Photo by Zipa Kempinsky

We don’t talk enough about food on our podcast. The Hebrew word טעים means tasty, and its root, טעמ, makes up a whole family of culinary terms that are important to know.

New Words and Expressions:

Ta’im lecha, ta’im lach, ta’im lachem – Is it tasty (for you)? – טעים לךָ? טעים לךְ? טעים לכם?

Ta’im she-ein dvarim ka-ele – So delicious that there are no things like it – טעים שאין דברים כאלה

Ta’am, pl. Te’amim – Taste, flavor, sense, reason – טעם, טעמים

Al ta’am ve-al re-ach ein lehitvake’ach – There’s no right or wrong when it comes to taste – על טעם ועל ריח אין להתווכח

Ani yoda’at she-yesh be-ze ta’am – I know there’s sense in it – אני יודעת שיש בזה טעם

Ein ta’am la’asot mashehu – There’s no point to do something – אין טעם לעשות משהו

Kshe-at lo iti, ein ta’am kim’at – When you’re not with me, there’s hardly any point (to life) – כשאת לא איתי, אין טעם כמעט

Ein ta’am she-evke / Ein ta’am livkot) – There’s no point in crying – אין טעם שאבכה / אין טעם לבכות

Ein ta’am – No point – אין טעם

Titkasher elehem achshav! Lo, ein ta’am, hem od lo pat’hu – Call them up now! No, no sense in doing that, they haven’t opened the office yet – תתקשר אליהם עכשיו! לא, אין טעם, הם עוד לא פתחו

Achshav ba-te’amim tapuz… etc. – Now in the flavors of: orange etc. – עכשיו בטעמים: תפוז…

Be-te’amim hadashim – In new flavours – בטעמים חדשים

Be-ta’am – With good taste, elegantly, tastefully – בטעם

Mamash be-taam – (It was done) really with taste – ממש בטעם

Hoser ta’am – Lack of taste – חוסר טעם

Eize hoser ta’am – What a lack of taste – איזה חוסר טעם

Ta’am – Lexical stress – טעם

Mi-ta’am – On behalf of – מִטעם

Pras mi-ta’am emi – Prize from the Israeli Union of Performing Artists – פרס מטעם אמ”י

Omanut mi-ta’am – Propaganda – אמנות מטעם

Ze post mi-ta’am X – That’s a post sponsored by X – זה פוסט מטעם א

Hush ha-ta’am – Taste (sense) – חוש הטעם

Mat’am, mat’amim – Delicacy, delicacies – מטעם, מטעמים

Hu asa mi-ze mat’amim – “He made delicacies out of it” – הוא עשה מזה מטעמים

Hem asu mi-ze mat’amim – “They made delicacies out of it” – הם עשו מזה מטעמים

Lit’om – To taste – לטעום

Efshar lit’om – May I taste? – אפשר לטעום?

Tit’am! Tit’ami! Tit’amu – Taste it (imp.) – תטעם, תטעמי, תטעמו

Ta’am – Taste / He tasted – טעם

Playlist and Clips:

Streetwise Hebrew Episode 122: Waiter Talk… Is Everything OK?

Streetwise Hebrew Episode 151: Like Nothing Else: Intensifiers and Superlatives

Lilit Nagar & Jacques Cohen – Al Ta’am ve-al Re’ach (lyrics)

Dana Berger – Yesh Be-ze Ta’am (lyrics)

Matti Caspi & Yehudit Ravitz – Samba bi-shnayim (lyrics)

Lahakat Hel Ha-yam – Hasake (lyrics)

Ice cream commercial

Mabat – Pras mi-ta’am (“prize on behalf of”)

Nurit Galron – Kulanu Zkukim Le-hesed (lyrics)

Want to see more Hebrew gems? Like Streetwise Hebrew on Facebook and Instagram.

Want Guy to talk about a pressing Hebrew issue? Find him at StreetWiseHebrew.com or follow him on Twitter.

Photo by Zipa Kempinsky

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Listen on your favorite podcast app