All dialects: false friends

[tounsi51]

In Tunisia

يستحق to need whereas elsewhere it is to deserve
برى means go at imperative form whereas elsewhere it means go away/get out
انزل means to press whereas elsewhere it is to go down

 

[Mahaodeh]

I am not sure if this is what you meant but anyway, in Syria, عيّط means the samething as in Iraqi.

Really? I didn't know that. Thanks for the info . In Palestinian they usually don't get that and just link it with the Egyptian meaning of 'cry'.

Interesting. When I hear the word حوش I think of something similar to بستان. Courtyard is either أرض الدار or جنينة in Syrian.

This is the first time I hear this meaning for حوش. Just to point out, by courtyard, I mean the courtyard found in traditional houses. I don't know if this is what you mean by جنينة, but when I hear that I understand 'garden' and while these courtyards usually do have a tree or two in them, they are usually paved and can't really be considered gardens; they're also usually quite small. This is what they call حوش in Iraq, it later extended to include the whole house although بيت is still equally common.

برى means go at imperative form whereas elsewhere it means go away/get out

I don't recognise this word, is that the fus7a form or the dialect?

 

[momai]

Just to point out, by courtyard, I mean the courtyard found in traditional houses. I don't know if this is what you mean by جنينة, but when I hear that I understand 'garden' and while these courtyards usually do have a tree or two in them, they are usually paved and can't really be considered gardens; they're also usually quite small.

Usually, a traditional house as my parents' one has a backyard which is composed of two parts a paved one where you are surrounded with some flowerpots and the second part is an integrated "basin" ar. حوض where you find one or maybe two fruit/vegetable trees (my parents have a grape vine). So when people would go out to the backyard they say طالع عأرض الدار أو عالجنينة.

 

[I.K.S.]

The typical courtyard found inside the traditional Moroccan houses match your description, but is called riad.

 

[Mahaodeh]

Usually, a traditional house as my parents' one has a backyard which is composed of two parts a paved one where you are surrounded with some flowerpots and the second part is an integrated "basin" ar. حوض where you find one or maybe two fruit/vegetable trees (my parents have a grape vine). So when people would go out to the backyard they say طالع عأرض الدار أو عالجنينة.

No, that's an ordinary garden with a paved area. This is not what I mean by courtyard.

The typical courtyard found inside the traditional Moroccan houses match your description, but is called riad.

Yes, this is what I mean by courtyard. This is the حوش, in Classical Arabic it's called صحن. By the way, these courtyards exist in traditional Arab houses from Iraq to Morocco; the only Arab country that didn't have them historically is Yemen.

 

[tounsi51]

I don't recognise this word, is that the fus7a form or the dialect?

Barra/برا

 

[Mahaodeh]

Barra/برا

Ahh, OK, I thought it would be written برة because it's a feminine form of برّ.

 

[Hemza]

In Tunisia

يستحق to need whereas elsewhere it is to deserve

خص in Morocco means "to need" (as well as also "to concern")

انزل means to press whereas elsewhere it is to go down

For to press, I think most people would say ابرك .

 

[I.K.S.]

For to press, I think most people would say ابرك .

as ex : (joking aside) ابرك على البوطونة عافاك, I thought this word_with to press meaning_has gone extinct?

 

[tounsi51]

Ahh, OK, I thought it would be written برة because it's a feminine form of برّ.

I have no idea about the correct writing it's like bokra بكرا بكرة بكره

 

[Hemza]

as ex : (joking aside) ابرك على البوطونة عافاك, I thought this word_with to press meaning_has gone extinct?

I can't speak for all Moroccan areas but in Fès, it is still frequent but we never use it to say "to seat down" like in the West , only "to press on something".

In Hassaniya, we say سند على (sannad 3ala) but this also means "to lean on"

 

[Hemza]

I find it interesting how some words seem to 'skip' regions!
حوش means house as well as courtyard in Iraq, but while it's understood in the Levant it's not used in that way and it seems to have totally skipped Egypt!

Actually, حوش does exist in Egypt but it means "courtyard" (in front of a home). I think in rural areas in Morocco it also bear this meaning yet in bedouin areas, it also means "home".

رقد also means to sleep in most gulf dialects but not in Iraq or the Levant.

I didn't know. My Palestinian mates laughed at me when I used it they told me it is only used for a chicken covering her eggs.

 

[I.K.S.]

In Hassaniya, we say سند على (sannad 3ala) but this also means "to lean on"

سند على = "to lean on" in rural West.

 

[cherine]

حوش is used in Egypt with the meaning of فِناء, so it's also used for فناء المدرسة.
As for بَرَك it's mostly used for camels. When it's used figuratively for people, it means that a person fell on the ground without force, and it's not commonly known by the young generation.

 

[Hemza]

Another occurence of a misunderstanding with my Egyptian friend (but it happened a whiiiile ago, from me): the verb خشّ which means "to enter" in Egyptian (دخل in my dialect) but "to hide/to hide something" in my dialect.

But in the North of Morocco if I'm not wrong, خشّ (as well as دخّل) means "to make something enter into something else".

 

[Mahaodeh]

I've never heard it used verbally, however, I do remember reading a book for Najib Mahfouth about a rural family from upper Egypt, in it the hero was telling a maid to hide something, I remember clearly what was written: خُشيها هنا but the context clearly indicated that he was telling her to hide it. So I guess that it's not unheard of in Egypt, at least at the time the book was written.

 

[cherine]

I've never heard it used verbally, however, I do remember reading a book for Najib Mahfouth about a rural family from upper Egypt, in it the hero was telling a maid to hide something, I remember clearly what was written: خُشيها هنا but the context clearly indicated that he was telling her to hide it. So I guess that it's not unheard of in Egypt, at least at the time the book was written.

This needs a bit more context, Maha. Are you sure you're remembering this correctly? Which novel was it?

 

[Mahaodeh]

I remember the phrase because it was the first (probably the only) time I see it used in this way. However, I don't recall the name of the book. I only remember small parts of the story and not the whole one. I read it as a teenager, so it is possible that my memory is playing tricks on me.

 

[elroy]

عقب pronounced 3ugub in Iraq means 'after' or 'following' (ex. عقب باكر = the day after tomorrow) and it seems to have skipped both the Levant and Egypt!

عقب is used with this meaning in the Galilee, but it’s much less common than بعد or ورا.

It always throws me off when Moroccans use حتى for “also,” because it means “even” in Palestinian. For example, if I say أنا جوعان and a Moroccan answers حتى أنا, it sounds like “Even I’m hungry!”, as though it were a huge deal for this person to be hungry. It sounds ridiculous. I think other dialects use حتى for “also” as well.

Other false friends:

لبن: “yogurt” in Palestinian, “milk” in Egyptian. The Egyptian usage will never grow on me. قهوة مع لبن sounds nasty.

فراخ: “young birds” in Palestinian, “chicken” in Egyptian

عيش: “bread” in Egyptian, not really used in Palestinian but it sounds like “living”

عايز: “want” in Egyptian, “need” in Palestinian

صباح: “forehead” in Palestinian, “morning” in other dialects

حقي: “my” in some dialects, “my right” in Palestinian

حلو: “sweet” or “beautiful” in Palestinian, “tasty” in other dialects

Here’s one that I think @Mahaodeh would appreciate: هواي means “a lot” in Iraqi and ضربة in Palestinian. So أكلت هواي means “I ate a lot” in Iraqi and “I got a beating” in Palestinian!

 

[Mahaodeh]

Here’s one that I think @Mahaodeh would appreciate: هواي means “a lot” in Iraqi and ضربة in Palestinian. So أكلت هواي means “I ate a lot” in Iraqi not “I got a beating” in Palestinian!

This reminds me of another one that works the other way: بسط in Palestinian means to be happy/glad/comfortable whereas in Iraqi it means to hit/beat up someone. It's interesting that both come from Classical Arabic idiomatic expression: انبسطت اساريره and بسط عليه يده (ليضربه).

 

[tounsi51]

In Tunisia مبسوط means rich whereas in other dialects it means happy

سيب pronounced sayeb means to drop, to let go of, to release; in Egypt it means to let

 

[Hemza]

It always throws me off when Moroccans use حتى for “also,” because it means “even” in Palestinian. For example, if I say أنا جوعان and a Moroccan answers حتى أنا, it sounds like “Even I’m hungry!”, as though it were a huge deal for this person to be hungry. It sounds ridiculous. I think other dialects use حتى for “also” as well.

I never had any problem using حتى أنا to say "me too", even with my Palestinian mates hahah but I can understand the misunderstanding with the meaning it bears in Palestinian. On the other way, when I say أنا بعد (another way of saying "me too") no one understands me except the Iraqis.

Other false friends:
لبن: “yogurt” in Palestinian, “milk” in Egyptian. The Egyptian usage will never grow on me. قهوة مع لبن sounds nasty.

I faced a similar situation with my Egyptian friend: لبن in Morocco is fermented milk while حليب is milk.

فراخ: “young birds” in Palestinian, “chicken” in Egyptian

In Morocco, those are young chicken (pronunced فريخ) but when you want to eat it, you say دجاج. Of course, the first time my friend told me فراخ I needed sometimes before I get he was talking about دجاج. We also use فروج for "rooster" and I think صعايدة also use this word.

عيش: “bread” in Egyptian, not really used in Palestinian but it sounds like “living”

The first time he told me عيش what came to my mind is كسكس. We call bread خبز.

عايز: “want” in Egyptian, “need” in Palestinian

العازة means "to be in need" but we don't use the verb as far as I know.

حقي: “my” in some dialects, “my right” in Palestinian

حق sounds "7agg" in my dialect ("right" or often a way of saying "yes") but it sounds like حج in Egyptian.

حلو: “sweet” or “beautiful” in Palestinian, “tasty” in other dialects

What threw me off with Palestinians is زاكي to which the closest word I know is ذكي. No need to say the first time I heard one of my Palestinian mates saying كتير زاكي about food, I thought she was joking, I thought she was saying it was smart .

In Tunisia مبسوط means rich whereas in other dialects it means happy

Being rich=being happy?

 

[I.K.S.]

I faced a similar situation with my Egyptian friend: لبن in Morocco is fermented milk while حليب is milk.

I'm not really exposed to Eastern dialects, but when I knew Egyptians use لبن for what we call حليب (both usages are correct according to standard Arabic btw) I decided to compare other dairy products in both dialects, and found out this Interlock.
Moroccan _____ Egyptian
حليب ____ Milk ____ لبن
لبن ___ Buttermilk ___ رايب
رايب ____ Yogurt ___ زبادي
زبدة ____ Butter ____ سمن
سمن ___ salted butter ?

 

[tounsi51]

Yogurt in Morocco isn't called danone?

 

[I.K.S.]

hhh, and detergent powder is called Tide, you're right but I meant the traditional one that we make at home.

 

[Hemza]

I'm not really exposed to Eastern dialects, but when I knew Egyptians use لبن for what we call حليب (both usages are correct according to standard Arabic btw) I decided to compare other dairy products in both dialects, and found out this Interlock.

Oh I have plenty of this kind, where we talk about food but no one understand the other because the same word is used for two different things

About that, another one:

خشم means "nose" in my dialect (beside نيف/منخار) but the first time I used it, my Egyptian friend understood it as mouth (of an animal) .

 

[Mahaodeh]

زبدة ____ Butter ____ سمن

I thought Egyptians also use زبدة for butter?!

I think dairy products are worth a look in more than one dialect:

English ___ Moroccan ____Egyptian ___Palestinian ____ Iraqi
Milk ________حليب ________حليب ________ لبن ________ حليب
Buttermilk ___ ؟؟؟ _________؟؟؟ _________رايب ________ لبن
Yogurt ______ لبن أو روبة ________لبن ________ زبادي ________لبن
Butter ______ زبد _________ زبدة _________ ؟؟ ________زبدة
Salted butter _ زبد _________ زبدة _________ ؟؟ _______سمنة
fat or lard ___ دهن ________ سمنة _________ ؟؟؟ _________؟؟؟
P.S. I have no idea what buttermilk is and the Wikipedia article didn't really help - since I don't know what it is I guess I can't translate it but just a guess, it might be مخيض in P.A. and I have no idea at all in I.A.

 

[Hemza]

By "buttermilk", I think my fellow @إتحادية قبائل الشاوية means "fermented milk" which has a thicker texture than regular milk and has a soft sour taste.

Small corrections for the Moroccan part:
سمن (masculine) and رايب is yogurt, not لبن . As for "fat", it is (شحم(ة

 

[Mahaodeh]

خشم means "nose" in my dialect (beside نيف/منخار) but the first time I used it, my Egyptian friend understood it as mouth (of an animal) .

I hear it means a 'human mouth' in Sudanese. If so, it might be quite awkward if you went to a Sudanese dentist who would say to you: افتح خشمك عشان اشوف!

 

[tounsi51]

خشم means also nose in Tunisia, eastern Algeria and in the Gulf countries.

 

[Hemza]

خشم means also nose in Tunisia, eastern Algeria and in the Gulf countries.

Add Libya, Mauritania and Saudi Arabia to this.

 

[elroy]

خشم/خشوم=nose is also used in the Galilee.

 

[tounsi51]

In TA the verb كشخ means to sulk but in Emirati Arabic it means to be well-groomed (I am not wrong) and كشخة beautiful

Edit: Found new meanings in Em. Arabic:
Literally means: Cool, Great

eg. I loved the dancing fountains! The show was kashkha! Also used to mean dressed up, fashionable, posh, luxurious

It's funny when I read صباح الخشخة​

 

[Mahaodeh]

كشخة in Iraqi Arabic means posh or classy.

 

[tounsi51]

Something I always find funny

In Morocco and Algeria, paint is صبيغة whereas paint in Tunisia is دهن and صبيغة is dye

الجو in Morocco and Algeria is the weather, in Tunisia the weather is الطقس and جو is the ambience/atmosphere

 

[Hemza]

Actually it is "صباغة", no Tunisian إمالة here haha. I think the word دهن which basically means "fat/grease" is used for paint because a lot of paints are made with different kind of oils, hence the use of دهن. We don't make the distinction between paint and dye.
جو can mean weather and ambience, طقس is also used but only for weather. It doesn't differ from Tunisian. I talk for Morocco but I guess Algeria is similar on these aspects

 

[tounsi51]

دهن (dohn) is the Tunisian pronunciation of دهان which means paint in MSA. We pronounce it that way to differentiate from دهان (dehen) which is painter (we also use بياض)

دهن is MSA for fat

I never heard Moroccan saying طقس unless you mean MSA for météo? Do you say الجو بارد don't you? In TA we would say el ta9s bered or denya berda

 

[Hemza]

دهن (dohn) is the Tunisian pronunciation of دهان which means paint in MSA. We pronounce it that way to differentiate from دهان (dehen) which is painter (we also use بياض)

صباغ (Sabbaagh) is painter in Morocco.

I never heard Moroccan saying طقس unless you mean MSA for météo? Do you say الجو بارد don't you? In TA we would say el ta9s bered or denya berda

الطقس بارد isn't spread yet we may use "طقس" alone but for your examples, we would say الدنيا باردة or الجو بارد.

 

[tounsi51]

صباغ (Sabbagh) is painter in Morocco.

Don't you use بياض as well when it comes to a house painter?

 

[Hemza]

Don't you use بياض as well when it comes to a house painter?

I don't know. I never heard it but it may exist, other Moroccans here know better than me.

 

[Mahaodeh]

طقس in Palestinian means weather, جوّ means climate. In Iraqi it's commonly the opposite. I almost always get corrected by someone whichever I use!

 

[Tilmeedh]

Here are a couple false friends I've become aware of:

" نطر " 'naTar' means 'to wait' in Lebanese but 'to flick' in Egyptian.

" تروّق " 'trawwa2' means 'to have breakfast' in Lebanese but " روّق " or " تروّق " 'rawwa2/trawwa2' means something like 'to tidy up' in Egyptian.

Quite often. When I first left Lebanon, and haven't had much contact with Arabs of different nationalites, this used to be a major concern for me. I got myself into countless embarrassing situations, and sometimes misunderstandings that led to hard feelings or even slight problems. I remember saying a very common Lebanese expression once, which didn't have an equivalent in the Egyptian dialect, but held a very embarrassing meaning when translated literally. Those who were present kept laughing and laughing while I fought hard to hold my tears back. They still tease me about it till now.

If I might ask, what Lebanese phrase did you employ that caused this situation? Since I'm learning that dialect, I'd like to avoid possible difficulties...

 

[elroy]

" تروّق " 'trawwa2' means 'to have breakfast' in Lebanese but " روّق " or " تروّق " 'rawwa2/trawwa2' means something like 'to tidy up' in Egyptian.

In Palestinian روّق means “calm down.” Is this a three-way false friend?!

 

[cherine]

" تروّق " 'trawwa2' means 'to have breakfast' in Lebanese but " روّق " or " تروّق " 'rawwa2/trawwa2' means something like 'to tidy up' in Egyptian.

رَوَّق = to calm down
رَوَّق البيت / المكان = to tidy up
رَوَّق حد = to give him a tough talk, make him know his mistakes and blame him hard for them; to give someone a hard time.
There are two maSdars:
رَوَقان = calming down, putting all troubles behind you and enjoying yourself/your time. It also mean no caring about anything.
تَرْوِيق = tidying up; giving someone hard time.

The adjective رايق raaye2 means:
to be forgetful of anthing, to be disregarding troubles.
دا واحد رايق مفيش في دماغه حاجة/مش شاغل باله بحاجة
And: to be in a good mood, to be free/not busy
لو عايز تطلب من المدير حاجة، استنى لما يبقى رايق

 

[Hemza]

صبوح in Hassaniya means "breakfast" (beside فطور) but some may confuse it with صبح (although it is linked).
فيسع in Maghrebi dialects means "right now/quickly" but Tunisians (@tounsi51 ) seem to pronounce it فيسا and it sounds like an Egyptian word... I leave Egyptians commenting about that
فتر (and the adjective فترا) means "tired" but every single person with who I used this word misunderstood it as فطر so I avoid it and use عيان.

The adjective رايق raaye2 means:
to be forgetful of anything, to be disregarding troubles.

You just shed light on this mysterious word my friend uses and I've never until now, understood its meaning (he sometimes says دماغي رايقة or something like this).

 

[elroy]

فتر (and the adjective فترا) means "tired" but every single person with who I used this word misunderstood it as فطر so I avoid it and use عيان.

عيان means “sick” in Palestinian.

 

[Hemza]

عيان means “sick” in Palestinian.

Oh true, in Egyptian too hence at the beginning, I always had to add that it means "tired" in Morocco (مريض is used for ill) because I use to get as a reply الف سلامة عليك hahaha

 

[Hemza]

عافية which means "peace" in Hassaniya dialect but in the rest of Morocco (according to the context) it can mean "fire" . I heard it is was also the case in the rest of the Maghreb but this meaning only remained in Morocco today. Oddly, the expression عافاك is wiiidely used across Morocco to mean "please".

زفت. In Hassaniya, it means plastic while in the rest of Morocco, it is asphalt.

عقب pronounced 3ugub in Iraq means 'after' or 'following' (ex. عقب باكر = the day after tomorrow) and it seems to have skipped both the Levant and Egypt!

I completely forgot, we do use عاقب (3aageb) to say "after" but as I'm much more used to من بعد, that's why I forgot it because I avoid using it since few people get it on the first instance.

 

[elroy]

English ___ Moroccan ____Egyptian ___Palestinian ____ Iraqi
Milk ________حليب ________حليب ________ لبن ________ حليب
Buttermilk ___ ؟؟؟ _________؟؟؟ _________رايب ________ لبن
Yogurt ______ لبن أو روبة ________لبن ________ زبادي ________لبن
Butter ______ زبد _________ زبدة _________ ؟؟ ________زبدة
Salted butter _ زبد _________ زبدة _________ ؟؟ _______سمنة
fat or lard ___ دهن ________ سمنة _________ ؟؟؟ _________؟؟؟

I think "buttermilk" is لبن مخيض in Palestinian. (There's also لبن رايب, but I'm not totally sure what that is.) سمنة is specifically "ghee," isn't it?

 

[ayed]

لبن رايب = churned milk