Colloquial Egyptian Arabic Expressions

يا ارض اتهدي ما عليكي قدي

"Calm down, earth; no one here is as great as I am." Used to describe someone who's full of themselves. ارجع معايا ليوم ما البسطجي جاب لك جواب التنسيق ووقف قدامك وهو مستني النتيجة اكتر منك وانت عارف ليه طبعا، وبعد ما فتحت الجواب لقيتها مكتوبة...كلية طب جامعة الاسندرية...طبعا رحت نافح البسطجي بريزة بحالها نادمة عليها طبعا دلوقتي (البريزة وعشر جنية) راح البسطجي مغني لها هالالويا...وطبعا بقيت سعادتك ماشي في شارع يا ارض اتهدي ما عليكي قدي وفاكر الناس كلهم بيبصوا لك ولا كأنك مجدي يعقوب...ودخلت طب...وطولت الايام والسنين...ويا ترى حاسس بايه دلوقتي! Go back with me to the day the postman brought you the placement letter(1) and stood in front of you, waiting for the result more than you were, and you knew why, of course. And after you opened the letter, you found written "College of Medicine at the University of Alexandria"...of course, you gave(2) the postman [a tip of] ten pounds(3), and of course you regret that ten pounds now. The postman went off singing Hallelujah. And of course you, sir, started walking in the street like there was no one greater than you, thinking all the people were looking at you as if you were Magdi Yacoub. And you entered medical school, and the days and years dragged on...and I wonder what you feel now! 1 This is the letter from مكتب التنسيق (maktab it-tansii'), the student placement office that allocates students' university placements according to their scores on the ثانوية عامة sanawiyya 3amma (college entrance exam). 2 لفح is a very slangy way to say "to give." ادّى is much more commonly used. 3 Note that بريزة (bariiza) is slang for ten pounds; it used to be slang for ten piasters, but as time went on the meaning changed. There are some other slang ways to refer to amounts of money, like ارنب (arnab, literally "rabbit") for a million pounds and فيل (fiil, literally "elephant") for a billion. انا مرة كنت مسافر القاهرة واول مرة اجرب اركب المترو بس كنت مظبط بقى وماشى بقول يا ارض اتهدى ما عليكى قدى وركبت المترو ولاقيت العربية كلها ستتات استغربت وقولت دا انا بختى عالى قوى ولا الرجالة الى ماتت ولاقيت واحدة بتقولى يا استاذ دى عربية الحريم ههههه عملت نفسى مش واخد بالى وطلعت الموبايل عملت كانى بتكلم فية ونزلت منة بسرعة Once I went to Cairo, and it was my first time to ride the Metro, but I was all set to go, walking along thinking I was so great, and I rode the metro and found a car that was all women. I was taken aback and thought, 'Either I'm really lucky, or all the men died!' I found a woman who told me, "Mister, this is the women's car.*" Hahaha, I acted like I wasn't paying attention, got out my phone and acted like I was talking on it, and left the car fast. * In the Cairo metro, each train has a few cars that are for women only.

راجل اخطبوط

A corrupt, ruthless businessman who accumulates a lot of money (literally: an octopus)

نحس

Bad luck, ill omen; you can call a person naHs if they bring bad luck

مخربش

Describes someone who knows all the tricks of his trade

دمّه خفيف

He's fun to be around. (literally: his blood is light) The opposite expression would be دمّه تقيل dammu ti'iil, his blood is heavy.

عينه صفرا

His eye is yellow; used to describe someone jealous

ديله في سنانه

Lit. "his tail in his teeth." Based on the idea that in "baladi" areas where people wear traditional galabeyyas, if someone gets into a fight or some trouble and ends up running away, he takes the "tail" of his galabeyya and puts it in his mouth so he doesn't trip over it as he runs off. This expression is the equivalent of "with his tail between his legs"; it describes someone running ingloriously away from a defeat. هربوا ديلهم في سنانهم

يا بختك!

Lucky you!

الله

Often used as an interjection of annoyance, surprise, or frustration

حرام عليك

Shame on you

رزل

Someone impertinent who gives others a hard time

تقيل (ج) تقايل

Someone who keeps his cool

اتحسد يتحسد

To be envied/made a victim of the evil eye يا بنتي، بطلي الكلام ده، هتتحسدي

استحمل يستحمل

To bear, put up with استحملت كتير وكنت بسكت وما بردش عليها بأي كلمه

لمّ يلمّ

To collect or gather s.t., like money

شحطط يشحطط شحططة

To drag someone around from place to place

كفر يكفر كفر في

To get fed up with something, sick and tired of it. (On its own, كفر means "to blaspheme or deny God's existence.") انا مش عارف أأكل عيالى منين .. دانا كفران في عيشتي ... مراتي مطلعة عين أهلى

طلّع عينيها

To give someone a hard time

لعّبها على الشناكل

To give someone a hard time

قطّع في فروة __.

To gossip about someone. (literally: to cut someone's fur.)

حَقَد/يِحْقِد/حِقْد على

To hold a grudge against someone

فوّل على

To jinx someone by mentioning possible misfortune

طار - يطير من الفرحة

To jump for joy (literally: to fly out of joy)

دَقَّق/يِدَقَّق/تَدْقِيق في

To look closely at. دول هم أبطال المسلسل. لو قرّبنا ليهم وشفنا حياتهم هنقول عليهم انهم فاضيين وفارغين بس لو دقّقنا شوية هنشوف جواهم عالم مختلف - عالم تاني خالص غير اللى ظاهر لنا. Those are the stars of the show. Young people like any young people in Egypt. If we approached them and saw their life, we'd say they're silly and feckless, but if we took a closer look, we'd see a different world inside them - a whole other world than the one we can see (outwardly).

مسك/يمسك العصايا من النص

To sit on the fence, or try to avoid taking sides. (literally: to hold the stick from the middle) هو مش عايز يطلع نفسه كداب وفنفس الوقت بيقول ان اه كلام الشهود ممكن يبقى صح عايز يمسك العصايا من النص. He doesn't want to make himself a liar, and at the same time, he says that yeah, what the witness said could be right; he wants to avoid taking sides.

اشمعنى

Why (especially, particularly)

بتلاتة مليم

Worthless, poor-quality (literally: for three pennies)

يللا

"Come on" or "Let's go," often used with a connotation of "Hurry it up!" Ex. يللا بنا (yalla biina), "Let's go." Also sometimes used to mean something like "Ok, all right" when you've agreed on something with someone. People frequently say, "Yalla bye" at the end of phone conversations, for instance.

بتهيألي متهيألي

"I think..." or "It seems to me..." Not as definite/strong as بعتقد (ba3taqid), "I believe." 100% مش عارف بس متهيألي ان الكلام ده صح

نفسي

"I'd like to" or "I wish to/really wish I could" نفسى اسافر لبنان

كلام فاضي كلام ولا بيودي ولا يبجيب

"Kalaam faaDi" (or "kalaam faariġ") is "empty talk" — just words or hot air. كلام ولا بيودي ولا يبجيب means "talk that doesn't accomplish anything" — useless talk.

قرّ يقرّ على

(1) To jabber on about something, thus risking attracting the evil eye (2) to nag

مسك يمسك مَسْك

(1) To take hold of or grab; (2) to capture or arrest; (3) to take on or be in charge of (e.g. a job); (4) to stick, adhere, hold; (5) to harp on or keep on about مسكوا له الغلطة اللى عملها

نقّ ينقّ في

(1) To talk incessantly and enviously, thus bringing misfortune on whoever you're talking about (2) to nag

مبلغ

(1) an amount or sum (of money) اديت له شيك بمبلغ عشرة جنيه (2) a large amount or great extent المسافة كانت مبلغ عشان تعرفي مبلغ حبي ليكي

بالعافبة

(1) only barely الطرق دلوقتي مزدحمة اكتر من الاول جدا، والمرافق بتستوعب الناس بالعافية (2) by force لما تفوقت فى مجال الطب، حمدت ربنا إن أبويا دخلنى كلية الطب بالعافية

قد

(1) size شوف الافعى ده قد ايه! See how big this snake is! (2) extent; amount مش عارفه أتقرب منه بكرهه قد ما حبيته. I can't go near him, I hate him [now] as much as I loved him [before]. حاول على قد ما تقدر ماتقولش اى سلبيات حصلت فى حياتك. Try as much as you can not to talk about anything negative that happened in your life. (3) capacity; caliber بالراحة عليا أنا مش قد الانجليزي بتاعك دا. Go slowly with me, my English isn't as good as yours [more literally, I'm not capable of your English]. ربنا يخليك علي الكلام الجميل ده. وانا مبتدئ لسه في المجال ده. يعني انا مش قد الكلام الكبير الي انت قولتو. Thank you for your kind words. I'm still a beginner in this field, so I'm not worthy of the great things you said. انت مش قدى .. ( انا مش بتخانق) انما انت مش قدى فى اى مجال ..فى فرق شاسع بينى وبينك. You're not on my level. I'm not fighting [with you], but you can't measure up to me in any field. There's a huge difference between us. To refer to someone as على قده means that they're not very good when it comes to the matter at hand. معلش اعذريني اصل انا على قدي في مسأله الشعر. Sorry, [please] make allowances for me, as I'm not great when it comes to poetry.

قد الدنيا

(1) world-class, very big and important, a big-shot هو دكتور قد الدنيا (2) very much بحبك قد الدنيا

كرشه واسع

(literally "his potbelly is wide.") It can either mean that someone eats a lot, or that he takes a lot of bribes.

داخ يدوخ دوخة

(literally: to get dizzy) More figuratively, it can mean to get tired from being given the run-around; to have difficulty getting something done, going from place to place with no result. دخت السبع دوخات...لفيت بيه على دكاترة وشيوخ واوليا...حتى القسيس رحت له! دخت من اللف والدوران في المجمع * اوليا الله (awliya llaah) are sheikhs who have little mosques from which they give people recommendations. ** The مجمع (mugamma3) is a massive center of Egyptian bureaucracy located in Tahrir Square, in downtown Cairo. As such, it has a pretty fearsome reputation as a horrible place to try and get anything done.

على طول

3ala Tuul has several meanings: (1) straight ahead, as e.g. a direction for a driver; (2) right away, immediately; (3) continuously, incessantly

مقطع السمكة وديلها

A "player," generally used in a negative or disapproving way, though men might sometimes use it in a more positive way. اما مقطع السمكة دة مش هكون اول واحدة فى حياتة دة غير انة يوم ما يزهق منى هيحطنى فى الاحتياطى ويجيب مكانى واحدة تانبة وطبعا عمرى مااقبل على نفسى كدة.

رميو

A Romeo. Much like the English idiomatic usage. دا شاب فاكر نفسه رميو وبدور على جوليت حبيبته بس دا عنده البنات كلها جوليت!

علقة

A beating or thrashing ضربته علقة جامدة/سخنة

كداب الزفة

A big liar. الزفة is the wedding procession; this expression originates in the fact that many people join the wedding procession of people they hate.

على رَاسُه رِيْشة

A big shot - used sarcastically. Lit. "a feather on his head." اولا زى ما هى غلطت انت كمان غلطت زيها بالظبط...يعنى انت مش احسن منها ولا على راسك ريشه First, just as she made a mistake, so did you, just like her...so you're not better than her or someone above everyone else.

كييف (ج) كييفة

A buff or enthusiast; or a connoisseur or sophisticated devotee كييفة كشري كييف مزيكا

تحفة

A collector's item or objet d'art; can be used to describe something/someone amusingly odd or eccentric

معلش معلهش

A common expression that can mean "Sorry" or "Oh well, never mind." A popular joke goes that in Egypt, everything is done the IBM way — "In šaa' allaah" (God willing), "Bukra" (tomorrow), "Ma3alešš" ("Sorry/Oh well"). That is, people tell you they'll do something, God willing; then when you ask them why it wasn't done, they say they'll do it tomorrow. And when in the end you find that they never did it, they comfort you with a "Sorry." As one Egyptian blogger puts it: ...some people say that the bane of egypt is the word "Inshallah", because if someone says it to ya, it almost always gurantess that they won't do what you asked them to do. Egyptians actually include it in what they call the "failure" acronym, also known as I.B.M.! The I stands for Inshallah, which means "god willing"; the B stands for Bokrah, which means Tomorow, as in "will do it Tomorow"; and the M stands for "Maalesh", which is word that conveys solace if you are met with failure or frustration. Those 3 words are usually given in that order for a reason, they compliment eachother as the perfect Trifecta to justify failure. At first they promise u to do it "Inshallah", and when you wonder why things aren't done, they tell you "Bokrah" and when you relaise that nothing is gonna ever get done and confront them with your realisation they tell you "Maalesh". I.B.M. people, making Egypt an economic failure for more then 20 years now.

شغل على مية بيضة

A cunning, well-planned plot.

مَزِّيْكِة حَسَب الله

A derisive reference to bad music. A فرقة حسب الله is a "brass band of old men and even older instruments such as is often hired to play at peasant weddings etc." آه يا راسي، دماغي فيها مزيكة حسب الله Oh, my head! My head is pounding. [More literally] My head is full of a horrible racket.

غاوي

A fan, enthusiast or devotee. المهم ما تكونيش غاوية منظرة وقاعدة تتنطتي عليه بمعلوماتك وفلوسك أو بالمعجبين وعلاقاتك. صدقيني شكلك بيبأه وحش أوي وبيحس علطول إن عندك نقص أو بيخاف من المستوى وبيطفش. لو انتي من النوع دا...تعالجي. غاوي كورة

خنفس

A hippie or guy with long hair literally: "beetle" (because of the Beatles)

صِفْر عَ الشِمال

A non-entity; frequently used in the context of feeling unimportant or insignificant. Literally, a zero on the left. A zero on the left of a number, like 01, doesn't change the number itself, so it's useless. اوقات بحس انى صفر على الشمال بس لما ببص على المجلس وإدارته للبلاد بحس اني لازم يتعملي تمثال Sometimes I feel like a nobody, but when I look at the [Military] Council and the way it runs the country, I feel like they should build me a statue! [i.e. the Military Council does such a bad job of running the country, I look amazing in comparison] فاكر انك عشان بوبيولار في الجامعة, تبقي انت حاجة, عشان كدة مش عايز تخرج منها, لان لو خرجت, هترجع تاني لحقيقتك, صفر علي الشمال, مالكش قيمة في الدنيا You think because you're popular at university, you've become somebody, so you don't want to leave, because if you left, you'd go back to your reality — a nobody, without any value in the world. محمود صوته مش حلو هو رقاص بس صوت صفر على الشمال Mahmoud [Shoukry]'s voice isn't good; he's a [good] dancer, but his voice is worthless.

طزّ

A not-very-polite interjection. Used on its own, it's equivalent to "So what!" or "Whatever!" Used with the preposition في, it means "To hell with..." A few years ago Mohamed Mahdi Akef, then the head of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, famously said طز في مصر (Tozz fi maSr), "To hell with Egypt," or "Screw Egypt," and that caused some controversy.

يا مساهل

A plea to God to make things easier, like "God help me." فاضل مادة واحدة...يا مساهل يا رب [In the context of exams] One subject left...God help me! يا مساهل ان شاء الله للاهلى...يارب يارب [In the context of a soccer game] God help Ahli to win, please, please.

يَامَا جَاب اِلغُراب لِأُمُّه

A rude expression said to someone who brings you a gift you don't like. Lit. What did the crow bring to its mother? غاب وجاب، وياما جاب الغراب لامه، جايبها من فين وتمنها، طول عمرك ذوقك زفت، بدل الهدية التعبانة، كنت جبت شوية أكل للبيت، وكنت اديتني فلوس انقي على مزاجي. I see you've brought some crap with you. Where'd you get it from, and for how much? You've always had crappy taste. Instead of this lame gift, you should've brought some food home, or given me money so I could pick out something to my taste. وليه منكوشه لبسه جلابيه لون الطين واقفه تجعر في العيال وصوتها جايب لاخر الشارع وبتجري ورا عيالها بالشبشب الوليه:يا ولاد 60............. كده تدلقوا اللبن علي السجاد ده انا وسطي انقسم وطلعان عيني في تنضيفها هيدخل الزوج راجع من شغله وتعبان وفي ايده ورد عشان لمراته حبيبته عشان عيد جوازهم الزوج:ايه يا وليه صوتك جايب لاخر الشارع وانا ال كنت جايبلك ورد مراته: انت جيت يا منيل مهي نقصاك وبعدين ورد ايه ال انت جايلي بيه يا اخويا ياما جاب الغراب لامه كنت جبت حزمتين فجل كانوا احسن عيني عليا وعلي بختي المايل جيراني بيجيلهم خواتم دهب وانت جاي جايبلي شويه ورد الزوج:تصدقي اني استاهل ضرب الجزمه اني عبرتك وبعدين عيد جواز ايه ال بحتفل بيه ده كان يوم اسود A low-class, disheveled woman wearing a mud-colored galabiyya* is standing bellowing at the kids in a voice that carries to the end of the street, running after her kids with a slipper [to smack them with it]. The woman: You little brats [lit. sons of 60 dogs], spilling the milk on the carpet like that, it drove me absolutely crazy cleaning it up. In comes the husband, returning tired from work, carrying roses for his darling wife, for their anniversary. The husband: What is it, woman, your voice is carrying to the end of the street, and just when I've brought roses for you. His wife: So you've come, you loser. Like we needed you! What flowers you've come with — what a useless gift! You might as well have brought some radishes, those would've been better. How I pity myself and my crappy luck! My neighbors' husbands bring them gold rings, and you've brought me a few roses. The husband: Believe me, I deserve to be hit with shoes for showing you consideration. What anniversary is this for me to celebrate, anyway? It was a black day! * A galabiyya is a traditional Egyptian garment, like a loose, full-length robe with wide sleeves. They're worn as everyday clothing in rural areas, and in urban areas, they may be worn while sitting around at home, as they're very comfy.

موت

A slangy intensifier. صورة حلوة موت صورة حلوة موت انا تعبانة موت

احطياطي

A spare; can be used in the context of a spare tire etc. or can mean an understudy in the context of theater

الكلام ده

A state of affairs or condition (literally: that talk); حكاية (Hekaaya, literally: story) can also be used in a similar way to mean matter/affair.

شردوحة شرشوحة

A tacky, loud, low-class woman. Sort of like a fishwife, except without the vendor connotation.

علامة مسجلة

A trademark; can be used idiomatically, as in English, to refer to something someone does really well. ملوخية أم مريم علامة مسجلة

نسوانجي

A womanizer or philanderer. Connotations are similar to those of مقطع السمكة وديلها. الحنين و الطيب و اللي لسانه حلو بيطلع خاين و نسوانجي و عينه زايغه، لو ماخنكيش على الأقل هيطلع عينك من الغيره.

طُوب الأَرْض

Absolutely everyone. والناس دي انا حاسس بيهم لاني عارف يعني ايه يبقى مش معاك فلوس وتستلف من طوب الارض عشان تعيش I feel for these people, because I know what it means to not have any money and to borrow from everyone you know in order to live.

عَرْبَجِي (ج) عَرْبَجِيَّة

An 3arbagi can be a driver of a horse/donkey-drawn cart, or less literally, he can be someone low-class or uncouth. ياناس شوية عيال بلطجية واطفال شوارع بيهدوا في مصرنا الغالية امسكوا كل العربجية دول - دول مش ثوار دول ضد مصر وعاوزينها تولع حرام حراااااااااااااااااااااام كفاية كدة People, some kids, thugs, and street kids are wrecking our precious Egypt. Arrest all that trash - they're not revolutionaries, they're against Egypt and want her to go up in flames. Shame, shame, enough of this. دول بوابين وحيفضلوا طول عمرهم بوابين. دول عربجية مش حكام. يبقى يغوروا فى ستين داهية يشتغلوا بوابين شغلانة تليق بيهم مش يبوظوا الدنيا They're [on the level of] doorkeepers, and they'll stay doorkeepers forever. They're just trash, not leaders. To hell with them, let them work as doorkeepers, as that job suits them, so they don't ruin everything.

صعبان على___.

An active participle used to talk about: (1) something that's difficult/hard on someone, or (2) feeling sorry for someone والله حرام .. انا اللي صعبان عليا الطفلة البريئة دي ذنبها ايه! I swear (lit. by God), it's shameful! The one I feel sorry for is this innocent child — what did she do wrong? (lit. what is her guilt?)

فرط

An excess/extreme of أنا كنت أعاني من فرط التسامح والتساهل مع الآخرين

اذا عرف السبب، بطل العجب

An expression meaning that once you learn the reason for something, you won't be surprised or amazed by it anymore. Used to explain curiosity or express relief that now you know why something happened.

مش معقول

An expression of astonishment, disbelief, or indignation, like "No way!" It can have other meanings, like "Incredible/great!" "Unbelievable!" "That's horrible!" "How annoying!" Lit. not reasonable. انا قلت مش معقول بعد 24 ساعة يجينى رد وأنا اللى باقعد بالسنين ما بيجنيش رد على حاجة.. مش معقول ده تبقى الدنيا اتغيرت. انا بجد حاسس ان محمد بركات بياخد منشطات يا جماعه ده بيجرى طول المتش وفى الدقيقه 90 بيجرى بدون تعب مش معقول ده طبيعى.

يا ساتر

An expression of dismay, like "Oh no!", meaning "May God protect us!"

حُطِّ فِ بَطْنَك بَطِّيْخَة صِيْفي

An expression of reassurance: Don't worry about a thing; everything will be fine. Lit. Put a summer melon in your belly. ماتقلقش علي الشرقيه نام و حط في بطنك بطيخه صيفي و كلام محمود ما ينزلش الارض ابدا! Don't worry about Sharqiyya, go to sleep and rest assured, everything will be ok. What Mahmoud said [will happen] won't ever actually happen!

روحي طلعت

Another way of saying "I'm fed up."

زَيّ القُطَّة المِغَمَّضَة

As innocent as a blind kitten. وحتى لو على دراية وعارفة كل حاجة المفروض انها تظهرله ده ولا دايما تكون قدامه زى القطة المغمضة او الملاك البرئ اللى مايعرفش اى حاجة عن اى حاجة؟ And even if [she] is knowledgeable and knows everything, should she show him that, or when she's in front of him always be like a little kitten or innocent angel who doesn't know anything about anything?

شرب - يشرب

Aside from meaning "to drink," شرب can also mean "to smoke" (ex. cigarettes or shisha), or "to absorb or soak in." الحيطان بتشرب الشمس طول اليوم

طلع - يطلع

Aside from meaning "to go up," it can also mean "to turn out (to be s.t.)." فكرته راجل كويس بس طبع كداب الاكل طلع حلو

نام - ينام

Aside from meaning "to sleep," in the context of a tire or battery, naam can mean "to go flat," as in العجلة نايمة (il-3agala nayma), The tire is flat.

في آخر الدنيا

At the ends of the earth; can be used to indicate great distance

مهبّب

Bad, lousy. Lit. "blackened with soot." يا نهار اسود! يا نهار اسود ومهبب!

بلدي

Baladi can mean: (1) local, traditional Egyptian (as in رقص بلدي ra'S baladi, local Egyptian-style dancing, or عيش بلدي 3eiš baladi, local coarse whole-meal bread); (2) common or garden, ordinary; (3) of the more rural or lower class; upper middle-class Cairenes often refer to something as being "baladi" in a condescending way; (4) vulgar

يدوب

Barely, hardly انا يدوب واخد نفسي انا يدوب ماخدتش نفسي

على الهركرك

Barely, just enough. الميزانية ماشية على الهركرك

استرجل

Be a man

طوّل بالك

Be patient

زي القمر

Beautiful (literally: like the moon)

احترم نفسك

Behave yourself, be polite (literally: respect yourself)

بين فكيّ الكمّاشة

Between a rock and a hard place (literally: between the plier's jaws)

متكبّر على

Bigheaded. To say that someone is متكبر على خلق الله (metkabbar 3ala xal' allaah) — looks down on God's creations — or متكبر على الناس اللى حواليه (metkabbar 3ala n-naas illi Hawaleih) — looks down on the people around him — means that the person is really full of himself and thinks he's better than everyone else.

بتاع

Bitaa3 is a flexible word with different meanings: (1) it can indicate possession, particularly in situations where the normal iDaafa structure might cause confusion. الكتاب بتاع الطالب الجديد نضارة شمس بتاعته (2) In a more general sense, it can also indicate an association or a general tendency/inclination. الراجل بتاع اللبن هو راجل بتاع الله ده كلام بتاع ستات انا مش بتاع جواز راجل بتاع نسوان (3) بتاع ايه (bitaa3 eih) can mean "Why, what for?" or "How come?" بتاع ايه تاخد جنيه؟ بتاع ايه ماقلتلوش؟ (4) It can also indicate a genitive relationship. الاثار بتاعة مصر بتاع زمان (5) Or it can indicate approximation, like تقريبا (ta'riiban) or حوالي (Hawaali). جبت بتاع كيلو (6) Especially with a "wa-" it can mean "and so on, and what not." رحنا السوق وبتاع يمكن نلاقي حتة جلد وبتاع (7) And finally, I hear it used frequently to mean "the thingamajig, the whatchamacallit." فين البتاع ده؟

على بَلاَطَة

Bluntly خلينا نتكلم على بلاطة. Let's talk bluntly; let's not mince words.

مكحكح مهكع

Broken-down, decrepit. Can be used to describe someone who's old and in bad health, or an old, broken-down object like a car.

بالدراع

By force (literally: by the arm)

على فكرة

By the way, incidentally

طول بعرض

Can be used in reference to a man to refer to their muscular build (literally: height by breadth)

على الله

Can be used: (1) when refusing alms to a beggar (as in "God will provide") or (2) to imply misgivings about an outcome السباك قال لي انه جاي على طول - على الله يجي دلوقتي

مية مية

Can mean either "great" or "definitely." Literally, "100%."

قفتشك

Caught you! Said jokingly. For example, if you caught your brother sneaking a piece of cake out of the kitchen, you could tell him, قفتشك!

غرقان/نايم في العسل

Completely ignorant/unaware of what's going on around you. Kind of like "living under a rock." (Lit. drowning/sleeping in honey.) الدنيا مقلوبة وانتو نايمين في العسل

ناجح بتلاتة

Completely successful

شايف نفسه

Conceited هو فاكر نفسه حلو اوى ومفيش حد زيه وفاكر ان البنات هتموت عليه بس هو غلطان جدا لان البنات مش بتحب الشاب اللى شايف نفسه.

كوسا

Connections; someone you know who can grease the wheels for you. This form of corruption is present on a high level, but also in everyday life; if you know the right people, you can manage to get through bureaucracy quicker, get a job, etc. — things that would be difficult or impossible without such connections. Colloquially, some people in Jordan and the Gulf call it "vitamin wow." In more standard Arabic, it's called a wasTa (واسطة); in Tunisia it's كتاف (ktaaf, literally "shoulders"). كوسا literally means "zucchini." دى انتخابات المجلس المحلى ولا الحزب الوطنى؟ هما اكيد العشرة اللى مش حزب وطنى عندهم كوسة جامدة خلتهم ينجحوا.

معزز مكرم

Content and well-taken-care-of. Usually used in the context of a son or daughter staying at home with their parents.

مهووس بـ

Crazy about s.t.

الغمز واللمز

Criticizing and slandering; maligning and defaming

اتكل على الله

Depend on God; you can tell someone اتكل على الله to mean "Go away!"

ايده طايلة

Describes someone strong who can do anything المرة دى نازل قصادى واحد تقيل اوي وايده طايلة. كل اهل البلد لاممين حواليه

جنازة ويِشْبَع فيها لَطْم

Describes someone who looks for other people's troubles to enjoy talking about them. Literally describes someone at a funeral procession who "gets full" on لطم. The verb لطمت - تلطم على وشها\خدودها (laTamit - tulTum 3ala wiššaha/xududha) is used to describe women at funeral processions in rural or poor areas who slap their faces in grief. الراجل ده مجنــون عاوز جنازة ويشبع فيها لطم يموت في المصائب علشان كده دايما يظهر لما يكون فيه مصيبة ربنا يكرمه علي اد نيتة قادر ياكريم. That man (Mortada Mansour) is insane; he wants to dig up tragedies to go on and on about them. He loves disasters, so he always shows up when there's a disaster. May God be generous with him according to his intentions (i.e. he'll get what he deserves). الراجل ده عامل زي نسوان المصاطب..عاوز جنازه ويشبع فيها لطم..وبيهيص في الهيصه That man is acting like a gossipy woman.* He's looking for a problem to make a fuss about; he just makes a big commotion [about it]. * مصطبة (ج) مصاطب (maSTaba [pl.] maSaaTib) is a bench of mud or brick that sits outside people's houses in rural areas. Here the idea is that women sit on these benches gossiping with each other.

وِدْنِ من طِين ووِدن من عَجين

Describes someone who's turning a deaf ear to what you're saying. Lit. an ear [blocked] by mud and an ear blocked by dough. ما طول عمرهم عارفين اللي بيحصل. وطول عمرهم ودن من طين وودن من عجين. They've always known what's going on. And they've always ignored it. و تليفزيونات العالم كل يوم بيعرضوا بهدلة الناس كل يوم فى طوابير العيش وبقت فضيحة عالمية و الزعيم عامل ودن من طين وودن من عجين. And the TVs of the world are showing the mess every day, people in bread lines every day. It's become a global scandal, and the president (lit. the leader) isn't listening.

ماتْقَلِّبْش عليا المَوَاجِع

Don't rub salt in my wounds; don't make me feel even worse than I already do. بس ياخويا ماتكلمني في الموضوع ده احسن انا مش هعرف امسك دموعي ماتقلبش عليا المواجع بقي يالا حد يقب بمنديل بقي احسن Enough, man, it'd be better if you don't talk to me about this topic. I won't be able to hold back my tears! Don't rub salt in my wounds. Come on, someone dig up a tissue [for me].

ولا يهمّك

Don't worry

على سنجة عشرة

Dressed to the nines

إيد ورا وايد قدام

Empty-handed. Used for situations in which one would be expected to bring a gift, but didn't. Lit. one hand behind and one in front, as if you were naked and covering yourself up. جبت ايه معاك والا جاي ايد ورا وايد قدام What did you bring with you, or have you come empty-handed?

على ودنه

Everywhere. الفساد والنصب بقت على ودنه

أَدِّيْك قُلْتَهَا بِعَظْمِة لِسَانَك

Exactly; you can say that again! Used to express agreement with something someone's just said. Lit. You said it with the bone of your tongue. ومفيش تغيير من غير تمن.. إن الله لا يغير ما بقوم حتى يغيروا ما بأنفسهم.. - أديك قلتها بعظمة لسانك ، نغير ما بأنفسنا الأول! And change can't happen without a price to be paid. "God doesn't change the condition of people until they change it themselves." - [Response:] That's right! We have to change ourselves first.

يا خبر أبيض | اسود

Expresses surprise about a piece of news; you can say just يا خبر! or يا خبر ابيض in reaction to any news; يا خبر اسود is used in reaction to bad news.

في نص هدومه

Extremely embarrassed. Lit. to be in half your clothes, i.e. to want to shrink down and hide so your body is only covered by half your clothes. انتى عارفه انا بكون فى نص هدومى من الكسوف وبقول يارب اليوم يعدى بقى وبحس انى اتخرست ومش عارفه اتكلم خالص ولا بنص كلمه You know I (always) get so embarrassed and hope the day ends (as soon as possible), and feel that I've been struck dumb and can't say even half a word.

زي اللبلب

Fluently; used in reference to someone's language abilities

من الباب للطاق

For no apparent reason (literally: from the door to the opening) ده رفض كده من الباب للطاق

عالفاضي

For nothing صرفت الفلوس دى عالفاضي

عشان خاطرك

For your sake

غصب عنه

Forced on someone, against their will

مِنْ يُومُه

From the start; all his life. أنا مش عارفة هي البلد دي إيه اللي حصلها ولا هي من يومها كدة وإحنا اللي مش كنا شايفين I don't know what happened to this country, or if it's always been like this, and we didn't see it. انت اصلا منحوس من يومك ونحستنى معاك وكل ما اخرج معاك لازم نتخانق علشان شكلك ميخليش الواحد يحترمه ابدا You've been unlucky all your life, and you've brought me bad luck; whenever I go out with you, we inevitably fight with each other, because the way you look doesn't make anyone respect you at all.

من شوشته لحد أخمص رجله

From the top of his head to the tips of his toes.

من بقك لباب السما

From your lips to God's ear (lit. heaven's gate), i.e. "I hope that what you're predicting/hoping really happens."

بيزنطي

Futile, pointless (literally: Byzantine) ما تدخلش في مهاترات تضيع وقتك، وما تدخلش في مناقشات بيزنطية Don't get into a war of words that'll waste your time, and don't get into pointless discussions.

جدع (ج) جدعان

Gada3 can have several different meanings: (1) smart and hard-working; (2) someone with integrity and nobility of character; (3) a manly tough guy. A general, vague translation could be "a good guy." It can also be used to address a young man (يا جدع). It's not always used to describe men, but it often is; if a woman displays one of these characteristics, she can also be called a جدعة.

مسمار جحا

Goha's nail. An excuse or pretext to keep one's foot in the door. Goha is a popular character from folktales. The story goes that he sold his house except for one nail, with a stipulation that he could come back and do whatever he wanted with the nail whenever. So later whenever he would get annoyed with the new owner of the house, he would come back and hammer on the nail.

شيش بيش

Half blind

معذور في الفلوس

Hard-up for money

يسرق الكحل من العين

He could steal the eyeliner from your eye. (Used to describe a big thief.)

ربنا نفخ في صورته

He did well this time (unlike usual); he got lucky. (literally: God blew on his picture) ربنا ينفخ في صورتك يا زمالك وماتخيبش رجائى

راح في شَرْبِة مَيَّه

He died a sudden or pointless death

مالوش في الطَّيِّب نَصِيب

He doesn't have what it takes to mingle with the good people. This expression can be used when someone rejects someone else, deeming them unworthy of coming to a party they're hosting, for instance. Or it can be used to lament one's own bad luck. على العموم انا هاقوم واشوف تربيزة تانية. واضح انى ماليش فى الطيب نصيب. ودايما هاقعد لوحدى. يالا خيرها فى غيرها. Anyway, I'm going to get up and find another table. It's clear I'm not welcome, and I'll always sit by myself. Well, maybe I'll have better luck next time.

نفد بجلده

He escaped by the skin of his teeth (literally: he escaped with his skin) مبروك يا عم إنك نفدت بجلدك من ثانوي .. ومبروك إنك هتبقا من طلاب الجامعة 1000 1000 مبروووك... Congratulations on escaping from high school with your life, man. And congratulations on becoming a university student. A thousand congratulations!

طِلِع منها زَيّ الشَعْرَة من العَجِين

He got away with it, wriggled out of punishment cleverly (in the context of a crime). Lit. to emerge from it like a hair from dough. مش برده الأخ خميس ده اللي دفع رشاوي للقضاة وطلع منها زي الشعرة من العجين ولا انا غلطان؟ Isn't that guy (Mohamed Farid) Khamis the one who paid bribes to judges and got away with it, or am I wrong?

ماتتبلش في بقه فولة

He has a big mouth; he can't keep his mouth shut about anything. (literally: a bean wouldn't get wet in his mouth)

ماعندوش دمّ

He has no shame (literally: no blood) الى يسيب البلد دى بعد الناس الى ماتت علشانها يبقى ماعندوش دم.

مالوش دعوى بـ

He has nothing to do with (s.t.) or no right to interfere in it; you can tell someone مالكش دعوى بي (malakš da3wa biyya) to tell them to leave you alone and stop meddling in your affairs.

الفار لعب في عبّه

He smelled a rat, began to have suspicions. (literally: the mouse played in the gap between s.o.'s shirt and chest.)

حباله طويلة

He takes a long time to get anything done (literally: his ropes are long)

نزل من عيني

He went down in my estimation, my opinion of him fell (literally: he fell from my eye) وانا بصراحة البنت دى كنت باحبها فى الاول لانها موهوبه بس دلوقتى خلاص نزلت من عيني.

بُرْج من عَقْلُه/مُخُّه/دِمَاغُه/نَافوخُه طَار/يِطِير

He went out of his mind. (literally: a tower from his mind/brain/head flew.) There are a lot of variants of this expression; any is fine.

ايده تتلفّ في حرير

He's a great craftsman, skillful at his job. (literally: his hand (deserves to be) wrapped in silk)

يده خفيفة

He's a thief, he's light-fingered (lit. his hands are light).

عينيه مليانة

He's economically comfortable/well-off. Lit. "his eyes are full."

راسه ناشفة

He's hard-headed, stubborn (literally: his head is dry)

عزبة ابوه

His personal property to do with as he likes (literally: his father's estate or farmland) نفسى اقول حاجة كل التعليقات بتشتم فى جمال يعنى الناس مش عاوزاه وهى مصر عزبة ابوه عشان يورثه I want to say something, all the comments are insulting Gamal [Mubarak]; it means the people don't want him. Is Egypt his father's personal property, for him to bequeath it to him? Note that توريث is commonly used in Egypt to refer to Mubarak's plan to have his son "inherit" the presidency.

شَايل من___.

Holding a grudge against someone انا بس مستغربة لان لو هي شايله منه، وهو شايل منها، ليه هما اصحاب لغاية دلوقتى؟ I'm just surprised, because if she's holding a grudge against him, and he's holding a grudge against her, why are they still friends?

بالذمة

Honestly, really بالذمة، دى مش مسخرة؟

حاجة غريبة

How strange!

مابطيقش

I can't stand (something) أنا بكره محمد سعد! دمه يلطش، مابطيقش أتفرج عليه

اللهم بلغت، اللهم فاشهد

I warned you, and you didn't listen to me, so if things turn out badly for you, it's your fault.

إِبْقَى قابِلْنِي لو...

I'll eat my hat if... You can have a laugh at my expense if... ابقى قابلني لو حليت اللغز ده I'll eat my hat if you [can] solve this puzzle. (i.e. I bet you can't solve this puzzle.)

ماليش ماعنديش مزاج

I'm not in the mood, I don't feel like it ماعنديش مزاج دلوقتي للحكاية دى

أم الكبائر

In Islam, it means the biggest sin you can commit. Colloquially, it's more loosely used to mean something like "the worst thing you can do."

تعبان

In addition to "tired," it can mean "sick, ill" or "poor, of bad quality." انا تعبانة من سهرة امبارح هو تعبان أوي اليومين دول فيلم تعبان أوي

نضيف (ج) نضاف

In addition to meaning "clean/free of impurities," نضيف can mean: (1) presentable or neat and proper-looking; (2) honest, upright, morally decent; (3) high-quality, excellent.

عرف يعرف

In addition to meaning "to know s.t.," 3araf can mean: (1) to have the ability to do s.t. تعرف تعوم؟ (2) to manage to ماعرفتش انام امبارح (3) to discover or find out s.t. فضلت رايح وجاي من غير فايدة لحد ما عرفت انه عايز فلوس (4) to recognize or distinguish s.t. ماعرفتكيش وانتى لابسة نضارة (5) to show consideration for العالم هنا مايعرفوش بعض

حرارة

In addition to the usual meaning of "heat," Haraara can also mean an electric current in the context of a phone line. If someone is checking to see if there's a ring tone, you can ask them, في حرارة (fii Haraara?). ماقدرتش اتصل بيك, ماكانش فيه حرارة

ماينفعش

It does no good, it's useless. It can also mean "it's not right/good" or "one can't/shouldn't." دكتووور؟ قلبك أبيض.. الساعة دلوقتى 7 بالليل وكله بيقفل هنا الساعة 5.. وغير كدة لازم تكونى حاجزة ميعاد.. وماينفعش أى دكتور لازم الدكتور اللى إحنا مسجلين معاه.. ولو افترضنا إنى عايزة أحجز طوارىء.. يبقى لازم اتصل بيهم 9 صباحا. ماينفعش ابدا نستخدم روج احمر الصبح "مهما كنتى مبسوطة" و لا دهبى ولا نحاسى ولا فوشيا فاقع و ماينفعش نحط اي شادو اسود و لا فضى ولا اى لون جليتر و احنا رايحين الشغل. و ماينفعش نستخدم رموش صناعية و احنا خارجين نتغدى مع اصحابنا او رايحين الملاهى مثلا.

مافيش فايدة

It's no use, it's pointless جربت كل حاجه و برده مفيش فايده ، خلاص ارجع لربنا بقى.

فات الاوان

It's too late

فركة كعب

Just a short distance away يا عم طنطا بينك وبينها فركه كعب بس احنا بنختار اللي يناسب الكل Tanta's just a short distance away from you [lit. between you and Tanta is a short distance], we're choosing [a location] that suits everyone.

زي علب كبريت

Like packs of matches (the equivalent of "packed like sardines")

زي القطة تاكل وتنكر

Like the cat who eats and denies (that she just ate). Used to describe someone ungrateful.

أصلا

Lit. "originally." It can also mean "basically/fundamentally" or "to begin with." انا ليه مصرية اصلا مش بحب مصر و مش عايزة اكون مصرية و شكلى مش مصرى و تفكيرى مش مصرى ليه اعيش هنا Why am I Egyptian to begin with? I don't love Egypt, I don't want to be Egyptian, I don't look Egyptian, I don't think like an Egyptian, why do I live here? انا عمرى ماباخد اميلات بنات واضيفها عندى على الياهو ابدا لإنى اصلا مبحاولش اعرف بنات ف الحقيقى أو عالنت I never get girls' email addresses and add them on Yahoo, because I don't try to get to know girls in real life or on the net to begin with. مفيش حاجه من اللى بيقولها حصلت اصلاً None of what he says ever happened to begin with. خالد دة مفيش منه رجا عشان هو ضميره مش نضيف اصلا There's no hope for that Khaled, because he's got a fundamentally unclean conscience. و ثاني شئ اسواق الامارات كبيرة و منتجاتها من انحاء العالم ومن مصر كما ن فايه الدليل انو هي البضاعة مش طالعة من مصر اصلا فالامارات ما بتصنعش شباشب فمحدش يعرف مصدرها اصلا [Re. a story about slippers with the Egyptian flag on them that were being sold in the Emirates] Second, the Emirati markets are big, and their products are from all over the world, and also from Egypt, so what's the proof that the goods aren't originally from Egypt? The Emirates don't manufacture slippers, so no one knows where they're originally from [lit. their original source].

مرتبط

Literally "connected," but can be used to mean "taken" in a romantic sense; the person in question has a boyfriend or girlfriend. مين الحلو ده؟ مرتبط؟

متدروخ

Literally "dizzy," but it can also mean really exhausted.

مكسّح

Literally mikassaH means crippled, but it can also mean really exhausted, so tired you can't move.

زبيبة

Literally زبيبة means "raisin," but it can also refer to the dark bump on the forehead that some very pious Muslim men get after lots of praying (since you touch your forehead to the ground repeatedly during prayer).

احتار يحتار

Literally, to be confused, but it can also mean "to try your hardest and still fail." احترت يا ربي، احترت!

ملحلح

Lively and resourceful, enterprising

كذا مرة

Many times

خليك في حالك

Mind your own business

ساذج

Naive. However, "saazig" has a more negative connotation than the English "naive" does; "saazig" is like being naive to the point of total cluelessness.

في المشمش

Never; when pigs fly. Used to express skepticism about something happening (literally: in the apricot season) يااه يا حبيبتى انتى تؤمرى وانا انفذ اللى انتى عايزاه اجبهولك. - فى المشمش.

لا أبيض ولا اسود

No money at all (literally: neither black nor white) ماعندوش لا ابيض ولا اسود

مافيش مشكلة

No problem

مش بطال

Not bad

شيّب

Not just to give someone a hard time, to put them through the wringer. At the Military Academy, the non-commissioned officers say this to intimidate the cadets — هشيّبكو النهارده! (hašayyibku n-nahaarda!) It can also describe something really scary — ده موضوع يشيّب (da mawDuu3 yišayyib) Lit. to make s.o.'s hair turn white.

على ما يرام

Okay, decent

على لحم بطنه

On an empty stomach (literally: on the meat of his stomach)

على حسابي

On my bill; I'm the one who pays. Can be used to offer to pay for dinner, etc. (literally: on my account)

على بعضـ

Oneself فى أيه يا بت يا سنية مالك مش على بعضك ليه .. حصل ايه يا بت؟

مِشْ لاقِي اللَّضَى

Penniless; like ما حيلتوش الهوا. يبقى انت معاك فلوس مخبيها وبتفنجر على العالم من ورايا وسايبنى هنا مش لاقيه اللضا So you have money you're hiding and blowing it* on everyone else behind my back, leaving me here without a penny. * فنجر - يفنجر (fangar - yifangar) means "to spend money extravagantly." A فنجري (fangari) is a "big spender."

ناس مابتجيش الا بالعين الحمرا

People who only do things the hard way, like after being yelled at (literally: who only come by the red/evil eye) الشعب المصري البعض منهم حنين و قلبو كبير و ماتنفعش معهم إلا الهداوة و الكلام الحنين والبعض مايجيش الا بالعين الحمرا.

زي الفل

Perfect (literally: like jasmine)

اعمل معروف

Please, do something nice; do me a favor اعمل معروف يا أستاذ تعمل لى لا مؤاخذه استئناف فى المصيبة اللى أنا فيها دى!

كرش

Potbelly; you can call someone with a potbelly ابو كرش (abu kirš).

زي الأطرش في الزفة

Really out of it; describes someone who doesn't know what's going on around him (literally: like a deaf man at a wedding)

بلسان طويل

Rudely, insultingly (literally: with a long tongue)

يفتح الله

Said between a seller and buyer, if one doesn't accept the other's price; the meaning is like "May God open (another opportunity)."

لا حَيَاة لِمَن تُنَادِي

Said sarcastically to someone who just doesn't get what you're saying. It's kind of mean, so be careful how you use it.

حتّة (ج) حتت

Several meanings: (1) a piece or bit, like a piece of food or material; (2) place or neighborhood

اسكت اخرس

Shut up. اسكت is more polite than اخرس, which is rude.

لحلوح (ج) لحاليح

Slang for a pound (money), especially in the context of bribery

نايم زي الفسيخة

Sleeping like a log. Lit. sleeping like a type of fish pickled with salt that's eaten during the Egyptian holiday of Shamm el-Nesim. أنا بقى يا مي باكره الحبوب المنومة لأنها بتخليني أنام زي الفسيخة. May, I hate sleeping pills because they make me sleep like a log.

على مهلك

Slowly, take your time; you can say this to a driver to try and get him to slow down. ليه مستعجله على مهلك. في العجله الندامه وفي التأني السلامه.

مش ولا بدّ

So-so, not very good

عنده وشّ

Someone crazy (literally: who has a buzz/hum) مرتضى منصور عندة وش فى دمغة مفكر ان كل البلد حراميه وفاسديين وهو الوحيد النظيف.

مصلحجي

Someone who is totally self-interested and opportunistic. From مصلحة (maSlaHa), "interest." Synonym with منفعجي (manfa3gi).

جهبز

Someone who knows a lot about a field; an expert or authority. حسني مبارك راجل مش هايتعوض تاني ومفيش زيه لانه راجل جهبز وزكي Hosni Mubarak is a man who can't be replaced. There's no one like him, because he's an expert, smart man.

زغلول (ج) زغاليل

Someone young; "just a kid." Lit. a young bird. ارجع معايا بذاكرتك (لو لسا فاضل عندك ذاكرة) لقبل الكلية وانت زغلول صغير (او صغيرة) في ثانوية عمال يوم ما طلعت النتيجة ولقيت نفسك جايب (جايبة) 99.5% )...والزغاريت اشتغلت...الواد هيدخل كلية الطب (ولا كأنك فتحت عكة Go back in your memory (if you still have one) with me to before college, when you were just a kid (or girl) in high school, when the [college entrance exam] results came out and you found you were in the 99.5% percentile, and the trills of joy* started..."The boy'll go to medical school!" (it's not like you had conquered Acre).** * زغاريت (singular زغروتة zaġruuta) are the trills of joy Arab women make at joyful occassions like weddings. ** A city in Israel that was much fought over during the Crusades. Conquering it, then, would be a big achievement.

في رقبة __

Someone's responsibility (literally: on someone's neck) دينك ده هيفضل في رقبتي طول عمري

فيلم هندي

Something can be described as an Indian (Bollywood) movie if it's really fantastical and impossible.

زي ورقة البوسطة

Something guaranteed (literally: like a stamp)

عبارة عن

Something like... Merely something similar to... Tantamount to... دا حتى الفينو غلى والعيش ابو ربع جنيه الرغيف بقى عباره عن ورقه سيجاره الواحد عاوز رغفين علشان يحس بالشبع Even white bread has gotten expensive, and [regular] bread costs four pounds; a loaf has gotten [as thin as] a cigarette paper. You need two loaves to feel full.

نمر | لقيم (ج) لقماء

Somone cunning and sly (نمر literally means "tiger")

ده كلام أي كلام

That's a bunch of nonsense

الخط طار

The (phone) line went dead. (literally: the line flew.)

بلطجي (ج) بلطجية

The balTagiyya are "thugs," but beyond that, the word is typically used in reference to criminals, unemployed youths, or poor people the Egyptian government has paid to disrupt elections, attack and intimidate political protesters, and provoke violence and chaos as an excuse for a crackdown. Basically, they did the regime's dirty work. Since the fall of the Mubarak regime in 2011, people have been liberally applying the term "balTagiyya" to anyone they want to blame for the problems in Egypt. البلطجية اللي نزلت ايام الثورة دي مش صدفة او ناس خارجين عن القانون واستغلوا الانفلات الامني وكلنا عارفين كدا كويس انهم دول نفسهم اللي كنا بنشوفهم ايام الانتخابات عند صناديق الاقتراع وهم نفسهم الي كنا بنشوفهم ايام المظاهرات نازلين وسطينا بيخدمة يعني تقدروا تقولوا كدا انهم تبع الداخلية والحزب الوطني .. بيشتغلة عندهم وليهم بس مش لابسين ميري او معاهم كارنيهات مكتوب عليها المهنة بلطجي The thugs who came out during the revolution didn't do it by coincidence; they weren't [just] people operating outside the law who exploited the lack of security. And we all know that perfectly well, that they're the same ones we saw during the elections at the ballot boxes. And they're the same ones we saw during the demonstrations...So you can say they're affiliated with the Interior Ministry and the National Party...they work for them, but not in uniform or carrying ID cards with "thug" written on them for "profession." الناس اللي ورا المواجهات عند مديرية الامن في اسكندرية عايزين الشعب يفهم ان الناس طالعة ومعاها مولوتوف. لكن الحقيقة ان الامن معاه بلطجية وده شيء مش جديد وشغلتهم انهم يستفزوا الناس ويقوموهم علشان يفتعلوا مواجهة The people behind the clashes at the Directorate of Security in Alexandria want the people to think that the people had Molotov cocktails with them. But the truth is that the security forces had thugs with them, and that's not a new thing. Their job is to provoke people and incite them in order to start a confrontation.

عقدة الخواجة

The feeling, common in Egypt, that local things are inferior and foreign — especially Western — things are better. A sort of cultural inferiority complex, with the additional connotation of admiration of foreign things simply because they're foreign. For example, people often think that foreign brands/imports must be higher quality than local. Or, if an Arab government brought in a bunch of Brits to write a report on the internal workings of that Arab country and give recommendations on how to improve things, without the input of a single Arab, you might say it's because عندهم عقدة الخواجة (3andohom 3o'dit il-xawaaga). Literally, the "foreigner complex."

أفلام الموسم

The latest trend (literally: the season's [current] movies)

حنبلي

The literal meaning of this word refers to the Hanbali school of interpretation in Sunni Islam, which is generally considered the strictest of the four traditional mazaahib. When used outside this context in colloquial Arabic, though, it describes someone who is very strict — a martinet. It can also have a connotation of religious strictness.

صَبْر أَيُّوب

The patience of Job. Used like the English expression; if someone is very patient, you can tell them, عندك صبر ايوب. ايه رأيك في الاشكال دي؟؟؟ اللى بيعملوها دول عندهم صبر ايوب يا بنتي...انا لو مكانهم هاهد الاشكال دي مع اول حاجة مش تعجبنى... What do you think of these [sand castles]? The people who did them have the patience of Job. If I were in their place, I'd tear them down as soon as I messed up [lit. with the first thing I didn't like].

وليمة (ج) ولايم

The standard meaning is "banquet," but whereas a banquet in English is a formal event, wiliima can be used to describe an informal get-together or party with lots of food.

آخر العنقود

The youngest child in a family. (literally: the last of the bunch (of grapes)) آخر العنقود سكر معقود وبياخد الحب كله وبيبقا متدلع آخر دلع

لا حول ولا قوة الا بالله

There is no power or strength but with God. Used, generally by religious Muslims, on hearing that something bad happened to someone. Or it can express resignation or helplessness.

مافيش حاجة اسمها

There's no such thing as... (literally: there's nothing called...)

اللى كَلُوه وِزّ وِزّ هَيِطْلَع عَلَيْهُم بَطِّ بَطّ

They'll get what's coming to them; they'll get what they deserve. Lit. What they ate as a goose will turn out to be a duck. الراجل ده لازم يتحاكم او يتعمل فيه زى ماتعمل فى القذافى و اللى قاله وز وز بكره يطلع عليه بط بط. That man should be tried, or he should get the same treatment Qaddafi got (i.e. death) — his just deserts.

وقع الفاس في الراس

Things have gone past the point of no return, there's nothing that can be done about it now. The situation is ended. (literally: the hoe has fallen on the head)

بقى يبقى

This can be a verb meaning "to become" or more generally "to be." But it can also be a particle used to follow up on a statement, like "So..." or "Then..." لو عايز تنجح، يبقى لازم تذاكر خلصت وخدت لسانس الحقوق...اعمل ايه بقى؟

أتاري

This can be used before a noun or attached to a pronoun suffix to indicate the discovery of something. Like "It turns out..." اتاري مش بس انا اللي خبصت في رمضان طلعتي زيي واكتر. Turns out it's not just me who "cheated" during Ramadan [i.e. ate when I wasn't supposed to], you've turned out to be like me and more.

ماجابتوش ولّادة

This expression describes someone who thinks they're so great, no one else can come close to their amazingness. حاسس ان موضوع البنات مش لاقيه ده خلى كل واحد فى البلد فاكر نفسه لقطه و ماجابتوش ولاده ده مشكلته انه الإعلام هلل له كتير وخلاه يفتكر انه المخرج اللى ماجابتوش ولادة، صحيح هو له حاجات كويسة لكن مش للدرجة دى

إِيدُه سايْبة

This expression has two possible meanings: (1) that someone is extravagant, like ايده مخرومة (iidu maxruuma), or (2) that someone is clumsy and drops things a lot, like "butterfingers." اوعى تبعزقهم ، ما انا عارفاك ايدك سايبة ، اصرف نصهم ، افتخ عيادة بالنص التانى. Don't squander (the money); I know you're extravagant. Spend half, and open a clinic with the other half.

إن الله لا يغير ما بقوم حتى يغيروا ما بأنفسهم

This is from sura 13 (ar-ra3d) in the Qur'an. It means "God doesn't change the condition of people until they change it themselves." Used to urge people to take the initiative to change themselves, instead of waiting for some outside force.

فات يفوت

This verb can have multiple meanings. (1) to pass by. It can be used to refer to missing something, like an opportunity, or a bus you didn't catch. الدور فاتك (2) to elapse, go by (in reference to time) يللا بقى، معاد نومك فات من زمان (3) to pay a call or drop by. طب هفوت عليك بكرة

حِيْلَة

This word can be used to refer to someone's possessions. Or it can be used to say that someone is an only child, or to call someone حيلة أمه (a mama's boy) in a very negative way, often when someone is acting spoiled. أرﺍﻫﻦ ﻟﻮ ﺗﻢ ﺗﻘﺴﻴﻢ ﻣﺼﺮ ﺇﻟﻰ ﺩﻭﻟﺔ ﻟﻴﺒﺮﺍﻟﻴﺔ ﺣﺮﺓ .. ﻭ ﺩﻭﻟﺔ ﺩﻳﻨﻴﺔ ﺇﻥ % 90 ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺸﻌﺐ ﺍﻟﻤﺼﺮﻯ ﻫﻴﻨﺘﺨﺐ ﺍﻟﺜﺎﻧﻴﺔ ﻭ ﺣﻴﺮﻭﺡ ﻳﻌﻴﺶ ﻓﻰ ﺍﻷﻭﻟﻰ ﺑﺎﻟﻈﺒﻂ زى ﺍﻟﻠﻲ ﻳﻬﺎﺟﻢ ﺍﻣﺮﻳﻜﺎ ﻭ ﻣﺴﺘﻌد يبيع اللي حيلته عشان يعيش فيها I bet if Egypt were divided into a free, liberal country and a religious country, 90% of the people would vote for the second and go live in the first, just like those who attack the US while they're ready to sell everything they own to live there. عاوز اصلح التلفزيون ذا انا ما حيلتيش غيرو ومش قادر اشتري تلفزيون تاني I want to fix the TV, since I don't own anything else, and I can't buy another TV. بقى هو ده الى عاجبك بعد كل الى رفضتيهم .... ده ما حلتوش الهوا .. وبيشتغل مندوب فى شركة مستلزمات طبيه بمرتب ما ياكلكوش عيش حاف ...ولا اهله .!!!! ابوه موظف على اد حاله فى الزراعه .. وامه ست بيت وشكلها مش متعلم ولا بالكتير معاها اعداديه He's the guy you like after all the ones you refused? He doesn't have a penny to his name(1). He works as a medical equipment company representative(2), for a salary that wouldn't pay for a hunk of bread(3), let alone feed a family! His father is a poor(4) agricultural employee, and his mother stays at home, and doesn't seem educated or even like she finished middle school. 1 ما حيلتوش الهوا literally means "He doesn't [even] own the air," i.e. he's penniless. 2 A مندوب is sent around to different places to advertise company products and so forth, like how a pharmaceutical company rep goes to different doctors' offices to advertise the company's drugs. It's a low-level job. 3 عيش حاف refers to bread by itself, without any food accompanying it — a sign of poverty. 4 راجل على قد حاله means "a poor man." لكن هو طبعا الصغير .. ده غير انه الولد الحيلة .. ازاى يعنى ميبقاش متدلع .... دلعهم ده خلاه بقى راجل انانى But of course he's the youngest...that's aside from the fact that he's the only boy. So how would he not be spoiled? Their spoiling of him made him into a selfish man. الواد حيلة امه عاوز يقعد ع الكومبيوتر...بيقولي ماتجيبلك لاب توب لك .....عيال اخر زمن ......ده مش عيل ده شحط ف 2 ثانوي ....بس مدمن كومبيوتر والعاب That guy is a mama's boy who wants to sit on the computer, and tells me, "Why don't you bring a laptop for yourself?" Kids these days! He's not a kid, he's a big hulk of a guy in high school who just sits around like a bum all day, and is addicted to computers and games.

قد البلية

Tiny, very small. (literally: the size of a marble.)

حَطّ/يِحُطّ اِلْبَنْزِين عَ اْلنَّار

To add fuel to the flames. Lit. to put oil on the fire. الى بيعملوا الفتن دول ناس جبانه تلاقيهم بيعملوا الموضوع ويخرجوا. على طول هما كده حطوا البنزين على النار وجريوا وسابوا الناس تشتم فى بعض The people who stir up trouble [lit. make discord] are cowardly people whom you find talking about the issue, then leaving. Just like that, they pour fuel on the flames and run, leaving people insulting each other.

وَجَع يِوْجَع راسه

To annoy or inconvenience someone (literally: hurt their head) ما تقلقش بالنسبة للأسئلة... أكيد هأسألك تانى و أوجع راسك... بس انت اللى طلبت و ما أقدرش أرفض لك طلب يا احمد.

باين على

To appear or seem a certain way باين عليها مش مبسوطة باين عليك متضايق

دخل يدخل من الباب

To approach the matter of marriage in a legitimate, sanctioned way. Lit. to enter by the door (as opposed to the window) — so instead of a boy going out with a girl secretly, he goes to her parents and asks for her hand ايه الغلط في كده يا مرقص وماله...احنا داخلين من الباب

وَصَّى/يِوَصِّي__على

To ask that someone take care of or look after someone else. Often used in the context of a "kosa." انت ابن حد هنا او حد انا اعرفه؟ - لا. - طيب اطلع برة وانده لي مها طيمور عشان دكتور سامي صادق مصّيني عليها. Are you the son of someone here or someone I know? No. Ok, go outside and call Maha Taymour for me, because Dr. Sami Sadek asked me to look after her.

يموت في

To be crazy about something (literally: to die in)

أَدَّن/يِدَّن في مالطا

To be talking to a brick wall, or feel like you're wasting your breath on someone who's not listening to you. Literally, to make the azaan (Muslim call to prayer) in Malta, which historically is very Catholic. فعلا بيحاول يعمل الصح لكن محدش معاه وبحس انه بيدن فى مالطا He really tries to do the right thing, but no one supports him, and I feel like he's wasting his breath on people who don't listen. بصوا من الاخر احنا كده بندن في مالطا ومفيش حد سمعنا وعاملين نضيع وقت علي الفاضي Look, from the end, we've been talking to a brick wall, with no one listening to us, just wasting time (lit. losing time for nothing).

مِشِي/يِمْشِي جَنْب الحِيط

To behave in a self-effacing way, keep out of trouble, not make waves. Lit. to walk beside the wall. الحرية الوحيدة أنك تخليك فى حالك وتمشى جنب الحيط The only freedom [here] is for you to mind your own business and stay out of trouble. احنا اتربينا فى بيئة امشى جنب الحيط علشان تعيش.. وده اتزرع فينا من صغرنا .. مع ان اصلا الدنيا ملهاش حيط احنا اللى بنبنيه ونضيق على نفسنا We were raised in an environment of playing it safe or keeping next to the wall in order to live, and that [attitude] was implanted in us from our youth, although the world has no wall; we're the ones who build it and limit ourselves.

عَضّ/يِعُضّ الإِيْد اللى اِتْمَدِّت/بِتِتْمَدِّ لُه

To bite the hand that feeds you. Lit. to bite the hand that was extended to you. [In response to a news story titled نواب يطالبون بإطلاق النار على المتظاهرين - "Representatives [in parliament] call for protestors to be shot"] المفروض النواب دول همة اللى تطلق عليهم النار. لانهم عملوا زى الكلب اللئيم اللى بيعض الايد اللى اتمدت له وخلته يقعد على كرسى فى مجلس الشعب Those representatives are the ones who should be shot, because they're like the deceitful dog that bites the hand that gave it a seat in parliament.

ضرب عليه بمبة

To cheat s.o. of their money

حطّ - يحطّ النقط على الحروف

To clarify something, make everything crystal-clear and precise. (literally: to put the dots on the letters.) ماقدرتش اتصل بيك, ماكانش فيه حرارة

قرق يقرق قرق

To complain about someone enviously, in an "evil eye" kind of way

اِسْتَخَفّ/يِسْتَخَفّ/اِسْتِخْفاف دَمُّه

To consider someone pleasant or fun to be around (خفيف الدم). شغال قوانين وفروض عليها من يوم ما اتجوزوا ... حتى انها اكتر قرايبها بقى ممنوع تزورهم ... ده ما بيستخفش دمه وده بيغير منه ودي رخمه وبتتريق عليه ...حتى اصحابها ... كل واحده بحجه شكل خلاها تبعد عنها [He had] imposed rules and restrictions on her since the day they got married; even most of her relatives had been forbidden to visit them. He thought that one was unpleasant, and this one was jealous of him, and that one was obnoxious and made fun of him. He'd even made every one of her friends distance themselves from her with one excuse or another.

اتصرّف

To cope or manage, to find a way to deal with something. (The more standard meaning is "to act or behave.") ماعرفش اتصرف ازاي لو جوزي مات اعمل ايه في المشكلة دى؟ - اتصرف

طخ يطخ مشوار

To cover a long distance, usually on foot طخيت المشوار ده عالفاضي

حفر/يحفر قبره بايديه

To dig your own grave وبعدين لو الناس اللى فى الميدان روحوا صدقينى همه كدة بيحفروا قبرهم بايديهم، لان الامن المركزى هيلمهم ويوديهم ورا الشمس Plus, if the people in the square* went home, believe me, they'd be digging their own graves, because Central Security would gather them up and lock them away where no one'd ever see them again [lit. "behind the sun"]. * Referring to the protestors in Tahrir Square during the Jan. 25 revolution.

سلق يسلق سلق بيض

To do a job hastily and carelessly just to get it over with. (literally: to boil eggs (because boiling eggs is very easy and quick)) هو بيسلق بيض علشان يخلص الموضوع في غمضة عين

نَفَخ/يُنْفُخ/نَفْخ في قِرْبَة مَقْطوعة

To do something pointless or futile. (literally: to blow in (attempt to inflate) a torn balloon) ياعم إنت بتنفخ فى قربة مقطوعة. دى بلد ما منهاش رجا. إنت بتتعب روحك على إيه؟ مافيش فايدة من الكلام اللى بتقوله. ريّح نفسك، كان غيرك أشطر Buddy, you're wasting your time. This is a country without hope. What are you tiring yourself out for? What you're saying has no use. Relax, other people than you were smarter (i.e. they tried and didn't succeed, so you certainly won't).

طوّل/يطوّل رقبته

To do yourself proud, do something impressive. Lit. to lengthen one's neck.

لفت يلفت نظر

To draw someone's attention. A lafte naZar is a warning, issued by someone's boss, that they need to shape up or there will be consequences. اكتر حاجه لفتت نظري انه رغم التحديات الصعبه الي في حياه الطفل ده الا انه علي وشه ابتسامه غير عاديه ابتسامته لوحدها تدي الابتسامه لاي شخص محتاجها يكون قدامه The thing that really grabbed my attention was how despite the tough challenges in this kid's life, he still has an unusual smile on his face. Just his smile puts a smile on the face of anyone in front of him who needs a smile. المدير لو اتأخر عن ميعاد الشغل ساعتين يبقى كان فى اجتماع مهم. ولو اتأخرت خمس دقايق ابقى كنت بتسنكح فى الشوارع واخد لفت نظر. If my boss is two hours late to work, then he was "in an important meeting." And if I'm five minutes late, that means I was loafing around in the streets and I get a warning.

طَفِّش يِطَفِّش تَطْفِيش

To drive away, scare off. ازاي تطفشي عريس انت مش عايزاه.. واهلك عايزينه ؟!!! How do you drive away a (potential) groom you don't want, (but) your family does?

انفذ ينفذ بجلده

To escape by the skin of your teeth

ضربه على قفاه

To fool someone, make a fool of him (literally: to hit someone on the back of the neck). To literally slap a man on the back of his neck is a huge insult in Egypt; it's seen as humiliating and degrading to one's manhood.

ضحك على

To fool, trick (literally: to laugh at)

شال يشيل (شئ) من الدماغ

To forget about something (literally: to remove it from one's mind) الموضوع ده تشيله من دماغكوا خالص

اتلمّ على

To gather around or gang up on (s.o.)

بار يبور

To get past a marriageable age, become an old maid. هي بارت ومش لاقية حد يجوّزها This is never said about men. You might say هو بار بوالديه (howwa baar bi-walideih), but this would mean that he takes care of his parents well. This expression comes from البر والطقوة (il-birr wiT-Taqwa) — used in reference to organizations that take care of the eldery.

حطّ صوابعه في الشقّ من

To give on s.t., be completely fed up with it. literally: to put one's fingers in the crack. حطيت صوابعي في الشق من الكدابين دول

فَلْسَع/يِفَلْسَع/فَلْسَعَة

To go away, beat it. والبت اللى قعدت ترسم عليها يابنتى انا ممكن اتجوزيك فى اربعة وعشرين ساعة بس اعمل اية بابى حالف ميجوزنى الا لما اخد الشهادة علشان يمسكنى الشركة اكتشفت حقيقتك وفلسعتك. And the girl you'd been interested in, [telling her] "I'd marry you in 24 hours, but what can I do? My dad is insisting that I can't marry until I get my degree, so he can put me in charge of the company"...she discovered the truth and got out of there.

رِجْعِت/تِرْجَع المَيَّاه لِمَجارِيْها

To go back to normal. Lit. the water returned to its (regular) courses. كنت متخاصم مع صاحبى هيثم و هو بالنسبالى اكتر صاحب لكن بعد كده المياه رجعت لمجاريها و تمام قوووووى. I wasn't speaking to my friend Haitham, who's my best friend, but after that things went back to normal and were great.

عَمَل/يِعْمِل زَيّ النَّاس

To go to the bathroom (euphemistic). Lit. to do like the people. عاوز أعمل زى الناس. نرجع المكتب يا ريس. لا.. أنا عاوز أروح مراحيض عمومية عادية خالص. I want to go to the bathroom. Let's go back to the office, sir [President]. No, I want to go to completely ordinary public bathrooms.

ضرب كرسي في الكلوب

To hit the lights with a chair in order to turn them off. Based on the idea that in a "baladi" 'ahwa or place like that, when there's a fight, someone might grab a chair and use it to knock out the lights so they can do whatever they want in the darkness, without being seen. So this expression describes someone who's trying to do bad things under the cover of darkness (figurative or literal).

قعد على قلبهم

To impose on someone while staying with them. If someone has been staying at your house for a while and you're getting sick of them, you could say they're قاعدين على قلبك ('a3diin 3ala albak), lit. sitting on your heart.

فوّل يفوّل على

To jinx someone by mentioning possible misfortune, thus tempting fate انا حاسس انك هتسقط السنة دى. - ماتفوّلش عليا!

بيعيد ويزيد

To keep going on and on about something المفروض ما نقعدش نعيد ونزيد فى الكلام وندور على اخطاء علشان نمسكها على الناس

عمل/يعمل من الحبة قبة

To make a mountain out of a molehill. Lit. to make a dome out of a seed. دايما انت يا محمود عامل من الحبة قبة وعلى طول تركب عالحصان وتطلّع السيف زي ما يكون الواحد ارتكب جريمة في حقك شخصيا. انت تقرب لمرتضى منصور ولا حاجة؟ Mahmoud, you always make a mountain out of a molehill and jump on your horse and get out your sword as if someone committed a crime against you personally. Are you related to Mortada Mansour* or something? * Mortada Mansour is a lawyer and and former president of the Zamalek sporting club; he's known for being a belligerent, ridiculous bully. In the past, he's spent lots of time filing lawsuits against people like Ahmed Shobeir (a soccer TV commentator) and attacking them in the press. More recently, he spent time in jail for his role attacking protestors in Tahrir Square during the "Battle of the Camel." He then announced his intention to run for president.

عمل/يعمل من الفسيخ شربات

To make a silk purse out of a sow's ear; turn a situation around for the better. Lit. to make a sweet-flavored syrup drink from salted fish. بالفعل المكان دا زي ما بيقولوا عملوا من الفسيخ شربات، لانة كان عبارة عن مقلب الزبالة This place [Al-Azhar park] really has been turned around, because it used to be like a garbage dump. بجد عشمتنا فى موسم كنا فيه ضايعين بكل حاجه و عملت من الفسيخ شربات You really gave us hope in a season when we were losing everything [re. soccer games], and you turned things around for the better.

لقّح يلقّح تلقيح بالكلام على

To make insulting insinuations/remarks about المفروض بقى نبطل شغل العيال واقصد بكده ان الناس تقعد تلقح بالكلام على بعض ده مش صح اللى ما يقدرش يقول لحد كلمه فى وشه يبقى ما يقولهاش خالص ويحتفظ بيها لنفسه.

خَلَّى رَقَبْتُه زَيّ السِمْسِمَة

To make someone feel small or humiliate them. Lit. to make someone's neck like a sesame seed. اخرس يا جزمة، خليت رقبتي زي السمسمة قدام الناس الكبرا. Shut up you jerk (lit. shoe), you humiliated me in front of important people.

نكّد ينكّد تنكيد على

To make someone's life miserable حماتي مش سايباني في حالي حتى يوم الفرح نكدت عليا

زنّ يزنّ زنّ على

To nag, whine, or pester someone (lit. to buzz/hum)

قصّر يقصّر تقصير

To neglect one's duty to others احنا ماباركناش عالمخبز...احنا مقصرين في حقك

ماسألش مابيسألش في

To not care about (literally: not ask about)

طَلَّع فيه القُطَط الفاطْسة

To only find bad things to say about something, often in the context of finding reasons to refuse someone. (literally: to claim it has dead cats in it) اول ما وصلت بنت خالتى الفلحوسة الاكبر منى جابت لى عريس، جبران خاطر لامي، قررت انى اقابله، وقلت هطلع فيه القطط الفاطسة بعدين As soon as my know-it-all older cousin brought me a bridge-groom, to help my mom, I decided to meet him, and I said I'd find reasons to refuse him afterwards. كل ما يجيلي أخ (بابا) يعقد يطلع فيه القطط الفاطسة عشان يرفضه Whenever anyone comes to me, [my dad] sits finding bad things to say about him in order to refuse him.

فضفض يفضفض

To open up to someone, unburden yourself فضفضي لي اللي في قلبك عشان تستريحي

عمل له حركة وسخة

To play s.o. a dirty trick (literally: a dirty move)

ساق/يسوق الهبل على الشيطنة

To play the fool in order to cover up a trick you're playing on someone else, or anything bad you're doing طلعت اللى بتكلمنى بنت صعيدية وكانت عايزة وحدة اسمها بهية. فانا بقى وبصراحة سوقت الهبل على الشيطنة وقلت لها ان انا بهية وده علما طبعا بان انا كنت بتكلم بنفس لهجتها It turned out that the person talking to me was an upper Egyptian girl, and she wanted [to talk to] someone named Baheyya. So, frankly, I played the fool as a joke on her and told her I was Baheyya, knowing full well that I was speaking in the same accent [as her].

حطّه في جيبه

To put someone in one's pocket, have them at your beck and call

حَطّه على الرفّ

To put someone on the shelf (not make use of their abilities) زي ما قلت سابقا الزمالك اشترى خالد سعد لما سمع ان الاهلي عاوزه. دفع 400 تاف دولار عشانه و بعدين حطوه على الرف.

دبلر يدبلر

To repeat a year in school الشاب من دول يدخل الجامعة وأول حاجة يفكر فيها إزاي أصاحب بنت - أي بنت - وبعد ما يحصل المراد تلاقي الاثنين عايشين مع بعض الوهم بالنهار في شوارع الجامع وبالليل ع التليفون وتكون النتيجة إيه ؟؟! الولد هو إلي بيدبلر. That kind of guy goes to college, and the first thing he thinks of is "how I can make friends with a girl - any girl?" and after he achieves his desire, you find the two living a delusion together, during the day in the university streets and at night on the phone...and what's the result? The guy's the one who repeats a year.

اتلكك يتلكك

To search for or pick on something trivial as an excuse (to get mad, etc) كل يوم والتاني بتتلكك لي في اي حاجه

نَصَر/يُنْصُر__على

To side with someone against someone else. انت غيرت الموضوع ليه وبعدين انت ليه دايما بتنصرها عليا؟ Why did you change the subject, and why do you always take her side against me? جوزي بيقول لأمي ياماما. وبسم الله ماشاء الله بيحبها كانها امه بجد. ومامتي بتنصره عليا والله في كل موقف كأنه هو اللي ابنها بس وهم متحديين عليا وبيبهدلوني بيبقى على قلبي زي العسل. My husband calls my mother "mom." And amazingly enough, he loves her as if she were really his own mother. And I swear my mom takes his side against me in every situation, as if he were her son, and they're united against me and give me a hard time, [but] I love it [i.e. their close relationship].

جاب/يِجِيب الدِّيب مِن دَيْلُه

To solve a huge or impossible problem. Lit. to grab a wolf by the tail. Used sarcastically or in a deprecatory manner, like "there's no way anyone could accomplish that; you can't do something that impressive." If someone bragged to you about meeting a celebrity or something like that, you might sarcastically say that he جاب الديب من ديله to mean that he was exaggerating. انا عندي مشكلة كبيرة من كام يوم لقيت صرصار ف المطبخ: جريت جبت اكبر شبشب و اديته فوق دماغه و رحت غسلت ايدي و انا فرحانة بنفسي و حاسة اني جبت الديب من ديله... يومين كدة لقيت واحد تاني I've got a big problem: a few days ago I found a cockroach in the kitchen. I ran and got the biggest slipper [I could find] and hit it, went and washed my hands, feeling happy with myself and feeling that I'd solved the problem...Two days later, I found another one! حضرتك ابوك صرف عليك دم قلبة وانت اجتهدت فى المذاكرة وطلع عينك مشفتش يوم حلوا طول دراستك...بس فى الاخر اجتهدت وربنا كرمك واتخرجت فاكر انك جبت الديب من ديلة اتصدمت بالواقع واكتشفت ان الديب مالوش ديل ملقتش وظيفة ولو فية المرتب يادوب يكفيك سندوتشين وعلبة سجاير كوكوالضعيف Your dad spent his heart's blood on you, and you worked hard studying, and he gave you a hard time and you didn't see one nice day all through your studies...but in the end you worked hard, and you were fortunate enough to graduate, thinking you'd managed to grab the wolf by its tail. And you ran into reality and discovered that the wolf had no tail. You couldn't find a job, and if you did, the salary was barely enough for a couple sandwiches and a pack of weak "Koko" (nickname for the Cleopatra brand) cigarettes.

مسك يمسك في

To start a fight with (s.o.), or to invite pressingly or insist that someone accept your invitation

مسح يمسح مسح (لـ...) جوخ

To suck up to someone. (literally: to wipe the baize (a kind of fabric)).

اشمتى يشمتى

To take malicious pleasure in someone else's pain — basically, to feel schadenfreude or gloat over their unhappiness. ("Schadenfreude" itself is شماتة šamāta.) انت شمتان في؟

عمل حسابه على كدة

To take s.t. into account and plan for it

خده تحت باطه

To take someone under one's wing, be a friend to someone (literally: to take s.o. under one's armpit)

خلّص يخلّص حق

To take something someone owes you in trade instead of money

استعرض/يستعرض عضلاته

To try and show off how great you are. Lit. to flex one's muscles. وطبعا كل شاب عايز يستعرض عضلاته قدام البنات فجأة طلعت فى دماغ أحمد انه يستعرض فدخل البحر وقعد يعوم ..... يعوم لغاية ملقى نفسه فى عرض البحر لوحده وبيغرق ومحدش جنبه Of course, every guy wants to show off in front of girls. [So] suddenly Ahmed got the idea to show off, so he went into the ocean to swim and swim...until he found himself on the open sea by himself, drowning with nobody near him.

فصّ ملح وداب

To vanish into thin air, completely disappear. A فص ملح is a grain of salt; if you put a grain of salt into some water, it'll dissolve and vanish, so this is where the expression comes from. الراجل ومراته وابنه يختفي في لحظة كده؟ فص ملح وداب؟ مش عارفة ابنك ده طالع لمين؟ لما احتاجه بيختفي في ثانية كأنه فص ملح وداب!

فش يفش غله في

To vent one's anger at (someone); to take it out on them جوزي عمال يفش غله فيا نازل شخط وبهدلة عالطالعة والنازلة

بلّ يبلّ بلّة ريقه

To wet one's whistle (i.e. have something to drink). Or, to give someone respite. (literally: to wet/moisten one's saliva)

مسح يمسح بـ__ الارض

To wipe the floor with someone. Used just like the English expression. هي عايزة حد يهزّأها ويمسح بها الارض

آخر زمان

Used as an adjective to describe current things you don't like — like "oh, the kids these days!" شوف ستات اخر زمان بيعملوا ايه

بيئة

Used as an adjective to describe something trashy, low-life, or the Egyptian equivalent of "ghetto" (as used as a disparaging adjective). Look up Saad El Soghayar videos to get an idea of what "bii'a" refers to. (literally: "environment.")

زي سمن على عسل

Used in reference to two people who get along really well (literally: like clarified butter on honey)

كأنك يا ابو زيد ماغزيت

Used to describe a situation in which nothing has changed, or something that undoes all your efforts to change something, as if you had never done anything. Lit. As if you hadn't invaded, Abu Zeid. يعني كانك يا ابو زيد ماغزيت نفس السياسة الوسخة القديمة So it's like we never accomplished anything — the same old dirty politics. فيه حاجة مهمة جدا عايزة اوضحها - علشان اغير الكبار لازم اكون صلحت اللى بعدهم لكن حاغير الكبار بناس زيهم يبقى كأنك يا ابو زيد ماغزيت There's something very important I want to clarify. In order to change the people in charge, we have to fix the ones who come after them, but if we exchange the people in charge with people like them, all we did will have gone for naught.

نمس

Used to describe someone clever and astute (literally: a weasel, but it's not used insultingly like it would be in English)

زي الحصان

Used to describe someone who is strong and active (literally: like a horse)

كلام في الهوا

Used to describe talk that no one will listen to. For example, if someone was complaining and complaining about the government, you could tell them, بتتكلم في الهوا (bititkallem fel-hawa), since the government will never listen to their complaints. Lit. "talking in the air."

أظرط من ستي إلى سيدي

Used to describe two people who are worse than each other

بعيد عنك

Used to refer to something undesirable, saying, "May such a thing be far from you." دى ست غلبانة يا مولانا بعيد عنك مابتخلّفش * مولانا (mawlaana) is a title of respect given to a Muslim leader or scholar like a sheikh

في شمال خط السما

Very far away

طويل الأمل

Very long كانت رحلة طويلة الامل

خللي بالك من

Watch out for, take care of (s.t.) أقعد بره خلي بالك من البيبي وأنا ها اعمل الشاي وأرجع.

خرجنا\طلعنا من حفرة\نقرة ووقعنا في دحديرة

We jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire (literally: we got out of a hole and fell down a slope) يوم 11 فبراير انا قلت ان المشير و مبارك وجهان لعملة واحدة ، و طلعنا من نقرة و وقعنا في دحديرة. المجلس العسكرى مُصمم على إجهاض الثورة وتفشيلها مهما كلفه هذا الأمر من سجن وتعذيب وإلصاق التهم بالنشطاء السياسيين ..... طلعنا من حفرة وقعنا فى دحديرة.

(هم في وادي واحنا في وادي (تاني

We're not on the same wavelength, we're not communicating. Lit. they're in a valley and we're in an(other) valley. بلاش تاخد رأى أعضاء البرلمان المزورين - الناس دى والله ما يعرفو عنا حاجه، والله ما بشوفهم الا من بعيد، الناس دى فى وادى واحنا فى وادى Don't get the opinion of the rigged parliament members. I swear, those people don't know a thing about us, and we only see them from a distance. We're just not on the same wavelength.

بلّوه واشرب ميته

Wet it and drink its water; used to denigrate a worthless or useless piece of paper

مالك؟

What's wrong with you? What's with you?

حين ميسرة

When things get better. This expression is fuSHa, but it's commonly used in Egypt regardless. For example, if someone lent you money, you could tell them, هرجّع لك الفلوس حين ميسرة (haragga3lak il-filuus Hiina maysara), I'll pay you back when things get better for me.

لعبي

When used to describe a man, this means feckless or frivolous — someone who doesn't like to work, just play. الولد ده لعبي، مابيذاكرش ابدا، عايز يلعب كورة وبس When used to descibe a woman, it means that she is very flirtatious with lots of men. المرا دى لعبية، دايما بتجري ورا الرجالة

يا سلام

Wow! Expression of surprise (literally: oh peace)

زيادة الخير خيرين

You can't have too much of a good thing. You could say this to someone if they give you a gift of something that you already have.

فاتك نص عمرك

You really missed out. (literally: Half your life passed you by) لو ماجيتش، هيفوتك نص عمرك!

سَيِّبْت مَفَاصْلِي

You scared me to death! Lit. You made me lose (control over) my joints; i.e. my legs are shaking from fright. الله يخرب بيتك ، سيبت مفاصلي و وقعت قلبي في رجليا و كنت هاتموتني مرعوب Damnit!* You scared me half to death, you really gave me a fright.** You almost killed me from terror. * Lit. May God destroy your house. ** Lit. You made my heart fall to my feet.

شَيِّلْنِي وأَشَيِّلَك

You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Lit. Help me carry and I'll help you carry. بس انا بقول ان الوزير اليى يفكر بالعقليه دى بعد الثوره لازم يروح فوراً. نظام شيلنى واشيلك ده خلاص المفروض ينتهى والمفروض يكون فيه قانون بيطبق على الكل. But I say any cabinet member who thinks with this mentality after the revolution has to go, right away. Enough of that system of "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours"; it should end, and there should be a law applied to everyone.

سرّك في بير

Your secret is safe with me (literally: your secret is in a well)