#149 Irony and a watermelon

Streetwise Hebrew

TLV1 Studios

Language Learning, Judaism, Religion & Spirituality, Education

4.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 29 November 2016

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Irony, cynicism, and sarcasm are expressed in all languages, but can sometimes be difficult to learn. How do we say phrases like 'yeah right', 'as if' or 'duh' in Hebrew with friends? Listen to host Guy Sharett explain ways to express these linguistic styles, and even what hand expressions you need to sneer like a smart-alecky teenager.

Words and expressions discussed:

Kibalta matana la-chag? - Did you get a present for the holiday? - ?קיבלת מתנה לחג

Mamash, bidyuk - Right, exactly - ממש, בדיוק

Mamash, hu yiten li matana la-hag - Yeah right, he will give me a present for the holiday (not) - ממש, הוא ייתן לי מתנה לחג

Ata amiti? At amitit? - Are you for real? - ?אתה אמיתי? את אמיתית

Ei-fo? - Where (Not) - ?איפה

Eifo ata hai? Eifo at haya? - "Where do you live?" (You're way off) - ?איפה אתה חי? איפה את חיה

Eize matana? - which gift? - ?איזה מתנה

Eize matana eize? - Which gift? - ?איזה מתנה איזה

Eize matana ve-eize naalayim? - "Which gift and which shoes?" (Yeah right, he'll give me a gift) - ?איזה מתנה ואיזה נעליים

"Bala X wa-bala batich" (Arabic) - Without X and without a watermelon

Hem ba'u ba-sof? - Did they come at the end? - ?הם באו בסוף

Eize 'ba'u' ve-eize na'alayim - "What 'they came' and what shoes" (Of course they didn't come) - איזה 'באו' ואיזה נעליים

Ma ata choshev? Ma at hoshevet? - What do you think? - ?מה אתה חושב? מה את חושבת

Duh, barur she-lo - Duh, of course not - דא, ברור שלא

Tenachesh / Tenahshi - Take a guess - תנחש / תנחשי

Shlosha nichushim - Three guesses (Take a guess) - שלושה ניחושים

Hits-hakta / Hits-hakt oti - You made me laugh (Of course not) - הצחקת אותי

Lehats-hik - To make someone laugh - להצחיק

Ata tsohek, at tsoheket - You're kidding me - אתה צוחק

Music:

Nos'ei Ha-migba'at - Matana La-hag (lyrics)
Ha-Gevatron - Bat Shishim (lyrics)
Nechi Nech - Cafe ve-sigaria (lyrics)
Fares Karam - Bala Hob, Bala Batikh
Nurit Galron - Ma Ata Hoshev (lyrics)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is T.L.B. 1.
0:10.0	St.C. was. St. Wise, Hebrew.
0:12.0	Shalom. It's me guy from Street-wise Hebrew. Chilum, it's me Guy from Streetwise Hebrew.
0:15.0	Today I'd like to talk about irony, cynicism and sarcasm and how we say stuff like,
0:20.0	yeah, right, and as if or not and duh and other goodies in colloquial Hebrew.
0:28.5	Instead of using these confusing terms like irony and cynicism and teaching you ancient Greek
0:34.0	I'll describe specific situations so it's clear to everybody. So let's say my boss
0:39.4	is really stingy and you're asking me whether I got a present from the company for
0:44.0	Roshashana, the Jewish New Year. Kibalta Matana Matana-Lachak.
0:54.0	Kabbi Matana-Lachg.
0:58.0	Kibalta Matana-Lachag, did you get a present for the holiday?
1:02.0	Now I want to reply, yeah right or as if. First thing you
1:06.8	can do in Hebrew, just like in other languages, is sneering. So, matana.
1:11.6	Huh. Matana. then you can add mamash or mamash bid yuk exactly for emphasis.
1:20.0	I'll do it again.
1:21.0	mamash, mash, Bidiuk.
1:24.0	Sometimes we say, Mamash, Uitenly Matana, Laqag.
1:28.0	Who yitenly matana la hag.
1:32.0	So Mamash, right? He will give me a present for the holiday.
1:36.0	So we use the future to show how implausible it is.
1:39.5	Mamash, who it's telling me's all a hag. Then you can say,
1:45.0	Ato amity, are you for real, or to a woman at amitit? Funny I heard at amitil last night in the movies. Someone was really shocked to see the person next to him speaking on the phone during the movie and suddenly in a quiet scene we heard
	...

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