How To Say Curse in Spanish

Today, an American friend here in Medellin, Colombia made a mistake in Spanish that I have never heard before. But I can understand why he made the mistake so I want to share this with you so that you never make the same mistake. Besides learning how to avoid a mistake when speaking Spanish, you will also learn

1. How To Say Curse in Spanish
2. How To Say Damn in Spanish

Earlier today my friend Fred (not his real name) was showing a Colombian friend’s son a YouTube video on his smartphone of two American “muchachos” (teenage boys)
fighting.

While they were fighting one of the American boys shouted the four-letter word in English. That’s when Fred attempted to tell our Colombian friend’s son “don’t ever say that word — it is a curse (word).”

Tell me if you can spot the error in the phrase that Fred said:

Nunca digas esa palabra.
Es una maldición.

Fred was correct when he translated “never say that word” as “nunca digas esa palabra.” But he committed a serious blunder when he tried to translate “it is a curse (word)” as “es una maldición.”

Yes, “maldición” does mean curse. But “maldición” means curse as in a hex or evil spell.

If you want to say the Spanish word for curse as in a curse word, then you must use “grosería.”

So Fred should have said,

Nunca digas esa palabra. Es una grosería.
(Never say that word. It is a curse word.)

Unless, of course, Fred was trying to tell the Colombian kid an evil spell would be cast upon him for saying the four-letter English curse word.

By the way, if you follow my advice and you watch your favorite English-speaking movies dubbed over in the Spanish language in order to improve your Spanish, you will frequently hear the word ¡Maldición!

How To Say Damn In Spanish

In this case ¡Maldición! means “Damn!” or “Damn it!” For example, ¡Maldición! Otra vez me ha robado el carro. (Damn!/Damn it! My car was stolen again.)

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