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Lesson Transcript

Shira: Hello everyone. Welcome back to HebrewPod101.com, All About Lesson 13. I'm Shira.
Amir: [שלום, אני אמיר] (Sha'lom, a'ni Amir) In this lesson, you'll learn five phrases your Hebrew teacher might never teach you.
Shira: No, no, don't get the wrong idea. We're not going to teach you any swear words or anything, just some real gritty Hebrew.
Amir: I can guarantee that you can use each of these phrases every single day if you're in Israel.
Shira: Yes, they're very frequently used phrases. We've included everything from how to have road rage in Hebrew to how to shout and glee.
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Amir: Ok, so I'm sure you're all dying to pick up this new lingo. Let's get started, Shira.
Shira: Ok. The top five phrases your teacher might never teach you are.
Amir: [חבל על הזמן] (Khaval al hazman)
Shira: "Fantastic" or "a waste of time."
Amir: [אתה דפוק] (Ata da'fuk)
Shira: You're crazy.
Amir: [בלאגן] (Balagan)
Shira: Miss.
Amir: [סוף הדרך] (Sof ha'derekh)
Shira: Excellent.
Amir: [על הפנים] (Al hapa'nim)
Shira: "Horrible." If you don't know them yet, you're going to be hearing them everywhere now. Let's hear them again, slowly.
Amir: [חבל על הזמן, אתה דפוק, בלאגן, סוף הדרך, על הפנים] (Khaval al hazman, ata da'fuk, balagan, sof ha'derekh, al hapa'nim)
Shira: Ok, so we're starting with a phrase I still can't stop using. In fact, I've noticed that everyone who's lived in Israel for some period of time can't stop saying this.
Amir: Oh, really?
Shira: It's so versatile that you can use it in good situations and bad situations. It's [חבל על הזמן] (Khaval al hazman).
Amir: Ah, [חבל על הזמן] (khaval al hazman), yes.
Shira: It can be [חבל על הזמן] (khaval al hazman), which is "Fantastic" or [חבל על הזמן] (khaval al hazman), which is "a waste of time."
Amir: Now how can we translate something like [חבל על הזמן] (khaval al hazman).
Shira: It's like saying something is a waste of time, as I said, but this phrase can have many good meanings, such as "great" or "fantastic."
Amir: You can use this expression in so many ways. You'll hear it all the time.
Shira: You can use it to describe your last date, a trip overseas or even food.
Amir: And what is cool is that you can use it both in a good way or a bad way.
Shira: Like, my date with Amir was [חבל על הזמן] (khaval al hazman). I think I'm in love. Or "My date with Amir was [חבל על הזמן] (khaval al hazman). He didn't even pay for the meal."
Amir: Sorry. But unfortunately, sometimes you feel the need to tell someone what you really think of him or her, and then this phrase just won't do.
Shira: So Amir, what do we say when we want to tell someone he's an idiot, out of his mind or something to that effect?
Amir: Ah, we have the perfect phrase. [אתה דפוק] (Ata da'fuk)
Shira: [אתה דפוק] (Ata da'fuk). Oh, yes. I've heard this while driving or even in the streets.
Amir: Basically it means "you're knocked," so you're calling someone crazy.
Shira: You're kind of saying that someone is messed up.
Amir: Yes and it's very effective. But if you use it, you better be able to back it up, because you're likely to get into a very heated conversation.
Shira: Yeah. Israelis like to stand their ground. So now we're going to turn from rage to disorder.
Amir: Hebrew has a great word to describe disorder.
Shira: Yes, even my American family has picked this one up.
Amir: [בלאגן] (Balagan)
Shira: [בלאגן] (Balagan)
Amir: [בלאגן] (Balagan) is also a very versatile word. You can use it when you're talking about the state of your room, the current political situation or your relationship with your in-laws.
Shira: It literally means "a mess."
Amir: So how about something positive?
Shira: Ok. Here's a positive phrase that you can use when you want to describe something that's out of this world.
Amir: Ah, yes. That would be the English equivalent. The Hebrew for this is [סוף הדרך] (Sof ha'derekh).
Shira: Literally it means "end of the road," and it's used in special occasions to describe something excellent.
Amir: You only use it to describe the experience of a lifetime.
Shira: So now let's move to the polar opposite of [סוף הדרך] (Sof ha'derekh), [על הפנים] (Al hapa'nim)..
Amir: This is a funny expression. And it always cracks me up when I hear it translated literally and used in a sentence in English.
Shira: Like, "Oh, Amir, I'm feeling so on the face today!"
Amir: Exactly.
Shira: English speakers have a tendency to do that because it's such a unique phrase. The meaning of the phrase is "terrible," but as I demonstrated, the literal translation is "on the face."
Amir: And you use it when you're not feeling well. Or you can use it to describe anything from last night's party to the restaurant service.
Shira: Like, "The service in this restaurant is [על הפנים] (Al hapa'nim)."
Amir: Or "She's singing [על הפנים] (Al hapa'nim)." See? It can be used for so many occasions.
Shira: Yes. I would say this is all really handy Hebrew to know. Sometimes I think text books are too formal, so you don't start learning things until you really start hanging out with Israelis.
Amir: You could probably use each of these phrases every day if you liked.
Shira: Yeah? Ok, let me try. So, let's see. Amir, let's say you're hanging out with your friends, and a friend of yours tells you about her favorite singer. You say, "Oh, I went to her concert. It was [סוף הדרך] (Sof ha'derekh)." Then she says, "[מה, אתה דפוק] (Ma, ata da'fuk) You didn't take me with you to the concert?" You say, "Oh, I'm sorry. It was a [בלאגן,] (balagan) and I couldn't find you." Then she says, "[חבל על הזמן] (Khaval al hazman), Amir. I'll never forget that you didn't take me." Then you tell her, "Stop. I'm joking. The concert was [על הפנים] (Al hapa'nim). She was so sick and she couldn't sing very well." So how was that?
Amir: Very, very good. I noticed that you threw in a bonus word for us too. [סתם] (Stam)
Shira: I did. It is one of those words that's impossible to translate literally.
Amir: It's pretty much like saying "just kidding" in this context. But there are many more meanings for [סתם] (Stam) and the best way to learn them is to spend time with Hebrew speakers.
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