The Blogs: Basic Hebrew Phrases and Slang You Should Know in Israel

Basic Hebrew Phrases and Slang You Should Know in Israel

It’s valuable for expats and immigrants to learn their host country’s language, for the sake of:

Breaking the ice
Understanding the local culture
Being respected by people
Building relationships

In other words, it is a smart move – both professionally and socially.

Here are few words to start with when you relocate to Israel…

Basic Words and Phrases in Hebrew

English	Hebrew
Yes	Ken
No	Lo
Good evening	Erev tov
Good morning	Boker tov
Good night	Laila tov
Hello; goodbye; peace	Shalom
Thank you	Toda
Please; you’re welcome	Be’vakasha
How are you doing?	Mah nishmah?
Everything is okay	Hakol beseder
Bon appetit	Bete’avon

Basic Slang Used by Israelis

Word/Phrase	Meaning	Example
Sababa*	Cool; awesome	How was the party? Sababa!
Yalla*	C’mon; let’s go; go ahead	Wanna grab some coffee? Yalla!
Walla*	Wow; really, really?	Did you hear she got married? Walla? Walla.
Achla*	Great	How is that cake? Achla! Love it.
Fadicha*	Embarrassing situation; screw-up; faux pas	What a fadicha! I called that client by the wrong name.
Nu?^◊	So?; c’mon already; go on	Nu, you coming or not?
Stam	For no reason; just (When drawn out: just kidding)	What are you doing? Stam hanging out, nothing special. I can’t make it…staaam…see you soon!
Baruch HaShem	Blessed be G-d (mainly used by religious Jews)	My mother is feeling better now, Baruch HaShem.
Mabsoot*	Pleased (fem: mabsootit)	He’s mabsoot with the new job, it’s a good place for him.
Kol hakavod	Good job; well done (lit: all the respect)	Kol hakavod for being on time with the new code release.
Mashehu mashehu	Fantastic; impressive (lit: something something)	Do I look okay? You’re mashehu mashehu.
Lo mashehu	Not great (lit: not something)	How did you like that restaurant? Lo mashehu.
Tachless^◊	Bottom line; brass tacks	Tachless, what’s the plan?
Ayn matzav	No way (lit: there is no situation)	Can you finish this by tomorrow? Ayn matzav!
Looz	Timetable; schedule	What is your looz for the rest of your day?
Gadol	Great (lit: big)	Gadol, I love it.
Chaval al ha’zman	Wow! (lit: a waste of time)	Chaval al ha’zman, I had the best time there.
Sof haderech	Awesome (lit: end of the road”)	That fancy hotel is sof haderech.
Hakol dvash	Everything is wonderful (lit: honey)	What’s up? Hakol dvash, thanksJ
Sof sof	Finally (lit: end end)	Sof sof you joined us but the meeting’s almost over.
Balagan^◊	A mess	There’s more balagan in that company than in my kitchen…
Dugri*	Straight talk; frankly	Let’s be open with one another and talk dugri. It’s the Israeli way.
Al ha’panim	Awful (lit: on the face)	The movie tonight was al ha’panim, I found it superficial and slow.
Protektzia Φ	Personal connections, pulling strings	He only got the job thanks to protektiza.
Combina ∞	Patched-together or unconventional deal, sometimes under the table	My sister’s friend let me use her employee discount so I’m taking them out for coffee. Nice little combina.
Chutzpah^◊	Nerve; audacity; gall	It takes a lot of chutzpah to cut in line.
Yihye beseder	It’ll be okay; no worries	Relax, yihye beseder, we’ll deliver it on time.
Leezrom	To (go with the) flow	They prefer the smaller version; I think it will serve us best leezrom with them this time.
Firgun	Giving credit; putting in a good word	The employees deserve firgun for all their hard work last month.
Mamash	Really; totally	I’m mamash happy with the changes.
Fryar^◊	Naïve; sucker	If they don’t give me a raise, I’m outta here. I’m tired of being their fryar.
Davka	Out of spite; necessarily; actually…	He davka arrived in an expensive suit just to make the rest of us look cheap.

* From Arabic ^◊ From Yiddish Φ From Russian ∞ From Ladino

I hope this helps… Good luck!

And if you want to learn more about Israeli culture – its history, conventions of business, communication, trust and more, I recommend you read my book Israeli Business Culture. To order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Israeli-Business-Culture-Bestseller-Relationships/dp/9659250452/