Streetwise Hebrew

The Hebrew word בישול means cooking, but it is also used on the football field and in police investigations. Interesting, right? Bonus: A special Israeli-Berliner way to ask for the bill. Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/posts/52521863   New Words and Expressions: Levashel – To cook – לבשל Ha-yom kulanu nidrashim levashel harbe yoter ba-bayit – Today we all have...

The Hebrew word העברה ( ha'avara ) means a transfer of something or someone, usually from one place to another. The transfer could involve money, digital files, and even… football players! Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/streetwisehebrew   New Words and Expressions: Ha'avara – Transfer, transferring, removing – העברה Ha'avarat ksafim be-touch – Money transfer wi...

The Hebrew word להעביר is a verb we use a lot. It helps us pass our מונית שירות fare to the driver, forward emails to colleagues, transfer money to friends or family, and even nudge our significant other to change the TV channel. Guy explains. Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Monit sherut – Shared taxi – מונית שירות Ata yachol lehaavir vakasha? – Could you p...

We pick up from where we last left off with the Hebrew root ע.ב.ר. And in this episode, we focus on verbs from binyan paal. Plus, Guy reveals a special mantra to recite when driving through an intersection, just as your traffic light is about to turn red. Listen to the All-Hebrew Version on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: "Hi lo yodaat ma over alai" – She doesn't know what I am going through...

There is a lot of ground to cover with the Hebrew root ע.ב.ר., so we will dedicate the next few episodes to it. This episode is all about its nouns. We talk about the weather, border crossing, chord transitions, allergies, airport transit, and even cover some history about immigrants from the 1950's. Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Avar – Past tense – עבר H...

After the terrible tragedy in Har Meron, public calls to find those responsible, האשמים, grow louder. In order to better understand what's going on in Israeli media, Guy felt it was necessary to cover the word אשמה and its shoresh אשמ. This episode is all about blame, guilt, charges and allegations. Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: "Ani achrai, aval achrayut...

This episode is all about the location of the stress we place on spoken Hebrew words and names, and what happens when we shift that emphasis around. Guy explains why the way Israelis and Americans say "Mazal Tov" differs so greatly, and how these shifts in stress play out in the spoken language. Listen to the All-Hebrew Version on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Ta'am – Word stress, emphasis...

This is the fourth and final episode dedicated to ק-ד-מ, the root that keeps on giving. How do we say, "right of way," "unprecedented prices" and the "Pre-Eurovision contest" in Hebrew? Or how about, "I was here before you, lady!"? Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Kadima – Forward, onward – קדימה Zchut kdima – Right of way – זכות קדימה Matan zchut kdima – Gi...

Believe it or not, we Israelis aren't always running late. Some of us even tend to arrive ahead of schedule. Yes, you read that right! In Hebrew, we have a special verb which means  to arrive ahead of time . Guy explains. Hear the All-Hebrew Version of this Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Lehakdim – To be early, to show up early – להקדים Lif'amim anachnu makdimim – Sometimes we arr...

"Hey! Check out my Facebook page, and my Twitter, oh, and my TikTok account, and don't forget my Instagram page." In Hebrew this is called קידום עצמי, self promotion. On this episode, Guy explains words and phrases related to  promotion , all derived from the root ק-ד-מ. Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Kidum – Promotion – קידום Hu kibel kidum, hi kibla kidu...

There's a fairly new Hebrew slang term out in the wild which means "move on!" We Israelis say, תתקדם! The root קדמ in the binyan hitpael form will be our focus today, as Guy explains what advanced level courses and a mobile app upgrade have to do with קדמ. Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Mitkadem – Advanced – מתקדם Yoel mesamen she-kedai lehitkadem le'evran...

Everyone's talking about חיסונים, vaccinations, and so will we! Guy uses this trending topic as another opportunity to review the Hebrew verb format combo we all should know by heart: piel-pual-hitpael. To get your weekly dose, just press play! Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Chisun – Vaccine – חיסון Shtei menot chisun – Two vaccine doses – שתי מנות חיסון M...

There are so many ways to say, "You've gotta be kidding me," in Hebrew. In this episode, we'll learn a few of them and learn how we write LOL in Hebrew. Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Lits'hok – To laugh – לצחוק Tsochek mi she-tsochek aharon – He who laughs last, laughs best – צוחק מי שצוחק אחרון Al titschak/titschaki alai – Don't laugh at me – אל תצחק/תצח...

The Hebrew word צחוק means laughter. We combine צחוק with different verbs and prepositions to express how hard we laughed at something or just how funny something is. But as is often the case with Hebrew slang, when used in the right context, and with the appropriate intonation and word-pairing, the word צחוק can be no laughing matter. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Express...

The Hebrew word שרוף means burnt, and its root takes us on an exciting semantic road trip. Guy covers everything from a burning sensation to diehard football fans, seared vegetables to wasting time and money. Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Ze soref li ba-einayim – My eyes are burning – זה שורף לי בעיניים Soref le-someone ba+body part – My X is burning – שו...

The Hebrew word קטן looks small but its root holds a large number of slang expressions and verbs. Here's an example: what does קטן עליי, literally "small on me," mean in slang? Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Katan – Small – קטן Ze katan aleinu – Yes, we can do it – זה קטן עלינו Katan alai – Easy as pie – קטן עליי Ka tan  aleycha, ka tan  alayich – You can...

Sometimes we just gotta be honest with ourselves and say, "אני לא סובל אותו" (I can't stand him). Guy explains the Hebrew root סבל, which means suffering or misery, and how it is linked to muscular endurance, horrible traffic jams and passive verbs. Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Sevel – Suffering, misery – סבל "Ata garamta li sevel ve-yisurim" – You cause...

Is it okay to save an open parking spot for someone, shooing away other drivers? Well, that's what many Tel-Avivim do. It's called לשמור חניה, and it happens all the time. On this episode, Guy continues with the root שמר, explaining how to say 'watch your mouth?' in Hebrew and why you should never really say it. Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Elohim Yishmo...

The Hebrew words שומר, משמרת, שמירה, משמר, all come from the same shoresh, שמר. On this episode, Guy continues where he left off in the previous episode with the shoresh שמר and, along the way, explains how to avoid embarrassing moments when you're about to shake hands in Israel. Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Strudel – @ sign – שטרודל  Shomrim – Guards –...

The Hebrew word שימור (shimur) is an interesting one. We use שימור to say canned goods, the preservation of historic buildings, and even customer retention. Guy explains. Bonus: A rare Yemenite song for Hanukkah. Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Galut – Exile, diaspora – גלות Shimur ha-tarbut ha-teimanit – Conservation of the Yemenite culture – שימור התרבות...

In Hebrew, שירה means singing. It can also be used to mean poetry. It depends on the context. On this episode, Guy reviews the words that stem from the root ש/י/ר and several well-known phrases that make use of them. Check Out the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Nurit – Buttercup – נורית Agav – Speaking of, apropos – אגב Shira – Singing, Poetry – שירה Shira be-tsibur – S...

What do courage, poor acting, and pet adoption have to do with one other? They have the same Hebrew root אמצ. On this episode, Guy explains the word אומץ, courage, and its root. Listen to the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Omets – Courage – אומץ Kibalti/tafasti/azarti omets – I mustered up my courage – קיבלתי אומץ Eize omets – How brave – איזה אומץ Ein li et ha-omets le...

There are several confusing verbs in Hebrew. Some are even spelled the same. This is an episode that you will want to follow along with the show notes as you listen. We wouldn't want to cause any more confusion! Check Out the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon New Words and Expressions: "Tamid ohev, tamid nifga" – He always loves, he always gets hurt – תמיד אוהב, תמיד נפגע Nifga, he gets hurt, nif'al,...

In Hebrew, we say, ?נפגעת ממני (Were you offended by me?) We can also say, ?פגעתי בך (Did I offend you?) And even though these two basically mean the same thing, the way we use them in spoken Hebrew determines who is to blame, the speaker or the spoken to. Guy explains. Check Out the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Hu nifga – He was hit, hurt – הוא נפגע Nifga, nifga'im –...

How do we say, "I don't want to offend you" in Hebrew? How about "bullseye"? Or perhaps "fragile"? On this episode, Guy covers the verb לפגוע (lifgo'a), meaning to hurt, and its usage in everyday Hebrew. Check Out the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: "Pachot ve-adayin, adayin poge'a" – It's hurting less, but it's still hurting – פחות ועדיין, עדיין פוגע Pagata be-emun ha-t...