Insulting is an art. Although it may seem an easy task, not everyone has the ability to do it with style and elegance.
So, if you want to go beyond mariners de merda, we propose a list of insults in Catalan that you have to know to win in your next picabaralla.
We know that some insults sound old, yes, but is there anything better than seeing your friend’s (or enemy’s) face when you yelltros de quòniam?
This is our little alphabet to be a bon català emprenyat:
Aixafaguitarres: It’s that friend who screws up absolutely everything, a lifelong cortollos. You better not have one around if you want to have a good time at a party (or wherever).
Babau: Some of you probably remember the children’s song Gripau blau babau. A babau is a person with no malice, to whom everything seems fine, he doesn’t complain about anything and everyone does what he wants with him. It’s a bit pitiful to be honest.
Baliga-balaga: This is the typical one who doesn’t know how to get serious when it’s time, maybe it’s fun to have him or her around sometimes to have a good laugh, but in a serious moment, stay away from him or her.
Brètol: Perfect for shouting on the AP-7 to a car with Andorran license plates that is passing you on the right. He’s a scoundrel, an asshole, an asshole, come on.
Carallot: Remember Ralph, from the Simpsons? Well, he is a bit of a carallot. It would come to be the typical empanado, slow and who does not know about things.
Cap de suro: Shout it out to someone who is very stupid, who does everything wrong and doesn’t seem to be able to do anything else. We love its literal translation: “cork head” or bobble head.
Capsigrany: A capsigrany would be a person of few lights, a little silly. If after explaining something to someone forty times, he still does it wrong, call him a capsigrany and stay that way.
Curt de gambals: It has a similar meaning to capsigrany, but it would be rather short, which does not give more.
Dropo: This is a slacker, a professional scrounger, who doesn’t even like to make an egg. He usually sits with his cell phone on the couch when you are picking up the rural house where you have spent the weekend with your colleagues. And yes, indeed, he hasn’t cleaned a single dish, don’t expect him to, it’s against his nature.
Estaquirot: Unlike a dropo, this one surely has good intentions and wants to help. The problem? It’s a bit of a nuisance and ends up being more annoying than helpful.
Figaflor: It is used to say that a person is weak, does not have much character and does not know how to face the adversities of life.
Galifardeu: A cocky or overbearing person, these people are bad from the start. Nobody has asked them for anything and they are already looking down on you.
Llepaculs: A ball as big as a cathedral. El Señor Pelota. Its literal translation is ass-kisser.
Llepafils: Typical tquisiquis who can’t be taken off the children’s menu. We have no proof, but neither doubts, that it is team tortilla without onion.
Malparit: A classic. One of the most versatile insults, it literally means mal parido or mal nacido, and is used whenever you want to shout something at someone. Are you being overtaken from the left? Malparit. Do they put you in bureaucratic hurdles at the SEPE? Malparits. Do they steal your cell phone? Malparit.
Mitja merda: This translates as half a shit, which is nothing, just a coward, useless, lazy. If you get into a fight with a mitja merda you have the odds of winning, he’s probably five feet tall and less intimidating than a crocheting grandmother.
Pallús: The appropriate word is cortito. Or what is the same, that the neurons take too long to process.
Panxacontenta: A carefree person, to the point that he doesn’t care about anything. He is always happy and is not stressed by doing nothing. Sometimes, a panxacontenta makes our day with his good mood, but sometimes he ends up making us nervous with his vital unconcern.
Poca-solta: A lifelong scoundrel. Surely you have more than one in your close circle. Or… Is it you?
Pocatraça: Not clumsy, very clumsy. A real handyman, he flunked plastics because he couldn’t cut and you’d better not let him even pick up a plate. Deep down, we are all a little bit pocatraces.
Sòmines: If you have one around, you’re bound to get nervous. A sòmines is someone very slow, without any mental agility. Sometimes you don’t understand how someone can take so long to process something so simple.
Tanoca: Someone who is short-sighted, who has no malice, who thinks everything is fine and who lets himself be carried away by others.
Torracollons: The ball-buster on duty. A fucking stick when you touch one close to you.
Tòtil: The Catalan equivalent of “you’re a cousin” or “we’re cousins”. For example, if you lose playing soccer with 12-year-olds, maybe you’re a little tòtil.
Trinxeraire: We’ve all been one at some point in our lives, especially as teenagers, when we spent long hours on the streets with no direction or goals. It means to go aimlessly through life and even if we look like functional adults, we are a bit lost.
Tros de quòniam: It’s a slightly more elegant way of saying pesao. The perfect word to insult a friend who won ‘t stoppestering you.
Bocamoll: That loud-mouthed and chatty person who can’t be asked to keep a secret, because he/she will tell it right away, I’m sure someone has already come to your mind.
Escnyapobres: Literal “ahogapobres”. Greedy or stingy person, who doesn’t want to spend money on anything. Prohibited (or not) jokes with Catalans here.
Pixapins: We all know it: it is the derogatory term used in Catalonia to refer to people who live in the city, especially in Barcelona, and who usually take advantage of holidays or weekends to go hiking in the countryside. It literally means “mea pinos”, and is used to describe those who, despite living in urban environments, seek to escape to nature in their free time.