‘Fashla’ and ‘fadiha,’ originally Arabic words, are used by Israelis to talk about embarrassing or awkward moments. Host Guy Sharett tells us not only how to avoid awful mess-ups, but also how to fry up the roots of these words in a sizzling Hebrew verb pan. They get juicy – want a bite?

New Words and Expressions:

Efshar lishol ma ata ose kan? – May I ask what are you doing here? – ?אפשר לשאול מה אתה עושה כאן

Mehake larakevet harishona – Waiting for the first train – מחכה לרכבת הראשונה

Efshar lirot teuda mezaha? – May I see an identifying document? – ?אפשר לראות תעודה מזהה

Betach –  Sure – בטח

Eich kor’im lecha? – What’s your name? – ?איך קוראים לך

Efo ata gar? – Where do you live? – ?איפה אתה גר

Ve-ma ata kotev? – And what are you writing? – ?ומה אתה כותב

Ani mechin tochnit la-shavu’a – I am preparing a plan/program for the week – אני מכין תוכנית לשבוע

Mamash lo inyancha – Really none of your business – ממש לא עניינך

Fashla, fashlot – Mess-up; embarrassing failure; flop – פשלה, פשלות

Ze lo fashla sheli – It’s not my mess-up – זה לא פשלה שלי

Fashla shel ha-hevra – Mess-up of the company – פשלה של החברה

Eize fashla – What a mess-up – איזה פשלה

Ani aluf be-lefashel – I am a champion in screwing up – אני אלוף בלפשל

Fishalt be-gadol – You (f.) blew it big time – פישלת בגדול

Fishalti, fishalta, fishalt, fishel, fishla, fishalnu, fishaltem, fishlu – פישלתי, פישלת, פישלת, פישל, פישלה, פישלנו, פישלתם, פישלו

Mi fishel po? – Who blew it here? – ?מי פישל פה

Mishehu fishel be-gadol – Someone blew it bigtime – מישהו פישל בגדול

Mefashel, mefashelet, mefashlim, mefashlot – Mess up (verb) – מפשל, מפשלת, מפשלים, מפשלות

Fadiha, fadihot – Awkward moment, ‘fashla’ – פדיחה, פדיחות

Fadiha shel ha-laif – Huge fadiha – פדיחה של הלייף

Asita li fadihot ba-schuna – You made fadihot to me in the neighborhood (lit.) – You embarassed me in the neighborhood (fig.) – עשית לי פדיחות בשכונה

La’asot fadihot le-mishehu – To embarrass someone – לעשות פדיחות למישהו

Ima, al ta’asi li fadihot – Mom, don’t embarrass me – אמא, אל תעשי לי פדיחות

Asita et ha-fadiha shelcha (Sounds like: ‘Asita ta-fadiha sh’cha’) – You’ve done your fadiha – עשית ת’פדיחה ש’ך

Lefade’ach mishehu – To embarrass someone – לפדח מישהו

Mefade’ach (mfade’ach) – Embarrassing – מפדח

Mefudach – Embarrassed – מפודח

Lehitfade’ach – To feel embarrassed – להתפדח

Ma-ze hitfadachti – I felt so embarrassed – מה זה התפדחתי

Ma-ze hitfadachti bishvilo – I felt so embarrassed for him – מה זה התפדחתי בשבילו

Fadhan, fadhanit – Someone who embarrasses others all the time – פדחן, פדחנית

Dai, ya fadhan – Stop it, you’re embarrassing me – די, יא פדחן

Fashloner – Someone who always blows it – פשלונר

Hu ma-ze fashloner – He always screws up – הוא מה-זה פשלונר

Looking for the monologue text? It’s available to our patrons at patreon.com/streetwisehebrew.

Playlist and Clips:
Shaygetz – Aluf Belefashel (lyrics)
Hemi Rudner – Bo’i Nipared (lyrics)
Sarit Haddad – Melech Ha-rechov (lyrics)

Want to see more Hebrew gems? Like Streetwise Hebrew on Facebook and Instagram.
Want Guy to talk about a pressing Hebrew issue? Find him at StreetWiseHebrew.com or follow him on Twitter.