at
11:22 pm
Amazing, I can insult people and sound smart at the same time. I will use this immediately and forward this to everyone I know.
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12 pack
May 5th, 2008 at
11:43 pm
Way to repost the highlights from “Depraved and Insulting English” guys. I bought this book eight years ago and apparently don’t have anything new to learn. I applaud your efforts to increase the vernacular of everyday Joes, but would’ve thought that I could have found something new.
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12 pack
May 5th, 2008 at
11:52 pm
also…@ nel: corpulent is latin in origination, not french–Online Etymology Dictionary
corpulent
from L. corpulentus “fleshy, fat,” from corpus “body” (see corporeal) + -ulentus “full of.”
please eat shit
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Jordan Lund
May 6th, 2008 at
12:39 am
Uxorious.
Best word I learned in 2 years of Latin. The professor kind of danced around it.
“It means, basically, that your wife makes all your decisions for you. But that doesn’t convey how insulting the word is in Latin. It’s really offensive. English doesn’t have an equivalent.”
I raised my hand. “You mean ‘pussy whipped’. Yes, I’m pretty sure every language has a word for that.”
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jay el
May 6th, 2008 at
3:49 am
“…cunt muscle…” - Ari Gold
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songboom
May 6th, 2008 at
4:34 am
That’s pretty funny! I’m bookmarking this..
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Goose
May 6th, 2008 at
4:53 am
We forget meritricous, meaning, hooker like. It sounds like it should mean that it brings merit to, but the root of the word is Latin, meritrix (spelling may be a tad out), which, logically, means prostitute.
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Alezunde
May 6th, 2008 at
5:19 am
Some amusing terms.
Interesting that ‘FAIL’ is a tired catchphrase, but replacing the word ’shit’ with ‘poo’ isn’t. -
RR
May 6th, 2008 at
6:01 am
Caga fuegos is spanisch
Dummkopf is German
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Linus
May 6th, 2008 at
7:00 am
I always though that Microsoft is a very bad name for a company (remember insult #3), and Bighard is nsfw

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website design
May 6th, 2008 at
7:53 am
Great idea.
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Frogette
May 6th, 2008 at
10:06 am
“We’re still not sure which is more insulting”: thanks for the refreshing piece of mindless bigotry. It’s mind blowing how hatred towards the French has become mainstream in US pop culture in just a few years (not that it was unheard of before, but no one would have said something like “French is bad hehehehe” without trying to explain at least a little). I’d be curious to know whether you actually met one French person once in your life and whether you can actually justify this level of unargumented scorn.
Now sorry,got to go, I’m awaited for my monthly bath. With my white flag.
I’m so tired of all this shit.
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Juan
May 6th, 2008 at
11:41 am
French penis smells of feces and vinegar. I should know; it’s been in my rectum.
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greg
May 6th, 2008 at
1:08 pm
How could you omit “feculent” from this list?
One of the most useful words in the English language and appropriate for describing most politicians.
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Caprecia
May 7th, 2008 at
4:52 am
Phonetic spellings would be helpful!
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Emmjay
May 8th, 2008 at
12:43 am
Perhaps the term “twerp” is useful.
A “twerp” is a person who inserts false teeth between the cheeks of their arse and bites the buttons off the upholstery of the back seats of taxi cabs.
When you realise how few taxi cabs have button upholstery, you can appreciate how many twerps there are out there.

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freckles
May 8th, 2008 at
10:57 pm
WOOHOO! WORDS! I wrote some on my hand to tick off my friends and coccydynias.

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HaPPi like a HiPPo
May 12th, 2008 at
4:05 am
This highly turdified article is pretty intriguing, more than just a pile of Buncombe! Did it make you a cacafuego yet? A well written illustrative article!
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Poison Pen
May 27th, 2008 at
12:38 pm
“Rodomontade” is a noun, meaning a story of such extreme boastfulness that it is highly unlikely to be true. It comes from Rodomonte, king of the Moors, from the Orlando Furioso, who at one point singlehandedly swims a river, knocks down huge wooden church doors with his bare hands, and singlehandedly slaughters hundreds of Christian knights in a terrible rage before making his escape.
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Jno. Aubrey, Esq.
June 19th, 2008 at
1:25 pm
I’m surprised that neither you, nor any of the other commentators, mentioned that Cacafuego is the name of the 34-gun Spanish xebec frigate (a kind of privateer, or privately owned fighting ship) that Lt. Jack Aubrey of HM Royal Navy captured in the 14 gun sloop of war HMS Sophie. This event, chronicled in fiction by Patrick O’Brian (1914 - 2000), appeared in _Master and Commander_, the first book of the series of 20 Aubrey-Maturin novels penned by O’Brian between 1970 and 1999.
You can find this book on Google books at http://snipurl.com/MasterAndCommander . It provides a wonderfully detailed view of both naval warfare and European public and private life in the year 1800.
O’Brian’s account of the capture of the Cacafuego, and indeed, of much of Aubrey’s career, is based on the real-life adventures of Lord Thomas Cochrane, whose 14-gun sloop of war HMS Speedy captured a the much larger xebec frigate El Gamo in 1801. Real-life parallels of Aubrey’s feats continue through the novels, providing the reader with painless history lessons covering everything from the British capture of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, to the defeat of HMS Java by USS Constitution off of Brazil, to the taking of USS Chesapeake by HMS Shannon in Nantasket Roads near Boston.
Aubrey’s amourous adventures also receive attention. We won’t soon forget Miss Amanda Smith, of Knocking House, Rutland, Nova Scotia, since “knocking house” is an English slang term for a bordello. Nor will we forget the lesson taught by Aubrey in the first novel: if you wish to advance quickly in the navy, keep your breeches buttoned, and do NOT shtup your commanding officer’s wife!
Peter Weir’s 2003 film, _Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World_, starring Russell Crowe as Aubrey, and Paul Bettany as Dr. Stephen Maturin, is not based directly on either of the books named in the movie’s two-part title. Instead, this film borrows selections from many of the 20 Aubrey-Maturin books to create a brand new story. Despite its re-invention, I believe Weir’s video is true to the spirit of O’Brien’s work, and Crowe’s portrayal of the hero of the novels is sound and sure.
So quick’s the word, and sharp is the action! To your stations, men, and fight — for God, King and Country! Hurrah!
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Zav
October 15th, 2008 at
3:58 pm
Under Corpulent:
“no one like a fatty”. You must mean, “no one likes a fatty”. That pesky plural again. Everything else looks legit. -
Slappy Jack
October 24th, 2008 at
2:01 am
Good premise, bad delivery. Really? We’re still vilifying the French? And lamely at that? Such promise, but little follow through.
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Wayne Smallman
October 30th, 2008 at
9:46 am
There is a lot to be said from the judicious use of pointed, and sometimes cryptic insults, which the English language happily accommodates for — you worthless shower of puerile, feculent blatherskites. I bid you good day!
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Chichikov
December 11th, 2008 at
5:52 pm
Frenchify made me think of some great Russian slang for syphillis: parizhskii nasmark, or Parisian headcold.
When I was studying Russian a fellow student came running up to me before class. The epitome of a slacker, never prepared, he was looking for an excuse for not having his oral presentation ready. He asked me if I knew the word for cold. I told him it was parizhskii nasmark. He went in to the prof and told him that’s what he had. The teacher laughed for a good ten minutes before telling the guy that if he had the clap, he ought to head over to the student clinic.
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Badger lord
December 24th, 2008 at
10:00 pm
Excellent, more words to add to my ever expanding vocabulary.
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Pat
January 3rd, 2009 at
10:10 am
Funny… In French, you’d call syphilis “la maladie anglaise” i.e the English disease, and homosexuality “le vice anglais”.
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mo abdi lordship
January 8th, 2009 at
4:08 pm
ow fucking days ,
itz pure pwangebrillant words.
loveeee it. -
mo abdi lordship
January 8th, 2009 at
4:09 pm
fucking brillant
need sex images
and words butal gr8
put naked girls
lol -
Japanese words
March 4th, 2009 at
1:47 am
I guess it is good to know as many words as possible, but most of these are probably unknown to most people.
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I think everyone's with me here.
April 15th, 2009 at
11:53 pm
Oh please. Try saying this to somebody. You know what they’ll say back?
First, they’ll laugh. Then, “Sorry. I don’t speak smartass.”
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lizardlips
April 17th, 2009 at
9:40 am
I had tears streaming before I finished the second paragraph! This is awesome! Even better than the Shakespearean Insult Kit (email list - went around last year). Much fun!
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Isabell
April 30th, 2009 at
8:39 pm
The meanings are HILARIOUS: otherwise known as HYSTERICAL, LAUGHABLE, ENJOYABLE. I used Cacafuego and corpulent in a story I’m working on. Thank you so much, I needed a good insult.
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Gerry Donnelly
May 11th, 2009 at
7:39 am
FICE
Sometimes on a Sunday at Mass
My Gran a soft fice would pass
Often more, in fact quite a medley
Maybe silent, but Lord they were deadly! -
Pedantic
June 27th, 2009 at
1:04 pm
Yeah but if someone says “sorry I don’t speak smarta**” simply say some thing along the lines of “oh sorry that’s right you’re just a dumba**”
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