#7 Sahbak (Rerun)

Streetwise Hebrew

TLV1 Studios

Israel, Tlv1, Religion & Spirituality, Language Learning, Education, Language, Judaism, Hebrew, Streetwise

4.9 • 988 Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The word סחבק comes from Arabic and means “your friend.” So what’s its meaning when used in Hebrew? And what’s סחבקייה? Oh, and there’s even a verb, להסתחבק. Guy explains.

Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon

New Words and Expressions:

“Sahbak qal li” – Your friend told me (Ar.) – صاحبك قالي – סחבק קאל לי

“Ve’az sahbak ro’eh she-hamatsav lo tov” – And then yours truly sees that things are not going well”. – ואז סחבק רואה שהמצב לא טוב

Ha-sahbakiyoot ha-israelit – The notion of the lack of protocol, and genuine friendliness in Israel – הסחבקיות הישראלית

Fraier – Sucker – פראייר

“Sahbak lo fraier” – I am not a fraier – סחבק לא פראייר

Hibook sahbaki – A hearty hug – חיבוק סחבקי

Sahbakiya – Army slang for lack of distance – סחבקייה

“Patachnu po sahbakiya?” – We’re not friends hanging out together – פתחנו פה סחבקייה

I am not your sahbak – I am not your mate – אני לא סחבק שלך

Lehistahbek – To be chummy with someone – להסתחבק

“Nisiti lehistahbek im ha-shoter, aval ze lo halach li” – I tried to be chummy with the policeman, but it didn’t work out – ניסיתי להסתחבק עם השוטר אבל זה לא הלך לי

“Ehud Barak lo sahbak, manhig” – Ehud Barak is not a dude, he’s a leader – אהוד ברק לא סחבק, מנהיג

Lashevet, lakoom – To sit, to stand up – לשבת, לקום

“Dai im ha-nimnoom, sahbak lo rotse lihyot radoom” – Enough with the numbness, sahbak does not want to be numb – די עם הנמנום, סחבק לא רוצה להיות רדום

Playlist and Clips:

Hassan El Asmar – Sahbak Qal Li

Tachles – Shuvo shel ha-sahbak (lyrics)

Sahbak lo fraier

Shabak Samech – Lashevet: Lakoom! (lyrics)

Ep. no. 67 about Fraier, sucker HEB

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Shalom. It's me, Guy, with Streetwise Hebrew. This week we are replaying an episode from our archive.
0:06.8	Patrons will find the brand new All-Hebrewsister episode written and recorded this week on patreon.com
0:14.4	slash Streetwise Hebrew or in your podcast app through the private podcast feed. As you may
0:20.3	already know, we started creating the All-Hebrew episodes, starting with episode
0:25.5	number 181.
0:27.7	So once in a while, we go back into the archives and create the Hebrew versions for previous
0:33.4	episode like this week.
0:35.3	Enjoy.
0:36.9	This is TLB1.
0:47.0	Streetwise Hebrew.
0:49.3	Shalom, it's me Guy from Streetwise Hebrew.
0:52.0	Sahabak, Ali,
0:53.1	Kalli, and me, and he'll me, S, from Streetwise Hebrew.
1:07.5	Sahabak Ali, that's Arabic for Your Friend Told Me, the name of this song sung by Egyptian singer Hassan al-Assan al-Azmar.
1:12.4	You might have heard this word Sakhbak because we use it in Hebrew. We took it from Arabic, like half of our slang really, and we use it as well as Sakhbac.
1:17.7	This is a song called Shuvos of the Sakhbak, the return of the Sakbac, by a band called Tachlis.
1:33.5	Sakhbac Arabic, Tachlis, the name of this band from Yiddish, from the word Tachlit, and you have our story in a nutshell.
1:40.3	Ani the Sakhbac, they sing, I am the Sakhbac, and indeed Sakhbac is used many times to say I, something like yours truly.
1:48.5	Sakhbac means your friend in Arabic, but many times people use it while telling a story.
1:52.9	So instead of saying, I, ani, me, me, me, they would say stuff like,
1:58.0	and then Sachbac B'hraulte, and then Sachbac, that things are not going well, meaning I saw that.
2:05.9	Sakhabak is you and me, anyone really, the guy in the street.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from TLV1 Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of TLV1 Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.