Translation
shit (vulgar); worthless rubbish (vulgar)
Word origin
Straight from Latin merda, still alive as French merde, Italian merda and Spanish mierda. Behind Latin lies an old root meaning 'to stink', which also gave Lithuanian smirdeti and the Slavic words for stench.
- Origin
- Latin
- Root
- merda
Examples
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The word merdo is coarse, and people do not use it in front of children.
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In the dictionary merdo stands next to other coarse words.
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A student needs to know the word merdo, but does not need to say it.
The register is the meaning here, so we mark it plainly: is vulgar, in the way its French cousin is vulgar. It is the coarse word, not the clinical one. If you want the neutral term, feko is the word a doctor writes, and sterko is what a farmer spreads on the field.
Learners meet it early whether anyone teaches it or not, because it is everywhere in informal speech, in exasperated one-word reactions and in the throwaway sense of 'rubbish' applied to a film or a bit of work. A dictionary that leaves it out is not being polite, it is being useless. That does not make it neutral: it is not a word for a meeting, a letter, or a room with strangers in it, and Esperanto gatherings are full of people whose first language attaches a much sharper sting to it than yours might.
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merdo: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "merdo" (shit (vulgar); worthless rubbish (vulgar)): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 35.