This is another post about a common and versatile verb you probably won’t get taught in colloquial classes: زبط (sometimes spelt ظبط, though this does not reflect a different pronunciation) zabaT. Although its meanings and uses are more or less the same in all four dialects, its exact vowelling in the present tense is different: while Syr, Jor and Pal all have o (yəzboT, yuzboT and yuzboT respectively, with predictable differences you can read more about in the South Levantine verbs post) Leb has yəzbaT, with an a.
Probably the most common use of the expression is to mean ‘work out’, or ‘manage’ in the sense of get something done/succeed in something:
هيك تسريحة ولا عمرها زبطت معي
heek tasrii7a wala 3umrha zabTat ma3i (PAL)
I’ve never been able to get that sort of style right
That sort of style has never worked for me
ما رح تزبط معك
maa ra7 təzboT ma3ak (SYR)
It’s not going to work out for you
You won’t be able to do it
مش عم تزبط معي
mish 3am təzbaT ma3i (LEB)
I just can’t get it right!
I just can’t understand it! (this is the title of a Nassif Zeytouni song)
حياتي مش زابطة
7ayEEti mish zaabTa (LEB)
My life’s a mess
My life just isn’t in order
في اشي مش زابط
fii 2ishi mish ZaabeT (JOR)
There’s something not right [about this situation]
اذا واحد ضد التاني بيزبط
2iza waa7ed DiDD ittaani byizboT
if it’s one against the other then that’s fine/that’ll work
You can use a subjunctive verb to form sentences like the following:
مش رح تزبط معك تكوني متلي
mish ra7 təzbaT ma3ik @tkuuni mitli (LEB)
You’ll never be like me [it won’t work for you to be like me]
Relatedly, ‘suit, work well’:
هيك محل بيزبط لكل شي
heek ma7all byəzboT lakəll shi (SYR)
A place like this could be anything [would work for anything]
كتير زابطين لبعض
ktiir zaabTiin laba3@D
They go very well together, they suit one another well
زابط عليك الدور صراحة
zaabeT 3aleek iddoor Saraa7a
The role suits you very well to be honest [زبط على = work on, suit]
ولله بتزبط هو رئيس بلدية
waLLa btəzbaT huwwe ra2iis baladiyye [LEB]
Actually I could see him as a mayor [= he’d work as a mayor]
The causative, which is zabbaT yzabbeT everywhere, has a lot of different meanings. Some are causative equivalents or extensions of the meanings above:
بدنا مين يزبطلنا الباب
bəddna miin yzabbTəlna lbaab [SYR]
We need someone to sort the door out/fix the door for us
المحبس زغير بدو تزبيط
@lma7bas @zghiir baddo taZbiiT [LEB]
The ring’s too small, it needs fixing/adjusting [= it wants adjustment/fixing]
بدك تزبط لهجتك اه
biddak @tzabbeT lah@jtak aa [PAL]
You’d better change your tone [= fix your tone]
You need to do something about your accent/dialect [= fix your dialect]
There are also a few other idiomatic meanings not predictable from these (even if they are obviously semantically linked):
بدك تزبطلك واحدة حلوة
bəddak @tzabbəTlak waa7de 7əlwe [SYR]
You want to pick up/pull a hottie [zabbaT banaat = pick up, pull]
مش مزبط حالو بالمدرسة
mish @mzabbeT 7aalo bilmadrase [PAL]
He’s not doing well/settled in well in school [zabbaT 7aalo = sort yourself out, settle down, get your affairs going smoothly]
مزبط شعراتو كتير منيح
mzabbeT sha3raato ktiir @mnii7 [JOR]
He’s done his hair very nicely
مرتو بتزبط حالها
marto bitzabbeT 7aalha [LEB]
His wife does herself up, makes herself look nice [zabbaT 7aalo = do yourself up]