¡coño!

What it means

1. 1.

   Damn! Bloody hell! The general-purpose Cuban exclamation, for surprise, pain, delight, exasperation and emphasis alike. Its frequency in ordinary Cuban speech is far higher than the literal translation suggests.

2. 2.

   As an intensifier inside a sentence: ¿qué coño pasó? — what the hell happened?

3. 3.

   The clipped euphemism ño is used by people who are trying not to swear, including in front of children, and is heard constantly.

Examples with translations

• ¡Coño, se fue la corriente otra vez!

  Bloody hell, the power's gone again!

• ¡Ño, asere, qué calor!

  God, mate, it's hot!

  Note: The softened form. It is the one to use if you are a visitor and unsure.

Where it comes from

Literally the vulva, from Latin cunnus — the same root as the English c-word. The literal sense has been almost entirely bleached out of the interjection for Cuban, Spanish and Venezuelan speakers, which is why it is used in front of grandparents. It has not been bleached out for Mexican or Colombian ears, and it lands much harder there.

Other forms

Spellings and variants:

ño, coñó