Saying It Twice

​Why do we sometimes repeat the same word twice in Hebrew? Mashu-mashu, gever-gever, for example. Today we’ll talk about reduplication in Hebrew and… about Belize.

New Words and Expressions:

Le’at le’at – Slowly – לאט-לאט

Mashu-mashu – Great – משהו-משהו

Ha-lasagna ha-zot, mashu! – This lasagna is amazing! – הלזניה הזאת, משו

Ha-lasagna ha-zot, mashu-mashu! – This lasagna is amazing! – הלזניה הזאת, משו משו

Gever-gever – Macho – גבר-גבר

Hi isha-isha – She’s a real lady – היא אישה-אישה

Chaver-chaver – Serious boyfriend – חבר-חבר 

“Oh, politika politika” – Oh politics – הו, פוליטיקה, פוליטיקה

Kacha ze, politika, politika- This is how it is, politics- ככה זה, פוליטיקה, פוליטיקה

Mishpat mishpat – Sentence by sentence – משפט-משפט

Para para – Baby steps – פרה-פרה

Ben-Ben – Diminutive of Ben – בן-בן

Tal-Tal, ma nishma mami? – Tal, how are you sweetie pie – טל-טל, מה נשמע ממי

“Benny, Benny, yeled ra” – Oh Benny, you’re such a bad boy – בני, בני, ילד רע

Playlist and Clips:

Sarit Avitan – Gever Gever (lyrics)

Riki Gal – Yeled Ra (lyrics)

Ep. 16 about how to curse drivers in Hebrew