A very fun part of building a wizarding world in the Harry Potter series is constructing sorcery slang. Here’s a look at a few of the cusswords that make an appearance in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone around the world:

German: Schluckende Wasserspeier! “Swallowing Water-Spitter.” Water-Spitter is what the Germans call a Gargoyle because, well, they spit water. But what happens when a water spitter swallows instead? A topsy turvy curse that rolls off the tongue!

Hindi: तूफान की आँख (Tufan ki ankh!) “Eye of the Storm!” This phrase is a double entendre—tufan is the Hindi word for Quaffle.

Norwegian: Men gryntende gomper! “Grunting Muggles!” Another nice use of a term specific to Harry Potter. Gomper is the Norwegian translation for Muggles.

Dutch: Alle slangen en serpenten op een stokkie! “Every snake and serpent on a stick!” This nice, long exclamation goes great when stubbing your toe. Or getting through your Skele-Gro.

Faroese: Trøll og tussar! “Trolls and giants!” Short and sweet. Alliterative t‘s. And pairing near-synonyms of magical creatures. This Faroese swear really hits the mark!

Hebrew: בשם השדים שבשמים (Bashem hash’dim sh’beshamayim!) “In the name of the spirits up in heaven!” Some nice repetition of sh‘s and m‘s and even b‘s in this one. Not quite a tongue-twister, but pretty poetic.