So perhaps you got fed up with society and chose to go into hibernation mode. Life’s good, eh? But what happens when you choose to show your face in public again?

Here are a few things you would hear once you get out of that rock you’ve been living under…or when Tawjihi’s finally over 🙂

وين الغيبة؟

wain el3haibeh?

Where have you been (all this while)?!

The word ” غيبة” on its own means “absence.”

وينك غاطة؟

wainak 3haaTha?

Where have you been (all this while)?!

بعد زمان

ba3ad zamaaan

“Long time no see” (Syrian)

زمان عنك

zamaaan 3anak

“Long time no see” (Jordanian/Palestine)

زمان ما شفتك

zamaan ma shuftak

“Long time no see” (the literal way)

**Remember: You gotta stretch that zamaaaaann when you say it

وين مختفي \ مختفية

wain mukhtafii/muktafiyeh

Where have you been hiding?

بعد زمان هلقمر مابان

ba3ad zamaan hal3amar maaban

after a long time, this moon didn’t show up

Didn’t we just see each other a week ago?

 

Not forgetting that these phrases also go hand in hand with…

مشتاقتلك

meshtaaqtellak

I Miss You

EXTRA

Want to know what’s the Arabic equivalent of “living under a rock”?

Lebanese dialect:

She’s living under a rock = She’s living among the lettuce leaves

عايشة بالخسة

3ayshe bel khasse

 

Syrian dialect:

He’s living under a rock = Nobody knows where God has placed him

ما عرفان الله وين حاطو

maa 3arfan Allah wain HaTo

 

These expressions are used to describe someone who’s being oblivious or ignorant of what happening around him/her.

That’s it folks!

Take care and I’ll see ya in the hosh,

Lyn