You Don’t Want to Mess With Me

There are people you don’t want to mess with, and there are things you shouldn’t do because they’re too much of a hassle. How do you say all this in Hebrew? Well, you’d use the עסק root, of course!

New Words and Expressions:

Laasok be- – To deal with – לעסוק ב

Hu osek be-ze harbe shanim – He’s been dealing with this for many years – הוא עוסק בזה הרבה שנים

Al taasok be-ze achshav – You don’t have to deal with this right now – אל תעסוק בזה עכשיו

Be-ma ata osek / Be-ma at oseket – What do you do for a living? – במה אתה עוסק, במה את עוסקת

Ha-hevra oseket be- – The company is in the field of so and so – החברה עוסקת ב

Osek murshe – Licensed freelancer – עוסק מורשה

Ta’asuka – Employment, occupation – תעסוקה

Lishkat ha-taasuka – Employment bureau – לשכת התעסוקה

Lachtom ba-lishka – To sign at the employment office – לחתום בלשכה

“Nimtsa avoda zmanit, lo retsinit” – We’ll find a temporary, non-serious job – נמצא עבודה זמנית, לא רצינית

“Vegam nahtom ba-lishka” – And at the same time, we’ll sign at the employment office – וגם נחתום בלשכה

Lehaasik – To keep busy, to employ – להעסיק

Ze maasik oto, ze maasik ota – It keeps them occupied – זה מעסיק אותו/אותה

Be’ayot she-ma’asikot otanu – Problems that occupy us – בעיות שמעסיקות אותנו

Ze maasik otcha? – Does it trouble you? – זה מעסיק אותך

Lehaasik mishehu – To employ someone – להעסיק מישהו

Ha’asaka – Employment – העסקה

Ha’asaka ravgonit/meguvenet – Diversity hiring – העסקה רבגונית/מגוונת

Ha’asaka meguvenet shava lachem yoter – Diversity hiring is worth more for your business – העסקה מגוונת שווה לכם יותר

Haasakat mi’ootim – Hiring minorities – העסקת מיעוטים

Lehitasek – To busy oneself, to be involved with – להתעסק

Ani meod ohev lehitasek be-ochel – I love doing food stuff, dealing with food – אני מאוד אוהב להתעסק באוכל

Al titasek iti – Don’t mess with me – אל תתעסק איתי

Lo kedai lecha lehitasek ito – You shouldn’t mess with him – לא כדאי לך להתעסק איתו

Ata mitasek iti? – Are you messing with me? – אתה מתעסק איתי

Be-ze ata mitasek achshav? – This is what worries you right now? – בזה אתה מתעסק עכשיו

Ze ma-ze hit’askoot – It’s such a hassle – זה מה-זה התעסקות

Laasot hazeret ze ma ze hitaskoot – To make horseradish is a real hassle – לעשות חזרת זה מה-זה התעסקות

Ze yachsoch li hitaskoot – It’s going to save me a lot of work – זה יחסוך לי התעסקות

Playlist and Clips:

Monika Sex – Maka Afora (lyrics)

Ha’asaka meguvent

Ha’asakat mi’ootim

Hazeret – Horseradish

Osek patur & Osek murshe

Ep. no. 84 about avoda zmanit

Ep. no. 161 about hi amra li

Enzel ve-Luxi podcast for foodies (In Hebrew)

Previous Episodes

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1 comment on “You Don’t Want to Mess With Me

  1. Beatriz Presser says:

    is this a picture of Zeev Rothstein?

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