Words by

Catharine Fulton

Photo by

Alisa Kalyanova/The Reykjavík Grapevine

The Grapevine’s guide to sounding Icelandic, one word at a time

If you spend any time around a leikskóli, you’re bound to pick up a few fun words and phrases. Between the near constant disembodied declarations of “ég er buin!” echoing through the building, you’re likely to hear what is many a child’s first curse word. Kúkalabbi.

This glorious word breaks down into two parts: kúkur, meaning poop; and labbi, meaning walk. So you could surmise that a kid calling their classmate a kúkalabbi is calling them a “walking piece of shit,” but it’s not that sinister. A kúkalabbi is a generally unpleasant person. In kid-speak, it’s equivalent to calling someone a buttface.

If you want your insult to sound slightly less juvenile, lob a drullusokkur in your target’s direction and wait for the fireworks to fly.