Sometimes one needs to whine (‘lekater’) and to go over the top. Israelis love to complain and use words like inferno, hell, nightmare, torture, and other flowery terms to describe another horrible queue at the bank. Let’s add some phrases to our Streetwise Hebrew complaint toolkit with today’s episode.
Words and expressions discussed:
Lehitlonen – To complain – להתלונן
Hu mitlonen al mashehu/mishehu – He complains about something/someone – הוא מתלונן על משהו/מישהו
Mitlonenet al ha-hom – She is complaining about the heat – מתלוננת על החום
Haya li kashe, ani lo mitlonenet – It was hard for me, I am not complaining – היה לי קשה, אני לא מתלוננת
Lekater – To whine – לקטר
Eize kef lekater al ha-matsav ha-kalkali – How fun it is to whine about the economic situation – איזה כיף לקטר על המצב הכלכלי
Ma ata mekater, lama at mekateret? – Why are you whining? – מה אתה מקטר, למה את מקטרת?
Kitur, kiturim – Whine/s – קיטור, קיטורים
Tluna – Complaint – תלונה
Netsiv tlunot ha-tsibur – Ombudsman – נציב תלונות הציבור
Siyut – Nightmare – סיוט
Inuy/yim – Torture/s – עינוי/יים
Le-anot – To torture – לענות
Gehenom – Hell – גהנום
Shoa – Holocaust – שואה
“Ha-wege lo tofet?” – Does my face look horrible? – הווג’ לא תופת?
Tofet – Inferno – תופת
Zva’a – Horror – זוועה
Zva’at olam – Mega horror – זוועת עולם
Zva’a shel ha-hayim – Mega horror – זוועה של החיים
Zva’a shel ha-laif – A real nightmarish experience – זוועה של הלייף
Tse’aka mahrida – Terrifying scream – צעקה מחרידה
Nora – Horrible, awful – נורא
Playlist:
Pe’er Tassi – Derech Ha-shalom (lyrics)
Shmulik Kraus & Josie Katz – Shuv (lyrics)
Matsav Ha-uma TV show – Channel 2 (Reshet)
Misrad Mevaker Ha-medina
A question to the rabbi about Gehenom (hell)
Micha mi-shenkar – Tom Yaar
Hadshot ha-shabat – Zva’ot be-irak
Sagiv Cohen – Gali Oti (lyrics)
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