Have some fucking principle.

[Alemanita]

We have gotten used to hearing "verdammt" in dubbed movies, because they need to fill the word, not because it really is idiomatic.

 

[JClaudeK]

22caps original problem with translating "Have some fucking principle." seemed to be with the ‘some’, prompting my first stab with ‘bisschen’ for ‘some’,

Once more

ein Minimum an .......

is what I'd use here fore "some".

 

[marquess]

@marquess is not the OP; @22caps is.


It would be very helpful if @22caps explained the background/context and/or what he means, but without that information, here's how I understand the sentence:

You are not a principled person. You have no principles that you abide by. You should have some principles/principle / you should be a principled person.
(expressed very strongly, of course)


It's both! The operative word is "too." Yes, in many cases it's semantically bleached and is not very strong at all; in other cases it is a strong expletive. In this case, it's most likely the latter (but we can be more sure with more context, etc.).

When I said 'In English...its pretty much the strongest possible' I should have said my (UK) English, as I can't speak for Americans. Where I come from I can only think of one other word I would be more averse to employing in polite society, amongst my elders, or in front of children. Of course there are some people who are not so careful, but I don't know what they could rank as stronger than these two.

 

[bearded]

"Have some fucking principle."

I know it's far from being literal, but I would say:
Mensch, hast du denn keine Moral?
( possibly adding for emphasis ''verdammt noch mal'' ).

 

[Hutschi]

Mensch, hast du denn keine Moral?

In German you can emphasize it even more using particles:
Mensch, hast du denn gar keine Moral?


"Mensch" - I like this in this context. It is very idiomatic.