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Home/The English-Speaking World/Papua New Guinea
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#12The English-Speaking World

Papua New Guinea

PatternTok Pisin (English-derived pidgin) + sorcery accusation danger
Tone DependenceMedium

Swearing Culture

Tok Pisin (PNG's pidgin English) creates profanity from simplified English roots with Pacific cultural values — the result sounds familiar to English speakers but operates under completely different social rules. "Bagarap" (from "bugger up") is the most common exclamation. PNG's 800+ languages mean profanity diversity is essentially infinite, but Tok Pisin provides a common register. Sorcery accusations ("sanguma") are the most dangerous words in PNG — genuinely life-threatening.

10 Phrases from Papua New Guinea

🔥#1 National Classic

Bagarap!

/bɑɡɑɾɑp/
Literal: Fucked up! (from "bugger up")
Feels like: The most common Tok Pisin exclamation — English-derived but with Pacific pronunciation and usage
CurrentAdult/Universal⚠️⚠️ Moderate
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💀#2 Nuclear Option

Mama bilong yu!

/mɑmɑ biloŋ ju/
Literal: Your mother!
Feels like: Tok Pisin maternal attack — "bilong" (belong/of) is Tok Pisin's possessive marker
CurrentAdult/Street⚠️⚠️⚠️ Severe
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😂#3 Creative Genius

Yu longlong

/ju loŋloŋ/
Literal: You're crazy-crazy
Feels like: Reduplication for emphasis — "longlong" (crazy-crazy) is more intense than single "long"
CurrentAdult⚠️⚠️ Moderate
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👨‍👩‍👦#4 Family Attack

Mama bilong yu

/mɑmɑ biloŋ ju/
Literal: Your mother
Feels like: Tok Pisin "your mother"
CurrentAdult/Street⚠️⚠️⚠️ Severe
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🧠#5 Intelligence Insult

Stupid

/stuːpɪd/
Literal: Stupid
Feels like: Direct English borrowing — Tok Pisin uses English wholesale when the word works
CurrentAdult/Universal⚠️⚠️ Moderate
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🐷#6 Appearance Attack

Yu nogut

/ju noɡut/
Literal: You're no good
Feels like: "You no good" — Tok Pisin's way of saying you're unacceptable in every dimension
CurrentAdult⚠️⚠️ Moderate
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🚫#7 Get Lost

Go!

/ɡo/
Literal: Go!
Feels like: The simplest possible dismissal — English in its most reduced form
CurrentAdult⚠️⚠️ Moderate
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😤#8 Exclamation

Sori tumas!

/sɔri tumɑs/
Literal: Sorry too much!
Feels like: Expressing regret or exasperation — "tumas" (too much) intensifies the emotion
CurrentAdult/Universal✅ Low
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🎭#9 Cultural Special

Sanguma

/sɑŋɡumɑ/
Literal: Sorcerer/witch
Feels like: In PNG, accusing someone of being a sorcerer/witch (sanguma) is the gravest accusation possible — it can lead to serious escalation and death. This is not casual profanity; it's a potentially lethal accusation
CurrentAdult🔴 Extreme
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🤝#10 Friendly Fire

Wantok!

/wɑntɔk/
Literal: Same-language speaker/bro
Feels like: "One-talk" = person who speaks the same language = brother. In a country with 800+ languages, sharing a language creates automatic kinship
CurrentAdult/Peers✅ Low
Permalink

Friendly Fire Warning

"Sanguma" (sorcery accusation) is NOT profanity — it's a potentially fatal accusation that has resulted in real-world violence and deaths in PNG. Never use this word casually. It exists in a completely different danger category than any other word in this book.

Cultural Notes

  • PNG's 800+ languages mean Tok Pisin profanity is just the common layer — each linguistic community has its own profanity tradition that may be more intense
  • Sorcery accusations remain genuinely dangerous in PNG — this is not historical trivia but current reality
  • Tok Pisin's English-derived vocabulary means English speakers can understand the words but not the cultural weight they carry
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