I finished ulpan on August 20, almost two weeks ago. Since then I have been staying with Keren and Arnon in Herzliya, reading about Jewish history, reading a children's book in Hebrew about a monkey named Kofiko and planning busily with Ruth, Nadav and Jacki in Ramat Gan. I'm now well acquainted with the 531, 524 and 525 Egged lines.
Israelis speaking in Hebrew occasionally use English phrases, even when they are speaking to other Israelis. I started keeping track about a week ago and these are some of the phrases I have overheard:
- "Not that it's such a big deal"
- "No offense...[Hebrew]"; Response: "None taken...[Hebrew]"
- "Next door house"
- "Full volume"
- "Take one for the team"
- "So smart"
- "On their way to heaven"
- "Once in a lifetime"
Some of them make more sense than others. "Take one for the team," for instance, is a concise cliche that conveys a lot of meaning. But I can't explain why others are used, like "next door house," which isn't even good English.
1 comment:
Are there Hebrew phrases that would do just as well for any of these terms? What's Hebrew for "next door house," for example? Or "no offense" ... "none taken"? In other words, are these English terms supplanting Hebrew ones -- or filling an actual void?
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