Streetwise Hebrew

Hold This for a Second, Will You?

It’s asked as a question but it’s actually a statement: ?תחזיק רגע That’s how we ask a friend to hold our bags. And how would we say, “I think highly of him” (or not so highly)?

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What Are Some of Your Strengths?

Israelis sometimes use a single word to review a movie or tv series: “!חזק” In Hebrew, חזק (pronounced hazak) means strong. So what are they trying to convey and how else can we use the word חזק?

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Searching for Deeper Meaning

The Hebrew word לחפש means “to search for.” So what does “המורה סתם מחפש אותי” or “לכי חפשי ת’חברים שלך” mean? Both are slang and they don’t mean what you might think they mean!

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Here, Try This!

The word לנסות, to try, is very handy in everyday conversation. People always say, “try this” or “don’t try that.” So on this episode, Guy tries to explain it all.

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“Ve,” “Va” or “Oo”

Vé- is sometimes pronounced Va- or Oo-, depending on the usage. So when is the letter ו at the beginning of a word pronounced Vé, Va or Oo? And should Hebrew learners invest their time to learn these elaborate rules?

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Yea or Nay?

The word נגד means against,” and its root gives us the Hebrew words for contrast, contradiction and conflict. We’ll also head over to the Knesset in Jerusalem to hear an up or down vote take place.

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Last Boarding Call for Flight #303 to Hebrewville

In this episode, Guy covers the different words and meanings derived from the root ק.ר.א, like how to say, “Call an ambulance”, “Let’s call a spade a spade,” and perhaps the most useful sentence of all, “Let me read to you the text he sent me.”

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My Condolences To You And Your Family

In Hebrew, נחמה means consolation, comfort. It’s also a woman’s name. The difference comes down to pronunciation. Today Guy explains how to give your condolences and how to jokingly comfort a friend who was delivered a cold pizza.

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Did You Just Cancel on Me?

For the first time in its history, the Eurovision Song Contest was cancelled, all because the Coronavirus. How do we say “to cancel” in Hebrew, in the present? How about in the past? And what army radio comm talk breached the divide and made its way to civilian slang?

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300th Episode Special! Hebrew Bloopers From Around the World

Join us in celebrating our 300th episode with the best פספוסים, bloopers, by Hebrew learners around the world.

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