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.
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. ...
وشك حلو علي “weshak 7elo alaya“ Actually means, “You bring me luck.” So that’s a thing.
مالكش دعوة “malaksh da3wa“ Very often means, “This is none of your business.” Ex: If you try to step in on an argument between two best friends, one of them might tell you to bug off by saying what literally translates to, “YOU DO NOT HAVE AN INVITATION!!!” But it can also serve another meaning: for example, if someone tries to blame you for a copyediting mistake at work that wasn’t actually in your purview, you could say “malish da3wa bmodo3 el copyediting” = lit. “I don’t have an invitation for the subject of copyediting” = “Copyediting is not my responsibility.” ...
!حلو قوي زي العسل. يا سلام يا قشطة “7elo awi, zay el 3asl. ya salam, ya 2eshta!“ Actual thing that was literally said to me once by a real person (I think).
أنتي ساكنة في الدقي؟ “Enty sakina fil do2i?“ Smoother translation: Do you live in Dokki? In Egyptian colloquial Arabic, verbs are often replaced with a structure called the ‘Ism Fa3l,’ a concept that I like to call a ‘Verbal Noun.’ For example, when we want to ask the question ‘do you understand?’ instead of using a verb as you would in MSA (هل تفهم؟), it’s more common in Egyptian colloquial to employ the ism fa3l (فاهم؟ – Are you an understander?) and drop the هل because هل is for squares. ...
دي حاجة ودي حاجة “Dee haga w dee haga“ Actually means, “Those are two different things.” In the sense of: “I’m nervous about getting my visa renewed here in Egypt because when I was living in Europe they were very strict about paperwork!” And because official procedures are a whole different ball game in Egypt versus Europe, you’d say طب دي حاجة ودي حاجة – literally, ‘Well, this is a thing and this is a thing.” ...