Streetwise Hebrew

The Hebrew word לגמור means to finish, but also to reach orgasm. So this episode might not be for everybody! Guy explains how to use the root גמר while playing it safe. Hear the All-Hebrew episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Lesayem – To finish – לסיים Ligmor – To finish / to reach orgasm – לגמור Gmira (coll.) – Orgasm – גמירה Gomrim holchim – We finish and we go – גומרים הולכים Hu gam...

So how many times have you heard the sentence, "סמוך עליי, trust me, everything will be okay"? Guy explains the סמוך culture. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Lismoch al mishehu – To trust someone, to count on someone – לסמוך על מישהו Tismoch alai, smoch alai – Trust me (m.) – תסמוך עליי, סמוך עליי Tismechi alai, smechi alai – Trust me (f.) – תסמכי עליי, סמכי עלי...

The root חבב, which gives us the word חביבי, is all about affection. Guy explains what it's got to do with gay Tel Avivi speech and Ashdod in the 80's. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode   New Words and Expressions: Habibi (Arabic) – My darling (m.) – חביבי Habibti (Arabic) – My darling (f.) – חביבתי Haviv – Pleasant, nice – חביב Haya haviv – It was nice – היה חביב Acharon acharon haviv – Last but not le...

The root נפל is all about falling – ליפול means "to fall." It's used in so many different expressions it can be easy to forget where it came from. Guy takes us through the most common usages, taking us from meteors to waterfalls to shooting down planes. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Hu nafal – He fell – הוא נפל Nafalta hazak – You really went down hard – נפלת...

The Hebrew word for air is אוויר, while אווירה is atmosphere/ambience. There are other interesting words taken from אוויר, like fluffy or ceiling fan. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Mezeg avir – Weather – מזג אוויר Le'avrer et ha-heder – To air out the room – לאוורר את החדר Hu me'avrer et ha-bayit – He airs out the house – הוא מאוורר את הבית Le'avrer et ha-rosh...

Oftentimes, Israelis mix up the Hebrew words משכיר and שוכר. It's the difference between "renting" an apartment and "renting out" an apartment. It's a common mistake that you don't have to make! Guy explains. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Liskor dira – To rent an apartment – לשכור Baal/ba'alat ha-bayit – Landlord, landlady – בעל / בעלת הבית Ani socher / socher...

The Hebrew word נצלן is an exploiter – someone who'll use you and then dump you without giving it a second thought. In this episode, Guy breaks down the word and its root נצל. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Lenatsel – To make use of, to utilize – לנצל Nitsool – Exploitation – ניצול Nitsool kalkali – Economic exploitation – ניצול כלכלי "Kol ehad menaseh lenatsel...

The Hebrew word פרישה means retirement, and these days פרישה המוקדמת is on everyone's mind. Guy explains פרישה and other words from its root פרש. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Prisha me-ha-avoda – Retiring from work – פרישה מהעבודה Prisha me-ha-avoda, Yetsi'ah le-pensia – Retiring from work – פרישה מהעבודה "Kshe-at tets'ee le-pensya, mi yid'ag lach?" – When yo...

From leaking documents to a leaky faucet at home, the root דלפ is an interesting one, and from which we get the Hebrew word for whistleblower. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Ha-mazgan dolef – The air conditioning unit is leaking – המזגן דולף Tsinor dolef – Leaking pipe – צינור דולף Dlifa – Leaking – דליפה "Yesh lanoo dlifa ba-mazgan" – We have a leak in our AC...

The Hebrew word לברוח means to escape, but the same root has other interesting meanings in other verb formats. Guy also explains the meaning of חדר בריחה. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Livro'ach – To escape – לברוח "Ma ze be'etsem meshaneh mi-ma be'estem hem borchim" – What does it really matter what exactly they're running from – מה זה בעצם משנה ממה בעצם הם ב...

Today we'll talk about the word חסר, missing, and its root. You don't want to miss it! Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Haser – Missing, lacking, deficient – חסר "Ha-shir Ha-haser" – The missing song – השיר החסר Ata haser li – I miss you – אתה חסר לי At hasera li be-ramot – I miss you terribly – את חסרה לי ברמות Hasar menoocha – Restless – חסר מנוחה Hoser menooch...

The verbs of the Hebrew root kbl are everywhere: To get, to receive, to be hired, plus things which are just not done and are considered unacceptable. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Lekabel – To receive – לקבל Kibalti hoda'ah – I received a message – קיבלתי הודעה "Ba-boker kibalit email katsar ve-nechmad" – In the morning I got a short and nice email – בבוקר קי...

The Hebrew word גירוש means expulsion and deportation, but the most commonly used word we get from this root is entirely different. Guy explains. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Legaresh – To expel, to deport – לגרש Gerush – Expulsion, deportation – גירוש "Mishpacha she-higiah le-loov achrei gerush sfarad" – A family which arrived to Lybia after the expulsion of...

The Hebrew word קבלה has many meanings and uses, from receipts to acceptance. Guy explains how to use קבלה in its many forms and its plural. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Kabala – Receiving – קבלה Sh'ot kabala – Office hours – שעות קבלה Kabala – Receipt – קבלה Heshbonit – Invoice – חשבונית Efshar kabala? – Could I have a receipt? – אפשר קבלה Hu oved bli kabalo...

The word זול means cheap and is used in spoken Hebrew in all kinds of interesting ways. For example, what's זיל הזול? Guy explains. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Zol – Cheap – זול Periferia – Periphery, places outside the big cities – פריפריה Yoker ha-mihya – Cost of living – יוקר המחיה "Ad achshav ha-amira hayta ke'ilu, lechu la-periferia, ba-periferia zol, a...

When and how do you properly use the Hebrew root בצע? And where might we hear the phrase, רוצה לשמוע על המבצעים שלנו? Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Mivtsa – Military operation – מבצע Mivtsa be-hanuyot – Sale – מבצע בחנויות  Ha-mivtsa shel ha-medina – The best sale in the country – המבצע של המדינה Rotse lishmo'a al ha-mivtsaim shelanu?' – Do you want to hear ab...

The word רועד means shivering, shaking, and in this episode Guy explains its meaning and usage. Along the way we learn to say earthquake, and vibrato. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Roed – Trembling, shivering – רועד Kshe-tsiltsalt ra'ad kolech – When you called your voice trembled – כשצלצלת רעד קולך Ha-kol shelach ra'ad – Your voice was trembling – הקול שלך רע...

The Hebrew word רעל means poison. Its root provides us with interesting words related to the military and to bosses, some of whom make our work environments toxic. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Ra'al – Poison – רעל Re'alim – Poisons – רעלים Ra'al neged achbarim – Mouse poison – רעל נגד עכברים Ra'al neged chuldot – Poison against rats – רעל נגד חולדות Nikuy re'...

The Hebrew word אירוע means an event, most often a happy event, like a wedding or bar/bat mitzvah. But its usage has changed lately. Guy explains. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Eru'ah yeri – Shooting – אירוע ירי Eru'ah dkira – Stabbing – אירוע דקירה Eru'ah mitgalgel – Developing event – אירוע מתגלגל "Yesh li eru'ah" – I have an event (wedding, bar/bat mitzvah)...

The Hebrew word פרסס is what you'd use in a sentence to ask a driver to make a U-turn. But what does it mean in slang? Guy explains. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Pniya, pniyot – Turn, turns – פנייה, פניות Pniya yamina/smola – Right/left turn – פנייה ימינה/שמאלה Pniyat parsa – U-turn – פניית פרסה "Ata yachol la'asot po parsa vaksha?" – Could you please make a...

The Hebrew word לפנות means to turn, like to turn right or left. But we use לפנות for other things as well, like when we need to contact our municipality or to tell someone to stop texting us. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Lifnot – To turn – לפנות Pné – Turn (Imp., m.) – פנה Pni – Turn (Imp. f.) – פני Pné/pni yamina – Turn right – פנה/פני ימינה Pnu le-rofe ha-...

The Hebrew word הפתעה means "surprise." Don't be surprised if by the end of this episode you'll know several uses of הפתעה to impress your Israeli friends. Oh, and everybody knows what a ביצת הפתעה is, right? Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Hafta'ah – Surprise – הפתעה Mesibat hafta'ah – Surprise party – מסיבת הפתעה Yesh li haftaah bishvilcha/bishvilech – I have...

From antique cars to very slow, local buses, Guy picks up where we left off in the last episode and explains additional בניינים from the root אספ. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Asfanoot – Collecting (a collection) – אספנות Rechev asfanoot – Antique car – רכב אספנות Richvei asfanoot – Antique cars – רכבי אספנות Hit'asafnoo kan ha-erev – We gathered here tonight...

The Hebrew word לאסוף is to collect, to gather. We use this verb in supermarkets, airports, and when we talk about people with unique collections. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Esof – Collect, gather (Imp.) – אֱסוף "Esof et ha-ma'asim" – Collect the deeds – אֱסוף את המעשים Asif – Harvest – אסיף Le'esof kesef – To collect money – לאסוף כסף Anachnu osfim kesef k...

What's the right way to pack a suitcase and what should you say to airport security when asked about your packed bags? From the root ארז we get the Hebrew words for packaging, gift boxes and more. Guy explains. Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon   New Words and Expressions: Hu araz – He packed – הוא ארז Arazta/arazt levad – Have you packed it yourself? – ארזת לבד "Ve-laanot shuv va-shuv et ota...