On the Important Matter of Prostitutes
As the heart of Catholicism, Italy can sometimes exhibit strong feelings in regard to female virtue. On the one hand, there is the ideal, virginal Madonna, and on the other hand is the lustful prostitute. The conflict between the two ideas can create some interesting dynamics in Italian sexual relations.
The Italian word for whore or prostitute is puttana [poo-TAH-nah]. Figlio di puttana [FEE-yoh dee poo-TAH-nah] is like the English son of a bitch, though it literally means son of a whore. You should note, however, that when this phrase is used in Italian, it is usually meant literally (i.e. is always an insult).
While puttana is the proper word for whore, Italian also has a number of slang words that can be used to convey the same meaning:
Troia [TROY-ah]
lit. female pig or the ancient city of Troy
Vacca [VAH-cah]
lit. female cow
Mignotta [mee-NYOH-tah]
Prostitute (from Roman dialect)
All four of these words can be used with the word porca in front of it (e.g. porca puttana, porca vacca, etc.) and this phrase will generally mean Holy shit or God damn it! To tone it down, use porca miseria, which doesn’t translate very well (pig misery), but will generally mean something like Darn it.
