how to say “cool (magnificent)” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/מגניב-#.m4a” /]מַגְנִיב
Like English, Hebrew has several words to express casual approval, awe and agreement – cool, nice, awesome, etc.
Hebrew has some too – מדהים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/מגניב-#.m4a” /] (amazing), מדליק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/מגניב-#.m4a” /] (turns one on), מהמם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/מגניב-#.m4a” /] (shocking in a good way) – but perhaps the coolest of the cool words is מגניב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/מגניב-#.m4a” /].
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/מגניב-#.m4a” /]איזה רעיון מגניב.
What a cool idea.
But what’s the origin of this word? Israelis tend to think (as I used to) that it’s a form of להגניב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/מגניב-#.m4a” /], a הפעיל verb meaning to smuggle. They come up with great explanations for this along the lines of “smuggling is cool” (how? I don’t know).
But the truth is that this word is an import – it’s an abbreviated version of the French magnifique, whose English cognate is magnificent.
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/מגניב-#.m4a” /]הסבר מגניב, לא?
A cool explanation, no?
