And I decided to choose this song called “Wahde Bteshbahek” because of the simplicity of the lyrics. In this post, you can learn 13 simple verbs and an expression.

So..ch ch ch check it out!

13 VERBS

1. To make or to let something/someone be… (Verb Form II)

خلى – بيخلي

Eg:

ما تخليني ازعل منك

ma tkhaliinii az3al menak

Don’t make me upset with you

2. To look like/ to look similar to.. (Verb Form I)

شبه – بيشبه

Eg:

شكله يشبه واحد من رفقاتي

sheklo yeshbah waaHad men ref3aatii

He looks like one of my friends

3. To forget (Verb Form I)

نسي – بنسى

Eg:

نسيت اقولك انو في مشكلة مع بطارية اللابتوب

inseet a2ulak eno fii mushkila ma3 baTaariya el laptop

I forgot to tell you that there is a problem with the laptop’s battery

4. To stop/quit (Verb Form II)

بطّل – ببطّل

Eg:

كبرنا وبطلنا نصدق كلام الناس

kberna uu baTalna nSadeq kalaam elnass

We grew up and stopped believing others’ words

(I have written a post about the use of this verb. Check it out here)

5. To miss something/someone (Verb Form 8)

اشتاق – بشتاق

Eg:

عندما بشوف هالمسلسل بشتاق لأيام زمان

3indama bashuf hal musalsal bashtaq la eyam zamaan

When I watch this drama series, I (start to) miss the good old days

6. To return (Verb Form I)

رجِع – برجع

Eg:

رجعت من الدوام ولقيت باب البيت مفتوح

rje3et men el dawaam uu la2et bab el bayt maftuuH

I returned from work and found that the door of the house was opened

7. To see (Verb Form I)

شاف – بيشوف

Eg:

بكرا رح سافر ف رح بشوفكم بعد اسبوع

bukra raH saafer fa raH bashufkum ba3ad usbuu3

Tomorrow I will be travelling so I shall see you all after a week

*Syrians would say بشوفكن instead of بشوفكم

8. To kiss (Verb Form I)

باس – بيبوس

Eg:

هداك الصبح باستني امي ع راسي وقالت انها بتحبني

hadaak elsbuH baasatnii emmi 3a raasi uu 2allat enha betHebni

That morning my mom kissed me on the head and told me that she loves me

9. To smell (Verb Form I)

شم – بيشم

Eg:

لما طلعت من المستشفى شميت الهوا الطبيعي وانبسطت

lama Tle3et men elmushtasfaa shameit el hawa elThabee3i uu inbastet

When I got out of the hospital, I was happy to smell the fresh air

10. To return home (Verb Form II)

روّح – بيروّح

Eg:

اكلت بهدلة من امي لاني روحت عالبيت مبارح متأخر بالليل

akalit bahdale men ummi li anni rawaHet 3al bayt mbaareH metakhir bel layl

I got nagged at by my mom because I came back home late at night yesterday

11. To believe (Verb Form II)

صدّق – بيصدّق

Eg:

المشكلة انك بتصدق كل اللي بيقولولك ياه

elmushkileh enak betSadeq kul elli bii2ululak yah

The problem is that you believe everything that they say

12. To play an instrument (Verb Form I)

عزف – بيعزِف

Eg:

كان يعزِف الكمان وهو صغير

kan ye3zef el kamaan uu huwe zghiir

He used to play the violin when he was small

13. To sing (Verb Form II)

غنى – بيغني

Eg:

بكرة رح اغني هاي الأغنية بالمدرسة

bukra raH aghani hai elughniyeh bel madraseh

Tomorrow I will be singing this song in school

EXPRESSION

بالمرة

bel mara

It’s a phrase to show emphasis and be used in the same way as “completely, “totally”or “at all”.

Eg:

هي غير مسؤولة بالمرَّة

heyye ghair mas-uu-leh bel marra

She is completely irresponsible

Eg:

انا ما اشتقتلك بالمرة

ana ma ashtaqtillak bel marra

I don’t miss you at all

Eg:

ما في فرق بالمرة

maa fii fareq bel marra

There’s no difference at all

BONUS –   فيش/ فش

The word فيش acts as negation and is commonly used in Jordanian/Palestinian Arabic.

Let me give you an example.

To say “I don’t know”, you can always say “ما بعرف” (ma ba3ref/ba3raf)

But that won’t be the only way that you’ll hear people say “I don’t know”. You will typically hear two other variations.

The first one is:

ما بعرفش

ma ba3rafiish

( add فيش at the end of the verb)

The second one is:

بعرفش

ba3rafiish

(add فيش at the end of the verb and remove the ما)

Similarly, this trick works for the phrase “..ما في ” (There’s no…)

Eg:

ما في مصاري

maa fii maSaarii

There’s no money/ I don’t have money

It is possible to say these as well:

ما فش/فيش مصاري

maa fiish maSaarii

OR

فيش/فش مصاري

fiish maSaarii

~~~

That’s it! Take care and I’ll see ya in the hosh,

Lyn

The post Wahde Bteshbahek – Jadal | 13 verbs and an expression appeared first on theLevanTongue.

This post is especially interesting since I have taken a clip from a Syrian mini-drama series that is unlike any others. The series is an interactive drama series where you can choose which character to follow in the beginning.

I came across the series via an article published by the Middle East Eye. The whole series contains short clips under 5 minutes -which is great cause they are not that long. You can check out the article here 

Now, let’s get back to the clip…

!خلدون

Khaldoun!

!شو في شو في؟

What’s up?! What happened?

ما في شي كالعادة

Nothing, as usual

حدا شافك وانت جاي لهون؟

Did anybody saw you make your way here?

لأ اتطمن ضيعنا

No, relax (rest assured), they lost me

طيب…معك شي؟

Ok…do you have anything on you?

فتح تحقيق يا زلمة؟

You’re interrogating me?

• تحقيق means “investigation”; فتح تحقيق = open an investigation

آسف…غريندايزر تماما

Sorry, you’re a complete Grendizer (i.e a hero)

• The Grendizer is the main character of a Japanese anime television series and manga called the “UFO Robot Grendizer” which was popular amongst kids growing up in the Middle East. If someone calls you a Grendizer, that means you’re a hero/champion.

The Grendizer

Source

الشاي على النارعلى حظك لح صبلك شاي

The tea is boiling, lucky you, I will pour you a cup

• Some people in Syria use “لح” while others use “رح”. Both have the same meaning of “will” (future tense)

عظيم

Great

شوفلك شغلة تانية

Go find yourself a different job

خيرج صحافة شو بدك اشتغل؟

I’m a graduate of journalism. What do you want me to work as?

اشتغل جريدة ولا اشتغل شي تلفزيون؟

Shall I work at newspapers (companies) or at a TV channel?

• Adding شي to something is an easy way to express yourself when you don’t know the exact terms. Eg: “شي تلفزيون” can easily mean “things relating to television”

خلص تطلع ع برا

Fine, get outside

برا وين؟

Outside where?

؟ cool انزل ع بيروت؟ كتير واوو؟ و

Go to Beirut? Be someone “wow” and “cool” ?

مسيح جوخ

be a bootlicker

• the phrase is often used to describe that one employee in the office who always do things to get in the good books of his/her boss -which behaviour annoys the rest of the staff

برا قصدي شي قناة برا محترمة او هيك مراسل

Outside – I mean some sort of channel, something respectful…or be a reporter

خلدون منصورمن قناة”…شو بعرفني؟”

“Khaldoun Mansour, reporting from…”…what do I know?!

• People often say “شو بعرفني” to mean “what do I know?” or “how am I supposed to know?!”

قناة رياضية

A sports channel

بس بس بس

That’s enough

بفضل ابقى هون احسن وقتا

I prefer to stay here, it’s better

اشتقتلك يا عرص

I missed you, buddy

• WARNING: عرص does not mean “buddy” so please don’t go calling your friends عرص
• In fact, it’s a vulgur word that probably best translates to “bastard” or “pimp” in English
• Here, in this context, since Khaldoun and Karim are good friends, the word was said in a light-hearted manner and was not intended to cause offense (just like how we can get away with swearing at our best friends..simply cause they are our best friends)

صارلي زمان مو شايفك

It has been so long since I last seen you

والله يا استاذ بدك تشوف صاحبك قريبا غريندايزرعن حق وحقيق ؟

I swear, you will see your friend become a true Grendizer

• عن حق وحقيق= truly

شو قصدك؟

What do you mean?

قررت انضام الاسعاف الشعبي

I’ve decided to join the civilian ambulance unit

شو؟ شو بدك تموت؟ انت تعرف هدول شو؟

What? Do you want to die? Do you know what they are like?

انت تعرف..؟

Do you know…

!ما بدي اعرف

I don’t want to know!

لأ بدك تعرف!

No, you got to know!

حبيبي بيشتغلوا ليل مع نهار

These guys work day and night

ما بيعرفوا خوف ما بيعرفوا موت

without any fear of death

طلعوا ناس من تحت الانقاض من تحت القصف

evacuating people from under the rubbles and the shellings

لك احسن هدول قاعدين قدام الكاميرات قدام التلفزيونات

they are much better than the people that appear on TV

عم تنظرواعلينا

   preaching to us (but never practicing what they preach)

لابسين غرافيتات متل حضرتك

wearing neck ties like you

• حضرتك is the formal version of “you”; of course in this scene, the formal version is intentionally used to make Khaldoun seems like one of those important men in politics/media etc

شو..شو بك؟

What’s wrong (with my tie)?

انا عندي درس

I got class

تروح ع درس؟

You’re going to class (dressed like that?!)

ولك بدي ابقى عندك شغلة يومين اه

Hey, I will stay at your place for two days or so

• شغلة is added to create the uncertainness – “شغلة يومين” = two days or so

ايه ايه اكيد ولو

Sure, of course

• ولو is a common word said to mean “of course” but has the connotation of “come on, there’s no need to ask, of course you can stay”
• often said to good friends/relatives/family members who ask you for a small favour

بس لتروق الأوضاع وبروح

Once things calm down, I’ll leave

طبعا طبعا

Sure

دير بالك ع حلك سلام

Take care of yourself, bye

يعطيك العافية

Hello (May God give you health)

اهلا استاذ كريم

Hello Mr Karim

تفضل

Come in

 استاذ كريم بدك لأ تواخذني انا لازم امشي هلأ

Mr Karim, I hope you don’t mind, I have to go now

• لأ تواخذني = don’t take offense/ don’t be offended

اي ولا يهمك خد راحتك

Don’t worry, take your time

هدا حسابك

Here’s your pay

كتر خيرك

Thank you so much (May God increase your good fortune)

تفضل

Please

شكرا

Thanks

كنا سبعة بالشلة

There were seven of us in our clique

• شلة refers to “clique” – the group of friends you always hang out after school etc

نص مع ونص ضد

Some are pro, some are against

اجى الحرب وتركوا واحد ورا تاني

The war came and one by one, they started to leave

حمادة صار موظف في جماعية تركية

Hamada is now employed in an association in Turkey

ويوسف عم يعمل مطرب بلبنان

and Yousef is becoming a singer in Lebanon

سامي اختفئ

Sami disappeared

عمرعم بأرجل بالمانيا

Omar is smoking sheesha in Germany

زينون عم يتعاطى مخدرات باليونان

Zeynoun is doing drugs in Greece

• Verb VI تعاطى – بتعاطى is always used to describe “doing drugs” or “abusing drugs”

خلدون كن اكتر واحد متهور

Khaldoun was the most reckless among us

وانا كريم – استاذ خصوص

And I’m Karim, a private tutor

امشي حد الحيط وقول يا رب الستر

I live my life minding my own business

(Lit: I walk close to the wall)

• يا رب الستر is a prayer to ask God to cover up wrongdoings/sins but in this context it was said to ask God for protection from troubles – to stay out of troubles and not to cause troubles to anyone (i.e. live a simple life, keep one’s affairs to oneself and keep out of others’ affairs)
• “بمشي من الحيط للحيط وبقول يا رب الستر” and “بمشي جنب الحيط وبقول يا رب الستر” are similar phrases with the same meaning

!شو في؟ لحظة لحظة

What’s happening? Wait, hold on!

• لحظة = ” a moment”

 حياتي ما عملت شي

I never did anything in my entire life

والله ما عملت شي

I swear I never did anything

ولا حتى بحياتي واقف مع هاد او هاد ولا حكيت او كتبت ع الفيس متل ما بتوصيني امي

Not a moment in my life did I side with somebody, said anything or posted anything on Facebook like how my mother instructed me

وليكي تحت العرض بين أربعة حيطان

But look, here I am – underground surrounded by four walls

• The Form II Verb “to stand” (وقف – بوقف + مع) can be used to mean “to side with someone or to stand by someone
• Eg: مو انت رفيقي؟ ليش ما وقفّت معي بأوقاتي الصعبة؟ -Aren’t you my friend? Why didn’t you stand by me during my difficult times
• The Form II Verb (وصى – بوصي) can have different nuances in meanings depending on contexts. The most common meaning is “to instruct” (but not in a strict manner.) For example…

نسيت شو وصيتني مبارح, شو كان بدك؟

I forgot what you ask of me (“instruct”) yesterday. What was that you wanted?

وصيتك تجيبلي علبة حليب

I asked (“instructed”) you to get me a carton of milk

• Another common phrase that makes use of the verb is بتوصيني بشي؟(betwasinee bi shii). It  is often said to family members and close relatives as a form of courtesy before leaving a place or even a country. For example…

يلا انا رايح ,بتوصيني بشي؟

I’m going off now, do you want/need anything?

لا سلامتك

No, it’s okay, thanks

***

If you’re interested in watching the rest of the series, do watch the first video – the beginning here before choosing the character you want to follow.

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

Lyn

The post Undocumented بدون قيد [Syrian] appeared first on theLevanTongue.

According to their Facebook page, they describe themselves as “a Palestinian Band which combines beautifully Arabic music with Gypsy music.”

From that description itself, you could probably tell that they create awesome music. And they do

So I will be using their song, Batalte Elli بطلّتي إلي

There is so much to learn from the lyrics of this song alone. But for now, just sit back and enjoy the song.

Great song, don’t you think so?

This song is useful for learning a few things about Levantine Arabic.

1. The verb بطّل – ببطّل
2. The use of the word  “إلي” and its counterparts
3. The use of the phrase “ما عاد”
4.  The Arabic equivalent of “Less is more”

The Verb بطّل – ببطّل

The meaning of this form II verb is “to quit” or “to stop”.

So like the title of this song, بطلتي الي, it means you (female) stopped being mine, which in other words “you’re no longer mine”

Let me give you more examples

ايمتى بطلت تدخين؟

emta baTalt tadkhin

When did you quit smoking?

بطلت اروح معكم على الرحلة

baTalt aruH ma3kom 3ala elriHleh

I no longer want to go to the trip with you guys (i.e. I changed my mind)

الشتا بطل ينزل

elshitta baTal yinzal

It has stopped raining

[Lit: The rain stopped falling]

*In some parts of the Levant like Jordan, they refer to the rain as الشتا (winter)

!انتوا بطلتوا تاخدوا الأمور مزح

entu baTaltu taKhoduu elumor mazeH

You guys better stop taking the matter as a joke!

بطل في حليب بالبيت

baTal fee Haleeb bel bayt

There’s no more milk left at home

Got it yet? This verb is one of the most common verbs used in daily conversations – so it’s important that you know how to use it in the right contexts.

The use of the word  “إلي”

Basically, these words help to describe ownership.

So for example…

هالسيارة إلك او إله؟

hal sayaarah ellak aw elo?

Is this car yours or his?

هالكتاب إلي

hal ktaab elli

This book is mine

هالكتاب إلنور

hal ktaab el noor

This book belongs to Noor

ما النا غيرك يا الله

ma elnaa ghairak ya Allah

We don’t have anyone except you, O God

The use of the phrase  “ما عاد”

The phrase can be translated as “no longer” or “anymore”

Take a look at the examples below,

ما عاد بدي اياك

ma 3aad beddi iyak

I no longer want you

ليش ما عاد حكيتو مع بعض؟

leish ma 3aad Hakeytuu ma3 ba3ad

Why are both of you not talking o each other anymore?

ما عاد في عندي امل

ma 3aad 3andi amal

I no longer have hope

ما عاد تـفرق مـعـي

ma 3aad tifreq ma3ii

It no longer makes a difference to me

The Arabic equivalent of “Less is more”

There is a line in the song that goes  “والشي زاد نقص” .

And I have translated it to “more isn’t necessarily better”

However, the literal meaning is “The thing that increases, decreases”

Okay, so what does that mean??

Well, I was not too sure myself so I have asked for clarification on HiNative.

And an awesome someone explained that the phrase is something like the English saying “less is more” (in certain situations, doing less is beneficial and doing more can instead brings more harm than good)

There are two similar Arabic expressions that carry the same meaning as “less is more.” And they are…

ما زاد عن حده انقلب الى ضده

Lit: What goes beyond its limit would overturn till it goes against it.

الزايد أخو الناقص

Lit: The excess is the brother of the insufficient

In other words, sometimes, the attempt to do more can backfire on us. Doing more of something can instead bring you more harm than good.

An example given by the same user from HiNative:

Sometimes people increase their reps and sets when lifting weights in the attempt to gain more muscles quickly.

However, merely increasing the number of sets may not be the best method because if you don’t do it right, you may end up injuring your muscles.  In fact, doing a small number of sets consistently over a period of time is more beneficial.

In this case, your coach and friends would advice you “الزايد أخو الناقص”

So it can be said that the Arabic equivalent to “less is more” is “الزايد أخو الناقص”. The expression carries the idea that doing more of something will negate the value that you seek to increase.

***

That’s all for today, folks. Don’t forget to subscribe!

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

Lyn

The post Batalte Elli by ZAMAN Band | بطلتي الي You’re no longer mine… appeared first on theLevanTongue.

Let’s build our vocabulary and practice listening through clips that are available on YouTube. In this post, I will provide the transcript from various parts of Episode #12,  اختي [my sister] from the series رجائي كائن عدائي 

Background information:

The series explores the various negative behaviours/mindsets that are prevalent in society.

The title itself means “Rajae being hostile” or simply put “Rajae being a jerk” (Rajae is a famous Jordanian actor and comedian.)

I enjoyed watching the series when I first started learning Levantine Arabic. And I hope you will too!

The video:

 clip starts at 1:05

I would suggest watching the full clip first to get the gist of what it’s about and to train your listening skills. It’s also helpful if you note down the phrases/words that you are able to catch as you watch along.

Let’s get started!

Time (01:12)

وين, وين-

Where are you going?

 شو يلي وين هاي, شو دخلك؟-

What do you mean by “where”? It’s none of your business

 ايش ايش شو يلي دخلني؟-

What do you mean “it’s none of my business” ?!

• The question “شو دخلك؟” is often impolitely asked to mean “what’s your involvement in this?” or “how does this concern you?” and thus share the English equivalent of “it’s none of your business/it’s none of your concern.
• Similarly, شو  دخلني؟, can be said when you’re feeling nonchalant and could not be bothered to get involved in a matter. For example, you can say شو  دخلني؟ in order to avoid being dragged into a heated discussion between two friends.

Time (01:28)

 انت وين عايش اخي؟ بأي عصر ؟-

Brother, where are you living? In which era?

 ما انتي بتموت على عولمة وديمقراطية-

Aren’t you the one who’s crazy about globalisation and democracy?

• To بموت على something is to be crazy/obsessed over that something. The phrase is also commonly used to refer to cravings. Eg: I’m craving/dying for Knafeh (traditional Palestinian dessert) = انا بموت على الكنافة

 Hannadyبال gym, ايش ايش ايش ايش شو دخل العولمة بالحرية, بال

What?! What does globalisation got to do with freedom, gym and Hannady?!

Time (01:38)

طب, بحكيلك, فيش طالعة من البيت-

Fine, i’ll tell you what…no going out of the house!

 انا كتير خفت منك….يا اللة, شايف شايفني كيف عم برجف-

I’m so afraid of you…Oh God, look, look how I’m shivering

• “طب” is the short form of “طيب” which means “fine” or “Ok”
• “فيش” is the same as “ما في”
• In the Jordanian/Palestinian dialect, “ش”  acts as a negation when added at the end of verbs. For example,  بعرفش is the same as ما بعرف (I don’t know)

Time (01:48)

الو, ماما وينك؟-

Hello Mama, where are you?

عند ام محجوز, عم نحضر بالعرس ابنها عالدي في دي-

I’m at Um Mahjooz’s. We are watching the wedding of her son on DVD.

ماما, ابنك حبسني بالبيت-

Mama, your son locked me up in the house!

•  The verb “حبس” means to imprison/lock up/trap someone

Time (01:57)

و ليش تتطاوش مع اهلك؟-

Why did you argue/fight with your family/parents?

لاني حبست اختي بالبيت-

Because I locked my sister up in the house

وللل يا زام, شو اهلها هدول ما بحترم الحقوق الأخ-

Man…what kind of family is that to not respect the rights of the brother?!

• The verb VI “تطاوش” means to argue or fight with someone. Similarly, the noun “طوشة” means a fight or a scuffle and it’s often used to describe a fight between men that takes place on streets.
• “يا زام” is the short form of “يا زلمة

Time (02:21)

وانت ليش ماشي معنا؟-

and why are you walking with us?

وانتي شو دخلك؟-

it’s none of your concern

طيب, طيب, ياللة يا شاطر ياللة حبيبي ياللة روء روء خلص الحارة كلها عرفت انك زلمة-

Fine, fine..yallah clever one, yallah my dear, yallah, calm down, calm down…it’s okay, the whole neighbourhood knows that you’re a “man”

• روء is said to mean “calm down”, “relax” or simply asking someone to take a chill pill
• شاطر is used to describe an intelligent (male) student. Of course in this context, it’s being said sarcastically

Time (3:13)

انا برضاش حدا يجيب سيرة اختي بكلمة-

I don’t tolerate anyone talking about my sister

• You can see here once again the use of “ش” at the end of the verb (برضى) as a negation.
• The verb برضى means to be satisfied/to be willing. In the above context, it’s said to suggest  “I’m not having any of it” [Don’t talk about my sister!]
• To bring (ييجيب) someone’s biography (سيرة) is a common expression to mean talking about someone/bring up the topic of someone
• بكلمة is said for added emphasis. Not even a single word about my sister

Time (3:23)

اوف…خلص خلص سكّرالموضوع, سكّر الموضوع-

Oof, that’s enough, let’s end the topic

• The verb “سكر” means to close

Time (4:04)

ما عارفنا مستر محمد؟-

Don’t we know each other Mr. Mahmud?

شو جايبك هون ولكِ؟-

What brought you here?!

جاية اشوف قلة الأدب اللي انت فيها-

I came to see the inappropriateness of your behaviour

• “قلة الأدب” generally refers to impolite/indecent behaviours that are deemed to be socially unacceptable. A synonym would be قليل الأدب
• اللي انت فيها literally means “that you’re in”

ولك مجنونة انتي؟-

Are you crazy?

مين هاي اللي معك؟-

Who’s this that you’re with?

عفوا ما بعرف انه مصاحب-

Sorry but I didn’t know that he’s attached

 مش صاحبته يا حبيبتي انا اخته. جاية احط حد ل قلة الأدب اللي عم بيصير-

I’m not his girlfriend, I’m his sister. I came here to put a stop to the inappropriateness that is happening now.

• حط حد is “to put a limit on” or “to put a stop to” something. In this context, the woman is calling his brother out for his action that is deemed as inappropriate by society (being seen with another woman in public)

ولكِ شو بتخبصي مجنونة ؟-

What nonsense are you spouting?!

• شو بتخبص is said when someone is spouting nonsense – what are you blabbering about?!

 مش هدا اطلبك معي؟ كل ما شوفني مع حدا حتى لو كنت عام بشتري من خضرجي-

Isn’t this what you demanded of me? Every time you see me with someone even if I was buying (something) from the grocer..

ولكِ روحي عالبيت لحدا شوفكِ هون يفكرجاية تأرجيلي-

Go back to the house, someone will see you here and think that you came here to smoke argilla

حد متل مين؟ ابن جيران لصاحبك رجائي؟ اطمن حبيبي هدا اللي بحرشك وبحكيلك دير بالك على اختك وبيصير زلمة على اختك؟ هدا عم ينتقم مني لاني ما عطيته وج يا حمار

Someone like who? Our neighbours’ son, Rajae, who’s your friend? Rest assured habibi, this is the person who kept telling you stuffs and tells you to keep an eye over your sister and to control her.  He’s taking revenge on me because I snubbed him, stupid!

• I have no idea what’s بحرشك means but I’m assuming she meant “بحرضك” which means “he incited you (against me)”; to feed someone stories in an attempt to stir up trouble
• دير بالك on its own means “take care”; to دير بالك على someone is to take care of someone/watch over that someone; دير بالك من someone is to be careful/wary of someone
• بيصير زلمة على اختك = to have control over your sister (Lit: being a man towards your sister)
• Verb VII to take revenge: انتقم – بنتقم
• ما عطيته وج  literally means “I did not give him a face” And what she meant by that is “I ignored him/ I snubbed him”
• حمار (donkey) is of course a popular word to insult someone – to call someone stupid or a fool amongst other things

استني بس افهميني شوي-

Wait, try to understand me

نعم؟-

Yes?

فعلا كلامك صح انا آسف-

مو انا اللي غيرك وانتي اختي حبيبتي ما النا غير بعض

Actually, you’re right, I’m sorry. Don’t you have only me (besides yourself) and you’re my sister, my dear one, we don’t have anyone except each other.

• كلامك صح = your words are right

 مروح عالبيت؟

So you’re going home?

لا قاعد شوي بس بوصَلك وبرجع-

No, I will sit here for a while longer. But I will give you a lift and return

• The verb II وصّل  means to give someone a lift/ride [Lit: to cause someone to arrive somewhere]

لا لا لا مش مشكلة باخد تاكسي-

No, no, no. Not a problem, I’ll take a taxi

لا لا لا بوصلك-

No, no, no, I’ll give you a ride home

لا ولك خلص كمل قعدتك عنجد باخد تاكسي يا لله باي-

No, stop it, remain seated. I’m serious, I’ll take a taxi. Yallah bye

ايوااا احكي هيك من الاول بدك تاخدي تاكسي عشان يقل ادبو –

معاكي

Ahaa why don’t you say from the beginning? You want to take a taxi so that he (the driver) can behave inappropriately towards you

• يقل ادبو literally means he lowers/reduces his good manners/virtues (and thus acts inappropriately); they behave inappropriately would be  يقلوا ادبهم
• معِك is just another way of saying معاكي

ولك انت صاير نسخة عن صاحبك…كائن عدائي

You’re becoming just like your friend…a complete jerk!

• “نسخة” means “a copy”
• صاير نسخة عن – Saayir nuskha 3an someone = to become like someone [Lit: to become a copy of someone]
• “كائن عدائي” literally means “a hostile being”

***

That’s it! Take care and I’ll see ya in the hosh,

Lyn

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