exclamation, slang

[Guest]

Hello

Please, can someone tell me the use of slang words "crap!" and "holy crap!"?

What do these words mean when used alone?
(ex. agreement, disagreement, annoyment...?)

[Esenthiel]

A commonly used German word, for everything, including interjection... is "scheiße". It literally means "shit", but has an endless amount of uses.

[kamikakushi]

1 a - excrement, shit
b - dirt, rubbish
c - worthless nonsense, bullshit

In modern usage crap is generaly seen as a more moderate synonym for shit; in fact the word comes from Middle English "crappe", which meant scrapings, scale, residue or chaff; this in turn came from words existing in old French, German and Dutch, distantly related to "crop" and "crabbed". (The fact that the flush toilet was invented by Thomas Crapper appears to be pure coincidence.)

2 Oppressive, petty or unpleasant behaviour; by extension from crap 1a and 1b.
This idea is usally expressed in such phrases as : " he doesn't take any crap from anyone" or " she's not going to put up with this crap any more".

[Gilen]

In Basque language, we use the expression "kaka zaharra" (means "old shit" ). But we have a lot of other expression depending on the context. They can be really Basque, but we also have a lot of expressions coming from French and Spanish.

[Olivier]

What do these words mean when used alone?
(ex. agreement, disagreement, annoyment...?)

I would say reinforcement/surprise, cf. French "Bon sang!" / "Merde alors!"
-- Olivier

[Guest]

Thanks All.

Can I consider
- "Crap!" as a negative exclamation - the person is unpleased
- "Holy crap!" as a positive exclamation - the person is pleased
by the news?

[Pontus]

Thanks All.

Can I consider
- "Crap!" as a negative exclamation - the person is unpleased
- "Holy crap!" as a positive exclamation - the person is pleased
by the news?

Crap is negative yes, but holy crap, it's not just positive, is it? The person is surprised, stunned, by the news. I don't think there's any positive / negative feelings in that phrase.