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Monday, November 7, 2011

Heblish: The Everywhere You Look Edition

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:

Nobody – no, not even the J-Blogosphere’s [self-proclaimed] Expert On All Things Heblish (yes, that WOULD be me…) – is immune from allowing Heblish to creep into one’s speech… or even into one’s blog.

Take, for instance, the previous post.

It was only several hours after I hit “publish” that I realized that ACSD’s paragraph about her favorite place contains a glaring Heblishism:

A lot of times: Hebrew source הרבה פעמים. English definition – Often; frequently. Sample usage - “I like it, because a lot of times all my cousins are there.”

As you can see, Heblish is everywhere you look.

For example, here are two more mainstays of the Heblish dialect used by the Shiputzim family:

Year on top: Hebrew source שנה מעל. English definition – A grade above; a year older. Sample usage - “She’s not in my class; she’s older than me. She’s a year on top of me.”

Help in: Hebrew source …עזרה ב. English definition – Help with. Sample usage - “I don’t understand what I’m supposed to do here. Could you please help me in the second problem?”

And finally, Toby recently shared a picture of a Heblish-infused traffic sign:

Before you: Hebrew source לפניך. English definition – Ahead. Sample usage - “New traffic arrangements before you.”

Open-mouthed

Do you have a favorite Heblishism? Please submit it either via the comment section below or by email to OurShiputzim at gmail dot com, and I’ll be glad to include it in a future Heblish post.

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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, Heblish XVI, Heblish XVII, and Heblish XVIII.

9 comments:

  1. Actually, I'm pretty good about keeping idioms and phrasal verbs separate. My kids and lots of other Israelis mess up their Hebrew with English by saying: לקחת מיקלחת lakachat miklachat. To "take a shower" is English, but even in English you can just "shower" or "bathe." So I'd ask them to where they are taking the shower, as if it was mobile.

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  2. If you still pick up on it, you're in good shape. My problem is that these things start to sound normal to me...

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  3. Hey - thanks for the link!
    I'm with Malke - I'm embarrassed to say it, but nowadays a lot of Heblish sounds pretty normal to me. It seems that after years of living here, instead of being bi-lingual, I've become semi-lingual :)

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  4. I love your Heblishes. Haven't been here at your blog in a while, and glad I came.
    Am very familiar with these mixtures (here in galut we call them "Hebrishes").
    A common one which I said when I was first in Israel was, לאן האוטובוס הזה הולך ? --When talking to the bus driver. Everyone cracked up, because as we all know, a bus doesn't "walk." It "rides" or "travels"(נוסע ).
    Thank you for visiting my blog, Mrs. S.!

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  5. Batya - When I was here after high school, all the American students (myself included) would say "lakachat miklachat" -- much to the Israelis' amusement... :-)

    Malke - My problem is that these things start to sound normal to me...
    Not only do many of these sound fine to me, but very often, the correct English expression sounds wrong... :-)

    Toby - It seems that after years of living here, instead of being bi-lingual, I've become semi-lingual :)
    Some people mistakenly believe that one's klitah is complete when one has fully mastered Hebrew. But the truth is that the real measure is when one can no longer speak English properly... :-)

    Lady-Light - LOL! Thanks for your kind words!

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  6. I'm sure you've spoken about these before; but they are my three favorites, because what is bad grammar in English is good grammar in Hebrew. [etzlechem] "We are eating 'by you' for Shabbat lunch." [ani vYossi] "The teacher wants to talk to me and Yossi." [af pa'am lo] "I never don't have nothing to say in class." Nothing quite as fun for a grammar geek as having the rules turned on their head. [Hafuch: the definition of all things Israeli] :-D

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  7. Ruti Mizrachi - because what is bad grammar in English is good grammar in Hebrew
    This would make a great tagline for the Official Heblish-English Dictionary... :-)

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  8. My 5 yo says "a lot of times" on a daily basis. I had no idea I can blame Hebrew for this--I thought it was just his own personal quirk!

    And I also heard him say yesterday אני צריך להתקלח
    so he's got at least 1 language right.

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  9. OneTiredEma - I had no idea I can blame Hebrew for this
    The First Rule of Anglo Parenting clearly states:
    When in doubt, always assume that your child is speaking Heblish... :-)

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