Thread: Good Egyptian Words To Know

I was thinking that it would be a cool thing to compile a list of words and phrases that commonly appear in Egyptian pop songs. I'd like to ask the Arabic speakers here for their help with that..since I don't, um, actually speak any Arabic. So...anyone want to pitch in, help a dancer out?

- Leela

Someone's already done such a brilliant job of this:

Egyptian Arabic Dialect Course

I don't speak Arabic. However:

behebek: I love you
Leili: my night
omri: my life
hayarti: my life
hob-i: my love
habibi: my darling
albi: my heart
albek: your heart
enta: you are
ana: I, me
mashi: OK
aini: my eye (I think)
ainek: your eye (s?)
nour: light
nar: fire
giraho: wound

Arabic Dictionary of Music

take a look at this site

this thread rocks! :)

Dare I say...Sharmoot/Sharmoota=Whore (male/female).

If ya hear the band say it behind you, it is time to throw daggers. I have a friend who uses it in a very campy way, but otherwise...no!

la = no
eshta = creamy (slang for good life and/or hashish)
fakkir = remember
wahid/wahida = one
sukra (sukara) = sugar
helwa = sweet

iowa-yes
bint-girl
yalla-let's go
succran-thank you
kef-how
gahaba(sp?) another word that means whore
helewa- beautiful, more like sexy
gameela(egyptian)-beautiful

everything I can think of right now...

to expand on bint - the plural is banat.
for boy, it's walla, but it's rude to call a man that. or it might be playful..or it might be calling a girl a boy in a song like they do.
oh, there's a popular song called Ana Eznak Ya Mialm and another Saad song that references Mialm - it means "boss".

And any word that starts with a J in another dialect might start with a G in egyptian dialect. So Jameela = Gameela.

Also there's all these in Egyptian dialect
schweya - it means "a little" or "somewhat"
kidda = I think it means "like this"
masr / masri / masreya = egypt / egyptian / egyptian (f)
ma ' aya = means "with me"
ma ' ayek = means "with you"

and I think Mashallah means something is very cool or very good. I hope - I have said it a few times.

and Tasharafna means it is an honor to meet you. people seem to get a kick out of this when you say it! I think this is in Modern Standard but people understood it in Egypt.

also I just found this site..
Islamic Expressions - Islamic Phrases

insh'allah - God willing, if God wills it

Found in pop songs and very common in everyday conversation. My favorite use - giving a taxi driver an address, and him responding insh'allah. God willing we'll get there LOL.

Originally Posted by Nepenthe

everything I can think of right now...

to expand on bint - the plural is banat.
for boy, it's walla, but it's rude to call a man that. or it might be playful..or it might be calling a girl a boy in a song like they do.
oh, there's a popular song called Ana Eznak Ya Mialm and another Saad song that references Mialm - it means "boss".

And any word that starts with a J in another dialect might start with a G in egyptian dialect. So Jameela = Gameela.

Also there's all these in Egyptian dialect
schweya - it means "a little" or "somewhat"
kidda = I think it means "like this"
masr / masri / masreya = egypt / egyptian / egyptian (f)
ma ' aya = means "with me"
ma ' ayek = means "with you"

and I think Mashallah means something is very cool or very good. I hope - I have said it a few times.

and Tasharafna means it is an honor to meet you. people seem to get a kick out of this when you say it! I think this is in Modern Standard but people understood it in Egypt.

"i swear" is walla isn't it? actually I know it's pronounced like that though I may be spelling it wrong.

I thought whaled was boy.

I thought the male equivalent of Bint was Ibn? (technically daughter/son) but I guess that's being too precise.

Roh (soul) or Rohi (my soul) comes up often in songs.
Have we forgotten Habibi? (my darling, used like 'baby' in American songs?)

na'am - formal 'yes'
Aiwa! - informal 'yeah'

w or wa = 'and'

This is great! So what about:

- Mesh/mashi
- the word or phrase that sounds like "a wiss"
- "Ya walla". Is that just kind of an exclamation of fun?
- "Haram aleiki". I know that Haram means forbidden. But "aleiki"? And the two together?

Haram pronounced as "HAR em" means "pyramid", as in Haram Street which was known in the past for being "nightclub row"

Haram pronounced as "huh RAHM" means "forbidden" or "immoral", as in it's haram to have a career as a belly dancer.

In the Arabic alphabet, the two words are written differently, and easily recognizable as being two entirely different words. As noted above, they're pronounced differently, too. It's only when we transliterate into Roman alphabet that they appear to be the same word.

Mesh/mashi

Like I said above, "OK". But I gather mishmish means "rarely" and also "apricot", so...

I am going to make a wild stab and say "haram aleiki" is something like "it's forbidden to be with me." Becuase aleikum is "with you", isn't it?

Maktoob = destined (ie written).
kalami = talking

MaHshee means stuffed (hard H sound), maashi (long A sound) means okay. I was corrected several times about this in Egypt*, once by a 3 year old. It was funny, but also made me realize how dang close they are.

There are also several forms of the verb masha (no long vowel sounds), meaning to leave or to depart. This verb comes up in songs lot.

To me these three words can be confusing. :) I'll write them up in Arabic if I get a chance, I think bhuz can take Arabic script?



*I helped stuff a lot of vegetables one summer!

Having three year olds correct you must be awesome. I've never lived in a non-English speaking country. I knew a guy once who lived in France, with a family of young girls. Spoke English at work, his limited French with the family. The girls tormented him about his pronunciation relentlessly, with the result that by the time he left after a year, he sounded like a native Parisian, albeit an intellectually handicapped one.

Originally Posted by zumarrad

Having three year olds correct you must be awesome. I've never lived in a non-English speaking country.

Nothing like it. Other adults? They think it is the best thing in the world and will talk about it for months, maybe even forever.

There have been a few times in my life when I was in non-English speaking countries for extended periods that I realized that I was being perceived as some developmentally disabled relative of the person I was with. This happened a few times in Cairo being led around by Egyptian family and friends. I guess it is better than being seen as a tourist. Well, maybe not *better*, but different!

Originally Posted by Nepenthe

and I think Mashallah means something is very cool or very good. I hope - I have said it a few times.

hi, as I understand it "Mashallah" = "god has willed it", in a very cool or very good way

great thread!!

Yes, pronounciation is VITAL.

one wrong vowel sound is the difference between salad and prayer.

:)


Um...
Ahlan wa Sahlan= hello/welcome (response: Ahlan bik/bikki (male/female)

minfudlik/minfudluk (forgive my phoenetic spelling)= please

shukkran= thank you
afwan= your welcome

lemoaHzah= excuse me

ya ustez= Sir/Mister
ya madame= Ma'am
y'annessa= Miss (again forgive the phonetics)

Are you ready for this one?
"Ana mebefhamsh." = I don't understand.

Ana befham= I understand.

Ok, I'll stop. ;) lol

Originally Posted by jilyan

hi, as I understand it "Mashallah" = "god has willed it", in a very cool or very good way

great thread!!

Mashallah also is used for "God Bless"

Originally Posted by zumarrad

Like I said above, "OK". But I gather mishmish means "rarely" and also "apricot", so...

I am going to make a wild stab and say "haram aleiki" is something like "it's forbidden to be with me." Becuase aleikum is "with you", isn't it?

f'el mishmish - "never" Yes, mishmish is apricot, the season of ripe apricots is very short and can be missed easily - so - "f'el mishmish" means "in the (season of ripe) apricots" which then transforms into "never" ..l;,

HarAM (as Shira said) means shame or forbidden:

harAM aleik - shame on you/it's forbidden to you, while talking to a male
harAM aleiki - shame on you/it's forbidden to you, while talking to a female
harAM aleikom - shame on you all/it's forbidden to you all, while talking to a group
harAM aleya - shame on me/it's forbidden to me

A few corrections, additions, etc. Arabic is such fun - I always wonder if I've requested a pigeon or a bathroom because the word is hammam or hamam - and I still can't remember which one has the double "m"!!

bint - girl, daughter - pl. banat
ibn - boy, son
walad - boy
wallahee - REALLY!
haya - life
hayati - my life
sukar - sugar
shokran - thank you
maHshee - stuffed food item (as Monica found out from the 3 yr old!)
masha - to walk
imshee!!! - go away!!!
maashi - a very useful word meaning loosely "it goes" so it's used for "o.k." or "sounds like a plan" etc.
ya walad! - "oh (you) boy!" which is like American slang "Oh boy!"

My teacher told me mishmish isn't just apricot - it's also slang for kitty-cat, as some kittens are orange-colored.

Leyla Lanty - what about when a song goes "walla walla walla walla"...my egyptian arabic teacher said that it means something like the guy trying to be cool, like "yo yo yo" in American english. But she couldn't always explain why people said things a certain way, like why she said "ya Eini" (your eyes?) as she was trying to think of an answer to a question - she did that a lot.

Originally Posted by Nepenthe

. . . . my egyptian arabic teacher said that it means something like the guy trying to be cool, like "yo yo yo" in American english. But she couldn't always explain why people said things a certain way, like why she said "ya Eini" (your eyes?) as she was trying to think of an answer to a question - she did that a lot.

Your teacher was probably saying "yanni", "it means" or "that is to say". "Yanni" is also a very common filler word meaning "well, uh", or "so", or "ummmm", and so forth.


Khalida

As well as yanni, people often say masalan, when they start to explain.
masalan - for example

As well as maashi (i would transliter it meeshi as the sound is [e]) haader is used, when given instructions.
haader - ok, will happen, i will do it

ustez actually is professor, but in arab countries they like to elevate titles

lemoaHzah= excuse me
This might be fusha. I never heard of this phrase in Egypt. Law samath would be used here.


People already corrected some things - thanks Leyla!

Originally Posted by jilyan

hi, as I understand it "Mashallah" = "god has willed it", in a very cool or very good way

great thread!!

mashallah means" that's great" . people say it so they don't get the evil eye for coveting the great thing that happened to you. lol yes, the direct translation is probably god has willed it.

Originally Posted by zumarrad

Like I said above, "OK". But I gather mishmish means "rarely" and also "apricot", so...

I am going to make a wild stab and say "haram aleiki" is something like "it's forbidden to be with me." Becuase aleikum is "with you", isn't it?

Maktoob = destined (ie written).
kalami = talking

I don't know if this is correct but one of the online arabic for dancers websites list's mish as "not"

Originally Posted by Nepenthe

My teacher told me mishmish isn't just apricot - it's also slang for kitty-cat, as some kittens are orange-colored.

Leyla Lanty - what about when a song goes "walla walla walla walla"...my egyptian arabic teacher said that it means something like the guy trying to be cool, like "yo yo yo" in American english. But she couldn't always explain why people said things a certain way, like why she said "ya Eini" (your eyes?) as she was trying to think of an answer to a question - she did that a lot.

walla, walla, walla, walla? like in the saad song? I think it means i swear because he was swearing to her that she is the only one for him and to come back and he wouldn't screw up again... which reminds me

anabas= only you