how to say “complacency” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שאננות-1.m4a” /]שַׁאֲנַנּוּת
The lead singer of the Israeli hip-hop/funk band Hadag Nahash is Sha’anan Streett, whose first name – in Hebrew, שאנן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שאננות-2.m4a” /] – means calm, complacent.
In the name, as in the names of other Israeli neighborhoods such as Tel Aviv’s נווה שאנן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שאננות-3.m4a” /] – Neve Shaanan (Abode of Calm) and Jerusalem’s משכנות שאננים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שאננות-4.m4a” /] – Misheknot Shaananim (Homes of Calm Ones), has a positive connotation. But the word can also mean complacent in the negative sense, especially when used in the noun form: שאננות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שאננות-1.m4a” /] – complacency.
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שאננות-5.m4a” /]השאננות תהרוג אותם.
Their (the) complacency will kill them.
A synonym of שאננות in the positive sense is שלווה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שאננות-6.m4a” /] – tranquility.