Heblish: From the mailbag edition

Below is a sampling of the, ahem, “actual” letters we receive here at Heblish headquarters every day:

Letter #1:

Dear Mrs. S.,

Help! Summer is here, and my kids are home all day. I love them dearly, but we don’t seem to speak the same language! Please post a new Heblish definition - so I can communicate with my children!

Thanks in advance,

Vexed on Vacation

Dear Vexed,

You’re in luck, because guest blogger Malke submitted just the thing for you. Enjoy!

• In the close time: Hebrew source – בזמן הקרוב. English definition – In the near future; soon. Sample usage - “My friend said that the bagrut grades for math and English will be available on the website in the close time.”

Letter #2:

Dear Mrs. S.:

I gather that you spent two years in Israel as a child. Did you yourself speak Heblish? Perhaps this is the source of your obsession fascination with Heblish?

Wondering on the Web

Dear Wondering,

Hmm. You may have a point.

You see, reader Yaffa (who recently spent a Shabbat with her lovely family here in TRLEOOB*) sent in the following classic Heblishism:

• Catch a place: Hebrew source – לתפוס מקום. English definition – Get a good seat. Sample usage - “I want to get to the party early, to catch a place.”

(BTW, Yaffa suggested that this phrase may actually be used colloquially in British English. Would any of my British readers - or those of you who are married to Brits - care to chime in?)

In any event, this entry brought back a  long-repressed memory from my childhood:

• Is caught: Hebrew source – תפוס. English definition – Occupied; in use; taken. Sample usage - “It wasn’t our fault, because all the showers were caught.”

My brother and I couldn’t understand what caused our parents to burst out laughing when we explained why we were home so late from the pool.

And then, we were very surprised to learn that we weren’t speaking English…

Letter #3:

Dear Mrs. S.,

You’ve translated both Mah Nishtanah and Megilat Esther into Heblish. Why not try your hand at a popular movie?

A Heblish Fan

Dear Fan,

Funny you should ask, because just a few weeks ago, one of the Shiputzim kids was overheard channeling The Princess Bride:

• In a kitzur: Hebrew source – בקיצור. English definition – Briefly; in short. Sample usage - “If you don’t have time to tell me the whole thing now, could you please just tell it to me in a kitzur?”

In other words, let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up…

Thank you, everyone, and please keep those wonderful Heblish submissions coming!

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Previous Heblish editions are available here: Heblish I, Heblish II, Heblish III, Heblish IV, Heblish V, Heblish VI, Heblish VII, Heblish VIII, Heblish IX, Heblish X, Heblish XI, Heblish XII, Heblish XIII, Heblish XIV, Heblish XV, and Heblish XVI.

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*TRLEOOB=the real life equivalent of our blog