Streetwise Hebrew

Don’t Bother Me

The word מפריע means ‘bother’, and is used in polite sentences like, “סורי אם אני מפריע”. But politeness is not what you’ll find when searching for מפריע on Twitter. Guy explains

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Stir Fry, Anyone?

The Hebrew word להקפיץ means to cause something to jump. But how else can we use it?

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Diving Head First

The Hebrew word לקפוץ means to jump. But its root has many more uses than just that. For instance, there’s a common phrase that’s used to describe the actions of a person who has no shame: להשתין מהמקפצה

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Be My Guest

It’s not always easy to host people. It’s also important to know how to be good guests. Guy explains the secrets behind Israeli hospitality using the Hebrew root ארח

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Parking Prohibited!

The Hebrew word אסור means forbidden, must not. Its root, אסר, provides us all sorts of ways to say, “we shouldn’t do that.” So let’s try to follow the rules because otherwise we might end up as an אסיר!

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Why Are They Allowed?

Israelis google lots of questions with the word מותר. To whom are they turning for answers? Doctors, experts, rabbis and others knowledgeable people. They want to know what’s allowed and what’s forbidden

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I Can Imagine

The word לתאר means “to describe” as well as “to imagine.” Guy explains how to use this verb and teaches a slang term to use when rolling your eyes at someone

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It’s Just Awful

A listener wrote asking, “what can we say in Hebrew when we see the horrendous footage from Ukraine?” Guy explains some of the words and phrases we can use, and what to say when we are left speechless

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I Need to Inquire About This

I need to make some בירורים, inquiries about someone, לברר a few things about him. This is Guy’s second episode dedicated to the root ב-ר-ר

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Let Me Make This Clear to You

In Hebrew, ?הייתי ברורה means ,“was I clear?” Guy’s school principal would lecture them after they did something wrong, and she would end with ?הייתי ברורה. This episode is dedicated to the word ברור

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