What does “يا ابن الكلب” mean in English?
This is a strong personal insult that translates to 'you son of a dog.' It implies a serious offense, particularly regarding someone's parentage.
Literally “you son of a dog”
It's used as a direct insult, similar to calling someone a 'son of a bitch' in English. The severity can vary by dialect, but it's generally considered quite offensive.
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Related Arabic words
يا خنزير
3/5 · Vulgarya khinzir
This is a strong personal insult that translates to 'you pig.' It's used to demean someone, often implying they are dirty or immoral.
كل خرا
4/5 · Strongkul khara
It’s a strong way to tell someone to fuck off, dismissing them completely. Literally, it translates to 'eat shit.'
يا ابن الحرام
3/5 · Vulgarya ibn al-haram
This is an insult that translates to 'son of the forbidden,' similar to calling someone a bastard. It implies a negative judgment about the person's parentage.
يا جحش
3/5 · Vulgarya jahsh
This is an insult aimed at someone perceived as foolish or badly behaved, likening them to a young donkey. It's a way to call someone an idiot or a jerk.
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About this data
Swear Atlas is a source-attested, AI-curated reference — not a native-speaker-certified dictionary. Meanings and the 1–5 Burn Rating are approximate editorial assessments that vary with context, region, tone and speaker. Inclusion of a word does not constitute endorsement of its use.
The literal gloss is a short editorial translation to show word-for-word sense, not an etymological claim.
“Sounds like” is an English-friendly approximation of how the word sounds, not an authoritative pronunciation. Where shown, the romanisation is a conventional Latin-script transliteration of the original spelling.
Term attested via 4troDev/profanity.csv (MIT). Editorial content © Swear Atlas.