How to say “boss” in 37 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 Afrikaans, where baas is the 278th most used word.
- Afrikaans baas #278
- Arabic رئيس boss, chief, leader #309
- Bengali বস #288
- Bosnian šef chief, boss, manager, director, head #771
- Bulgarian шеф male boss, male leader, male chief, male… #1,127
- Catalan patró boss, owner #2,121
- Chinese 上司 boss; superior #1,335
- Croatian šef chief, boss, manager, director, head #787
- Czech šéfe boss, chief #784
- Danish chef A boss; person in charge, person who directly… #545
- Dutch baas boss, chief, superior #495
- Esperanto mastro #621
- Finnish pomo #872
- French patron a boss, employer #732
- Galician xefe #335
- German boss #831
- Greek αφέντη master, boss #1,890
- Hebrew מנהל #706
- Hungarian főnök chief, boss #431
- Icelandic stjóri boss, executive #2,108
- Italian capo boss, chief, leader #338
- Korean 보스 #661
- Latvian priekšnieks #1,991
- Lithuanian viršininkas head, chief, boss #1,170
- Macedonian шеф #686
- Malayalam ബോസ്സ് #428
- Norwegian sjefen chief, boss, head #744
- Persian ارباب #738
- Polish szefie #933
- Portuguese patrão master, boss #1,829
- Russian босс #940
- Serbian šef chief, boss, manager, director, head #787
- Swedish chefen A boss, manager; person in charge, person who… #735
- Telugu యజమాని master, lord, boss #612
- Turkish patron #672
- Ukrainian шеф chief, head, boss #1,606
- Vietnamese chủ boss; head; manager; master #377
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.