#156 Just a sec: Hustling patience like an Israeli
Streetwise Hebrew
TLV1 Studios
4.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 24 January 2017
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
So you're in Israel. You're chatting away with someone, and then they stop you mid-sentence. Surprise, surprise. How do you tell someone to "wait a minute" or "hold on a second?" Today host Guy Sharett talks about one of the most popular words in Hebrew, rega, moment, but also "just a moment".
Words and expressions discussed:
Rega, rega'im – Moment/s – רגע, רגעים
Rega, nahag – Just a sec., driver – רגע, נהג
Efshar rega she'ela? – May I just ask one question? – אפשר רגע שאלה?
Rak shniya/daka – Just a second/minute – רק שנייה/דקה
Haké , haki, haku – Wait (imperative, m., f., pl.) – חכה, חכי, חכו
Haké shniya/rega – Wait a bit– חכה שנייה/רגע
Haké-haké/haki-haki – Just you wait – חכה-חכה/חכי-חכי
Tsohek mi she-tsohek aharon – He who laughs last, laughs the best – צוחק מי שצוחק אחרון
Ten/tni li daka/shniya – Give me a minute – תן/תני לי דקה/שנייה
Ten li daka/rega lir'ot – Give me a moment to see – תן לי דקה/רגע לראות
Rak daka/shniya/rega – Just a moment – רק דקה/שנייה/רגע
Od rega/shniya/daka – One sec. – עוד רגע/שנייה/דקה
Od rega, ha-shakshuka ba-derekh – Just a sec., the shakshuka is on the way – עוד רגע, השקשוקה בדרך
Savlanut – Patience – סבלנות
Haké be-savlanut ba-tsad – Wait patiently on the side – חכה בסבלנות בצד
Music:
Ha-tarnegolim – Shir Ha-shchuna (lyrics)
Corinne Alal & Inbal Perelmutter – Kshe-ze Amok (lyrics)
Mati Caspi – Afilu Daka (lyrics)
Trem da Onze – Gal Costa
My Fair Lady – Just you wait
Hava Alberstein & Arik Sinai – Shuv (lyrics)
Hava Alberstein – Ha-layla hu shirim (lyrics)
Shlomo Artzi – La'azazel Eich Lo Yadati (lyrics)

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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is T.L.B. 1. |
| 0:10.0 | St. wise. Streat wise. |
| 0:12.0 | Shahlum, it's me Guy with Streetwise Hebrew. |
| 0:16.0 | Today I'd like to talk about all the possible ways to say, wait a minute, just a sec, in Hebrew. |
| 0:22.0 | Check out episode number 84 to learn about the word |
| 0:25.7 | Zeman, time, and its root. |
| 0:28.2 | Let's start with regga, Reh, gimel ain. |
| 0:35.0 | Rega is the best way to say just a moment. |
| 0:38.0 | In the dictionary, regga is a moment, so rega, reg moment moments but its main career is definitely in the |
| 0:46.7 | field of just a minute this one is still moving I'm still talking rega so we say regga and our hands go like this. All my |
| 0:56.4 | fingers are touching each other just like Italians use for kek. Italians |
| 1:01.7 | know what I'm talking about. We'll add a |
| 1:03.4 | JPEG of me doing regga so you'll be able to see. You'll hear a lot of regas |
| 1:09.1 | on Israeli buses. Bus drivers here are always eager to continue on their way, |
| 1:15.0 | so you have to be quick in getting off the bus. |
| 1:18.0 | So you'll be hearing people saying, |
| 1:20.0 | Reganaag, just a sec driver. |
| 1:22.0 | I'm making my way towards the door. Rega Nagh, just a sec driver. |
| 1:23.0 | I'm making my way towards the door. |
| 1:25.0 | Riga, Riga, Riga. |
| 1:28.0 | Done. |
| 1:30.0 | If you want to be more blunt, you can say to someone, regga, dwelling on each syllable, |
... |
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