Literal translations of common Lebanese expressions make absolutely no sense! Eventhough our way of communication is a great art of feelings and sarcasm, it seems illogical when said in English! Here are the most common Lebanese expressions that we wish translated well.
Lebanese Expressions That Makes No Sense #1: Ra7 tekol kaf
Translated to “you will eat a slap”. Trust us… you wouldn’t want to know how bitter it tastes.
Lebanese Expressions That Makes No Sense #2: To2borne
Translated to “bury me”. This is usually used to tell somebody how much you care for them.
Lebanese Expressions That Makes No Sense #3: La 2ijreh
Translated to “to my foot”. Lebanese use this when they want to show that they don’t care about a certain thing/event. However, deep down we know we do.
Lebanese Expressions That Makes No Sense #4: Ma 2le 3en
Translated to “I don’t have eye”. This one is very weird and makes no sense! However, in the Lebanese dictionary, it means that someone is too ashamed to ask someone else for a certain thing.
Lebanese Expressions That Makes No Sense #5: Yikhroub Beitak
Translated to “I hope your house gets destroyed”. Usually said when a person is angry at another one. The funny thing about this lebanese expression? Parents use it quite often thus ignoring the fact they’re wishing for their own house’s destruction!
Lebanese Expressions That Makes No Sense #6: Dammak T2il
Translated to “your blood is heavy”. There’s nothing such as heavy blood but Lebanese use this expression to say how much annoying a person is.
Lebanese Expressions That Makes No Sense #7: 2estehi 3a Dammak
Translated to “be ashamed of your blood”. This Lebanese expression is typically used when someone is doing things that could be shameful or someone who lacks of shyness. We don’t really know how that connect to someone’s blood though.
Lebanese Expressions That Makes No Sense #8: Rou7 Ballit El Ba7er
Translated to “go tile the sea”. It makes no sense to put tiles on top of water. This is something impossible to do right? That’s why this crazy sentence means that your chances of getting the ocean tiled are higher than those of persuading me so just stop trying.
Lebanese Expressions That Makes No Sense #9: Bala Ta3me
Translated to “without taste”. This Lebanese expression would be normal… if it was actually related to food! Bala Ta3me in Lebanese means useless or void of objective/goal.
Lebanese Expressions That Makes No Sense #10: Saboune 3en
Translated to “they hit me with an eye”. No, it obviously is not about taking your eyeball out and throwing it at someone to hurt them! It simply means that someone envied you so much that bad luck hit you, it kind of refer to the evil eye.
Lebanese Expressions That Makes No Sense #11: Rehna Slata
Translated to “we went salad”. This Lebanese expression simply means “We’re screwed”. Come on that one isn’t so bad after all! Don’t you say “we went nuts” in english?
Lebanese Expressions That Makes No Sense #12: Ma Ta3te Wej
Translated to “don’t give him a face”. It means don’t give him/her your undivided attention because he/she will either take advantage of you. Usually, this sentence is used when plotting against someone who strangely seems too nice to you. Can you relate?
Lebanese Expressions That Makes No Sense #13: 3ala Rase
Translated to “on my head”. We all know that you won’t be able to handle placing a human being on the top of your head! Don’t worry, the real meaning is that you’re ready to do anything for the person you’re talking to. Depending on the person saying this expression, it could also mean that they’re at your service (specially when you’re at a supermarket and asking the employees for a favor).
Lebanese Expressions That Makes No Sense #14: Bayed Tanajer
Translated to “whitening Cooking Pots”. This Lebanese expression means you’re saying or doing nice things to someone else (most likely you think the opposite of what you say or hate what you’re doing), just to get the other person to like you or be on their good sides.
Lebanese Expressions That Makes No Sense #15: 3ayesh Bel Khase
Translated to “living in a lettuce”. It means that you are living on a different planet and have no idea what’s going on.
Lebanese Expressions That Makes No Sense #16: 3am To2 Hanak
Translated to “I am cracking jaws”. What a savage way to refer to chit chatting. In other words, you’re talking and chatting too much that it could break jaws.
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