Literal Translations and Phrase Explanations

I’m absolutely certain that you, dear non-native Arabic speaker currently located in Cairo, want no part in anything that could jeopardize the delicate, spotless reputation that foreigners living in Egypt have worked so hard to maintain over the years. In the spirit of this sentiment, TeamMaha has compiled the following brief guide to commonly used titles in Egypt to help smooth out your day-to-day interactions with the population of om al-dunya. ...

Let’s see if you can make any sense of these questions and statements that are the most confusing and also just sound really oddly specific the first time you hear them: Discussing an upcoming trip: هتقعدي فين في الغردقة؟ – Where will you sit in Hurghada? In a heated discussion with my landlord about an electrical problem that causes lightbulbs to burn out twice a week: المفروض يعقدوا اكتر من تلات ايام! – They should sit more than three days! ...

أي كلام “ay kalam“ Please note that TeamMaha is committed to bringing you insults on the regular because they never teach you how to say something or someone is absolute shit in school, DO THEY? Anyways: this phrase has nothing to do with speech, and everything to do with quality. For example: شغل اي كلام (sho3’l ay kalam) means ‘a crappy job’ (as in someone did a crappy job of something), بيقول اي كلام means something to the effect of ‘he’s just saying whatever’ and رحلة اي كلام means ‘a lousy/low-quality trip’ (literally ‘an any speech trip’ which just makes no goddamn sense at all). ...

The other day I stumbled upon a commercial so masterfully stuffed with euphemisms that I had to write about it on the internet. It’s about a guy named بدري (“Early”) who has an issue that affects both him and his ladyfriend. I’ve written out a transcription & translation of the commercial and discussed a few useful words in Egyptian Arabic at the end of the post so you all can have a productive laugh. Also, anyone with insight as to why a man appears on the back of the motorcycle in a fuzzy animal costume around 0:15 gets five gold stars. ...

A few more dubious subtitling choices that were recently brought to my attention: Alternative translation for “girlfriend” = صديقة حميمة (‘Intimate friend’) “Stripper” = راقصة (‘dancer’ with no further elaboration) “Hey, motherfucker” = يا سافل (‘Varmint’ or ‘ratfish’ according to the omnipotent Google) “Fuck no!” = كلا يا سيدي (No, sir!) All this aside, I will say that I once heard the English word (just the word!) ‘kiss’ censored out of some Bruno Mars song playing at City Mall in Jordan, so it could be much worse. Five gold stars for effort, subtitlers, wherever you may be. ...

هات بق “hat bo2” (as said to a man. To a woman: haty) This post does not, as you might have expected, belong under the inappropriate tag. The phrase actually means a very innocent, “I want a bite.” [For all my MSA-amiya transitioners out there, remember that ق often changes to hamza in amiya, hence no qaf sound in the transliteration.)

ايه وراك بكرة؟ “eh warak bokra?“ Like the infamous “You drink a cigarette?” this is one of those phrases that is so strange and confusing when you first hear it, you are struck with a blinding rage that makes you want to destroy the first copy of Hans Wehr you can get your hands on, because that shit is now dead to you. Confession: A language partner first asked me this almost a year and a half ago and I literally looked behind myself for a sec because I had no clue what he was saying. All it means is, “What do you have to do tomorrow / What are you doing tomorrow?” ...

العملية ناشفة “el 3ameleya nashfa“ File under: Shabab Speak, an enigmatic subset of Cairene dialect.

جالي برد “galy bard“ Actually means ‘I got a cold,’ but a super poetic way of expressing the thought to English-speaking ears. This structure works for all sorts of diseases that can ‘come’ to you, as well as various states of being, like: جاتلي حالة اكتئاب (something like, ‘a wave of depression washed over me,’). Interestingly, you can also take a cold: انت لابس خفيف قوى, هتاخد برد كدا = You’re not dressed warm (lit. ‘you are a very light dresser’–remember our friend ism fa3l), you’re going to get (take) a cold that way! ...

ضحك علي “da7ak alaya” This phrase literally means “he laughed at me” but in practice translates roughly to “he screwed me over,” as in I was charged too much money for something. One of the most apt phrases I have personally encountered on my Arabic journey–you KNOW that guy let out an extended cackle of sweet satisfaction as your sorry khawaga ass trudged away out of sight.