how to say “flippers” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/סנפירים-#.m4a” /]סְנַפִּירִים
You may recognize the word סנפיר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/סנפירים-#.m4a” /] – fin – if you’re familiar with the biblical passages about animals that Jews eat and don’t eat:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/סנפירים-#.m4a” /]אֶת זֶה תֹּאכְלוּ מִכֹּל אֲשֶׁר בַּמָּיִם כֹּל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ סְנַפִּיר וְקַשְׂקֶשֶׂת… (ויקרא י”א, ט’)
This you shall eat from all that are in the water: anything with fin and scale in the water… (Leviticus 11:9)
With the advent of accessories that help human beings swim like fish, סנפיר has been extended to refer to a flipper, with סנפירים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/סנפירים-#.m4a” /] being a pair of flippers:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/סנפירים-#.m4a” /]הוא לא באמת יודע לשחות מהר, זה רק הסנפירים.
He doesn’t really know how to swim fast, it’s just the flippers.
