# What on earth



## Dymn

_On earth_ (or _the hell, the fuck_) is used to put emphasis in an interrogative sentence. For example, _where on earth were you?_

Obviously in an informal, vulgar or nearly vulgar register.

How would you say it in your language?

In Catalan:
_coi_ (it comes from _cony_), _cony_ (pussy), _collons_ (balls, testicles in slang)

In Spanish:
_coño_ (pussy), _cojones_ (balls, testicles in slang)


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## ger4

_Where on earth were you? _- in German:
- neutral: _Wo um Himmels willen warst du denn?_ - [lit: _Where for heaven's sake were you then?_]
- nearly vulgar register:_ Wo zum Teufel warst du denn? - _[lit.:_ Where {to the devil/"for devil's sake"} were you then?_]
_- _more vulgar:_ Wo warst du denn, verdammt noch mal? - _[lit.:_ Where were you then, "damned again and again"?_]_
- _even more vulgar:_ Wo warst du denn, verflucht noch mal? - _[lit.:_ Where were you then, "cursed again and again"?_]
...


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## AutumnOwl

_*Swedish:*
Var i hela fridens namn var du? _- Where in the name of peace where you?
_Var i helvete var du?_ - Where in hell where you?
_Var fan var du?_ - Where devil vhere you?

As in German, Swedish uses the devil and his domain when swearing.


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## apmoy70

In Greek:


*«Πού στο καλό ήσουν;»* [pu sto kaˈlo ˈisun?] --> _where to goodness were you?_ (informal, most common)


*«Πού στο διάβολο ήσουν»* [pu sto ˈðʝavolo ˈisun?] --> _where to the devil were you?_ (informal, a bit more vulgar than the former)


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## origumi

Hebrew:

1. לעזאזל = _to hell_
2. לכל הרוחות = _to all the (four) corners of earth_ (E, W, S, N), or _to all the spirits_ (ghosts)


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## bazq

origumi said:


> Hebrew:
> 
> 1. לעזאזל = _to hell_
> 2. לכל הרוחות = _to all the (four) corners of earth_ (E, W, S, N), or _to all the spirits_ (ghosts)



and to add:
3. למען השם = lit. "for god" (similar to "for god's sake).


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## mataripis

Tagalog: NaSaang Lupalop ka ba?


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## bibax

Where _on earth_ were you?

Czech:

Kde jsi ..... byl?

*k sakru* = to the sacrum/sacrament (common, formerly profane);
*k čertu* = to the devil (ditto);
*do prdele * = into the arse (common, vulgar);
*do piči * = into the c*nt (vulgar, used e.g. by the ranks in the army);


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## SuperXW

Chinese (Mandarin and most dialects) rarely have similar vulgar terms or structures as "on earth/the hell/the fuck".
The most common and one-fits-all vulgar word in Mandarin Chinese is 他妈的, meaning "his mother's". So to translate "Where on earth were you", we can say:
你他妈的去哪儿了？ (You + his mother's + went where?) Vulgar.
你到底去哪儿了？ (You + to the bottom + went where?) 到底 “to the bottom” strengthens the mood, but is not vulgar.


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## luitzen

Dutch: Waar in godsnaam was je?

Where in God's name were you?


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## 123xyz

A less vulgar way to express "the hell" would be "по ѓаволите", literally meaning "after the devils" (meaning that the person one is speaking to is being sent to go after the devils, I suppose). However, it's often added at the end of the sentence rather than after the question word. In fact, in my personal opinion, adding it right after the question word sounds a bit unnatural, albeit less so with the question word "што" (what).

An example:
Каде беше до сега, по ѓаволите?/Каде по ѓаволите беше до сега? - Where the hell were you until now?

A more vulgar, colloquial expression, in turn, would be "кур", which literally means "dick" - this is always placed after the question word, but works best with "кој" (who, which), "што" (what), and "кај" (the colloquial form of "каде", meaning "where"). Using it with "коа" (the colloquial form of "кога") or "зашо" (the colloquial form of "зошто") sounds a bit awkward, in my personal opinion. Either way, it is certainly awkward to use "кур" with the literary forms of the question words. Overall, though, I'd say that "кур" is quite popular in this sense (among the youth).

Examples:
Што кур е ова? - What the fuck is this?
Кој кур си ти? - Who the fuck are you?

Moreover, the bare expression "кој кур" (lit. which dick) is very frequently encountered, basically meaning "what the fuck", in circumstances where one wishes to express simultaneous surprise and disapproval.

P.S. For curiosity, we have two other expressions with related meanings:

- да *pronoun* се плукнам (may I spit in *pronoun*) - used to express disapproval, and can be used in questions, e.g. "Where the hell has he disappeared?" > "Каде исчезна, да му се плукнам..." 
- да *pronoun *(mostly "му") се (с)невиди (may *pronoun *go blind) - likewise used to express disapproval, and can be used in questions, e.g. "Where the hell has he disappeared?" > "Каде исчезна, да му се (с)невиди..." 

However, these expressions can be used as general oaths akin to "Damn!" or "Fuck!", without question words. In those cases, the pronoun in the first expression generally agrees with the grammatical gender of the source of frustration, though "му" (dative of him/it) can be used without specific reference. For the second expression, "му" would be used without specific reference by default.


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## Encolpius

Using a lot of combination with adjectives and adverbs there might be about *20-50 ways in Hungarian*. 
Some are so extremely vulgar I wouldn't write them (your mother's genital or God's genital)
You can create any new "poetical" expression, it would work more or less in Hungarian 
Hol a fenében, francban, manóban, mennykűben, ördögben, csudában, bánatban, pokolban, túróban (cottage cheese), fészkes fenében...voltál? (not vulgar)


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## OneStroke

SuperXW said:


> Chinese (Mandarin and most dialects) rarely have similar vulgar terms or structures as "on earth/the hell/the fuck".
> The most common and one-fits-all vulgar word in Mandarin Chinese is 他妈的, meaning "his mother's". So to translate "Where on earth were you", we can say:
> 你他妈的去哪儿了？ (You + his mother's + went where?) Vulgar.
> 你到底去哪儿了？ (You + to the bottom + went where?) 到底 “to the bottom” strengthens the mood, but is not vulgar.



The structure is very common in Cantonese, though. The most common ones are 鬼 (ghost/devil), the swear 鳩 (not the proper character; discussed on Language Log here) and the swear lan2 (you can look up the character; it is another of Cantonese's five main swear words). There's also Q, which is a substitute for the swears.

你去左邊鬼道呀？　(Where the devil did you go?)
你去左邊Q道呀？　(Where the hell did you go?)
你去左邊(lan2)道呀？　(Where the f*** did you go?)

However, 鳩 is more restrictive:
*你去左邊(鳩)道呀？ (Where the f*** did you go?)
It is usually used in this context:
你望住我做乜(鳩)也呀？ (Why the f*** are you looking at me?)

Of course, it's not as ubiquitous as in English:
What the hell are you doing?
What the heck are you doing?
What the heavens are you doing?
What the devil are you doing?
What the dickens are you doing?
What the f*** are you doing?
What on earth is this?
What in God's name is this?
....
etc.


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## ThomasK

luitzen said:


> Dutch: Waar in godsnaam was je?
> 
> Where in God's name were you?


I also thought of : "Waar was je *toch*?" [_toch _is hard to translate here; normally is means something like 'yet', 'however', etc.]


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## ger4

A post on another thread reminded me of this slightly old-fashioned, very formal expression in German:
- _Wo in Gottes Namen bist du denn gewesen?_ [lit.: 'where in God's name have you been then?']


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## 810senior

*Japanese*, in the interrogative sentence:
一体_ittai_(the one) or 一体全体_ittaizentai_(the one and all)
Ittaizentai is put on emphasis more than the other but rarely used. (we usually use _ittai_)

Some examples:
*一体*どこで何をやってたの？(Where *on earth* were you doing?)
あなたは*一体*何がお望みなのですか？(What *on earth* do you hope?)
*一体*誰と話していたんですか？(Who *on earth* were you talking with?)


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## 810senior

Encolpius said:


> Using a lot of combination with adjectives and adverbs there might be about *20-50 ways in Hungarian*.
> Some are so extremely vulgar I wouldn't write them (your mother's genital or God's genital)
> You can create any new "poetical" expression, it would work more or less in Hungarian
> Hol a fenében, francban, manóban, mennykűben, ördögben, csudában, bánatban, pokolban, túróban (cottage cheese), fészkes fenében...voltál? (not vulgar)



I'm curious of that.
Can you tell me how they can be treated and used?


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## bibax

In Czech we can say also

Kde jsi *kurva * byl? (common, vulgar; kurva = whore, Hure)
Kde jsi *do frasa* byl? (less common, not vulgar)

_colloq._ *fras* < Hungarian *frász* < German Fraisen = (infantile) convulsions;

In Hungarian it would be "Hol *a frászban* voltál?"

You could hear the most vulgar Czech, Slovak and also Hungarian variants in the former Czechoslovak People's Army, mostly used by the rank and file. I guess the same situation was in Hungary as well. The ranks (common soldiers and NCO) are very "inventive" in this respect.


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## Encolpius

810senior said:


> I'm curious of that.
> Can you tell me how they can be treated and used?



examples -- Hol a fenében voltál? [hol where, a fenében "on earth", voltál you were] -->  Hol a ... voltál?


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## rebrafi

in Portuguese Onde diabos você se meteu?


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## Encolpius

Hello rebrafi, thank you and welcome to the forum, I hope we will see you here a lot...


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## 810senior

Encolpius said:


> examples -- Hol a fenében voltál? [hol where, a fenében "on earth", voltál you were] -->  Hol a ... voltál?



I should have written more at length about it.
What I would like to know is how to create new emphasis words and what rules are available between them...

Could you write them translated over in English?


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## Encolpius

yes, you combine the adjective (usually büdös smelly, kurva whore, kibaszott fucking, rohadt rotten but it also can be édes sweet) and intensive it all with the word jó good. You cannot of course combine anything with anything...
But here is a much nicer thread about the beauty of Hungarian language....


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## 810senior

Encolpius said:


> yes, you combine the adjective (usually büdös smelly, kurva whore, kibaszott fucking, rohadt rotten but it also can be édes sweet) and intensive it all with the word jó good. You cannot of course combine anything with anything...
> But here is a much nicer thread about the beauty of Hungarian language....



Thank you very much!


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## 涼宮

Diamant7 said:


> In Spanish:
> _coño_ (pussy), _cojones_ (balls, testicles in slang)



In Venezuelan Spanish, besides coño, we use other words:

¿Qué mierda(s)? (What shit)
¿Qué carajo(s)? (The DRAE doesn't know its origin)
¿Qué verga(s)? (What cock)
¿Qué leches? (What milks)


We use mierda, verga and carajo both in the singular and plural form. The meaning doesn't change. 

Surely the other varieties have other expressions.


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