How to say “blow” in 31 languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
It is commonest in Catalan, where cop is the 201st most used word.
- Arabic ضربة a blow, a stroke, a hit #866
- Armenian բախ stroke, blow #1,641
- Bengali আঘাত blow, strike, hit #302
- Bulgarian удар hit, blow, clout, stroke, punch #850
- Catalan cop hit, blow, strike #201
- Chinese 爆炸 to explode; to blow up #401
- Danish sprænge to blow up, to cause to explode #2,373
- Dutch slag a blow, knock, strike #1,066
- English hit To administer a blow to, directly or with a… #399
- Esperanto blovas to blow #2,400
- Georgian უბერავს to puff, to blow #1,536
- Greek χτύπημα rap, blow, knock #1,475
- Hebrew פגיעה a blow, a strike, a hit #1,638
- Hindi लात kick, blow given from the foot #1,176
- Icelandic högg hit, stroke, blow #1,361
- Italian colpo blow, knock, shock #836
- Korean 충격 A blow or impact, especially from an object… #1,811
- Macedonian удар hit, blow, strike, kick, punch, cuff #648
- Norwegian blåser to blow #1,168
- Persian ضربه stroke, blow, strike #510
- Portuguese golpe #2,120
- Romanian lovitură a hit, blow, kick #1,336
- Russian удар hit, blow, strike, kick, punch, cuff #1,292
- Spanish golpe hit, blow, strike #1,251
- Tagalog suntok punch; box; blow with a fist #1,198
- Tamil ஊது to blow #1,219
- Telugu కొట్టు a blow, a stroke, a strike #582
- Turkish darbe blow, strike #2,106
- Ukrainian удар blow, hit, strike, stroke #1,037
- Urdu چوٹ hit; blow; attack #459
- Vietnamese thổi to blow #1,319
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.