Some useful words

To make up for my inability to remember how to make full sentences in Arabic anymore (putting aside the whole "I speak Modern Standard Arabic and everyone speaks a Lebanese dialect" dilemma for a second), I have been peppering my English and French with a couple of expressions I have learned or re-learned in the past two weeks.

Here are some ways to amuse Lebanese people immensely/have them compliment your Arabic and boost your ego temporarily until you remember they are just taking pity on your pathetic efforts.

Akid means "of course." I have tried using it sarcastically which, while technically correct, cause some confusion because my interlocutor couldn't tell if I was making a lame attempt at humor or just being an idiot who doesn't know what words mean.

Insh'allah, as most of you know, literally means "God willing" and not literally can be used for anything that has less than a 200 percent chance of happening in the future.

Examples:

-As previously mentioned, my banker's "your credit card will arrive in a week, insh'allah" (and by the way, God was thankfully willing on that one)

-My former Arabic professor who used to say things like "in tomorrow's class, insh'allah we will go over topics x and y." The fact that the curriculum is technically insh'alprofessor is irrelevant. You never know what kind of natural disaster could make tomorrow's lesson on verb forms be replaced at the last minute by a lecture on surviving a zombie apocalypse. You know what they say when you assume.

Khalas is a very useful word which can express any of the following: "enough," "no more," "stop it," or "fuck that shit, I'm out of here." It is, I've been told, the best word to say really loudly to an annoying dude on the street to ensure maximum glaring from passersby and scare said dude off.

Examples:

-"This guy hasn't answered my text in two days." "Khalas, forget that loser."

-"Khalas, connard!"

Mabrouk is "congratulations." Now this might just be me, but I have been using this word every time I can, whether it's someone's birthday, they found a new apartment, cooked something delicious or got a document signed by the registrar. I am alarmingly close to mabrouking someone for knowing how to tie their shoelaces.

Mish mushkila (or mish mishklé in Lebanese dialect) means "no problem." I am also guilty of overusing the shit out of that phrase, which makes me sound like I'm a card-carrying member of the Hakuna Matata Club, but really, it's just because I keep forgetting how to say "you're welcome."

Naiman is supposed to mean something along the lines of "so clean," but it's actually an interesting greeting you say when people come out of the shower/hairdresser/manicurist/etc. The idea is to acknowledge that they have done something to take care of their physical appearance. I still need to investigate whether this greeting remains appropriate post-plastic surgery (which is very common here, but that's a topic for another post).

Shu means "what?" in Lebanese. It can be used as an interjection akin to "what's up," and I have seen it directed a large amount of times at animals who happen to be staring at you.

Example: "Shu le chat?"

This has been Arabic 101 by Duktuura Wayward. Until next time! (Insh'allah!)