how to say “word of the day” in Hebrew
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Technically speaking, the word of the day is מִלַּת הַיּוֹם (mee-LAHT hah-YOHM), in Hebrew. It’s an instance of סְמִיכוּת (seh-mee-KHOOT) – grammatical juxtaposition, the kind of structure where in English you’d use the word of to connect two things: so מילת היום is literally, the word of the day.
But what Israelis usually use to mean a word of the day is מִלָּה יוֹמִית (mee-LAH yoh-MEET) – literally, a daily word. Likewise, the daily word is הַמִּלָּה הַיּוֹמִית (hah-mee-LAH hah-yoh-MEET). The ת (t) ending on יומית is there to indicate that מילה is a feminine noun.
So when Israelis ask what it is I write on my blog, I tell them, אֲנִי כּוֹתֵב מילה יומית (ah-NEE koh-TEV mee-LAH yoh-MEET) – I write a daily word.
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