Throw Out Those Old Answers to ‘Eich Haya’

Now that the holidays are behind us, you will likely get asked ‘eich haya,’ or ‘how was it?’ Whether your chagim were fabulous, same ol’, or just plain rotten, host Guy Sharett gives you 10 expressions to respond with. He even describes how to use ‘pach,’ the literal word for trash can. Happy small talking!

New words & expressions:

1. Madhim – Amazing – מדהים

2. Al ha-panim – Really bad – על הפנים

La-panim – Great – לפנים

3. Stam – “Nothing to write home about” – סתם

4. Nechmad – Nice – נחמד

Haya nechmad – It was nice / ok – היה נחמד

5. Metsuyan / Me’ule – Excellent, great – מצויין / מעולה

Letsayen – To note – לציין

Haya me’ule / haya mamash metsuyan – It was really great – היה מעולה / היה ממש מצויין

6. Pach – Can (garbage can) – פח

Pach ashpa – Garbage can – פח אשפה

Ani megia’a la-oto – I’m getting to the car – אני מגיעה לאוטו

Ve-ani roa oto pach – And I see a shitty car – ואני רואה אוטו פח

Ma ze ha-pach ha-ze? – What is this junk? – ?מה זה הפח הזה

Eize pach – What a pach (how lousy) – איזה פח

Ma kore ya pach – What’s up you pach – מה קורה יא פח

7. Sababa legamrei – Totally cool – סבבה לגמרי

8. Murkav – Complicated – מורכב

Ha’osher murkav – The happiness is complicated – האושר מורכב

Haya murkav – It was complicated – היה מורכב

9. Ata lo mevin / At lo mevina – You don’t understand (how good/horrible it is/was) – אתה לא מבין / את לא מבינה

10. Tov – Good – טוב

Haya tov (aspirated t)/ To-ov – It was amazing – היה טוב / טו-אוב

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

Playlist and clips:

Eric Berman – Yeled Madhim (lyrics)
Arik Sinai – Stam Yom shel Hol (lyrics)
Parpar Nechmad TV Show theme song
Polyakovim Reality TV show – Oto Pach 
Shlomi Shabat – Yom Sababa (lyrics)
Shlomo Artzi – Shir Ha-kirva (lyrics)
Sarit Haddad – Kim’at Holechet (lyrics)
Shokolad Menta Mastik – Ze Tov, Ze Tov (lyrics)

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