Egyptian Arabic

I was the only foreigner sitting in a classroom of Egyptian twenty-somethings, trying my best to sound just smart enough to let my classmates go on believing I was half Arab of some variety during a remedial Arabic grammar class. Suddenly, a distraction grabbed by attention: فين المبتدا يا ماما؟ يا ماما!!؟ “Where’s the subject, mom? Mom!!?” I looked around for some sort of reaction, like the giggles and pointing that always broke out in elementary school when one unfortunate student accidentally called the teacher ‘mom.’ No no, this situation was the reverse: it was our professor that had called the student ‘mom,’ and it was absolutely, 100% fine. ...

مش هاعرفك تاني “mesh ha3refak/ek tany“ Sticking to our current theme of insulting other people: when another person makes your blood boil so much that you don’t want anything to do with them ever again and have no qualms about burning a bridge, you can whip out this phrase which basically means, “I will never speak to you again.” The word ‘know’ in Arabic is used in ways that sound curious to English speakers; more on that here. ...

شايف نفسه “shayf nefso“ Far removed from the Harry Potter definition of ‘seer,’ this phrase means that someone is stuck-up or thinks they’re some kind of hot-shot (‘hwa shayf nefso awi‘ – ‘he’s really stuck-up’ is the most common way to use it in my experience). Another similar phrase would be عايش الدور (aysh ed-dor), lit.: ‘living the role.’ It also means that someone is somewhat arrogant or takes themselves way too seriously. ...

فين الحطة بتعتك؟ “fein el 7eta bto3tak“ In reference to a person, not a firearm, as you may have guessed.

يضرب حشيش “yadrab hashish“ aka, “He smokes hash.” This applies to all illicit drugs: You don’t smoke, take, or inject them, you just…hit them. Although I guess you can drink hash too. #TheMoreYouKnow

هو عاوز الضرب بستين جزمة “hwa 3awz ed-darab b-sitteen gazma“ Equivalent to “That guy really sucks,” but with a far better mental image.

الجو عامل ايه؟ “el gaw 3amel eh?“(accompanied by a wink, nudge, & grin) I think it’s kind of great that ‘So, how’s the weather?’ is used in English as a kind of cultural signifier for not having anything better to talk about or feeling awkward, but in Egypt, it’s sometimes used to ask about someone’s significant other. Same phrase, COMPLETELY different meaning. My guess for the reason there’s a euphemism for this that may be the fact that dating before getting engaged or married is widely considered a no-no / something you usually (not always) have to hide from your parents here, but correct me if I’m wrong. I’ve also never actually heard this one firsthand because it’s mainly used among guys (there’s a whole other world of speech out there that I’ve only been able to see glimpses of. I call it: Shabab Arabic) but one generous shab named Fady was kind enough to share this one with me. I will be poking around for more of this type of phrase in the future. ...

أنت بيئة قوي “Enta bee2a awi” (to a guy) This actually means something like, “you are so trashy right now.” Can also be used to describe geographic locations, restaurants, bars, and anything that has fallen prey to disrepair or sketchiness. I’m personally not sure how the word ‘environment’ came to mean ‘trash’–I think I’d be making quite a leap by suggesting it has to do with how the environment in Cairo is actually consistently quite full of trash, so I won’t do that. ...

مش عارفة انام “mesh arefa anam” (said by a female) This actually strangely means “I can’t sleep.” The structure مش عارفة (I don’t know) is used very commonly in Egyptian to mean ‘cannot.’ True story: when I went back to America for a visit last year after just 6 months in Egypt, I said a whole host of ridiculous things, including “I don’t know how to open the door mom,” as well as the above. Another good one I almost said before catching myself: “I won’t know how to come to the party” (مش هاعرف اجي للحفلة / I can’t come to the party). The main idea here is, once you get to a certain point, Arabic syntax will creep its way into your native language and wreak havoc on your speaking ability, so just prepare yourselves for that. ...

في قلق في البلد “Fi 2ala2 fil balad“ Means something like, “People are concerned about today,” and is mainly used when demonstrations are planned. These types of days are associated with various advantages and disadvantages. Pros: -Literally no one will be on the metro or outside anywhere in general – very fast cross-city travel times -Numerous photo opps with APCs, if you’re into that Cons: -Lots of police with guns all over the place ...