how to say “snail mail” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דואר-איטי-1.m4a” /]דוֹאַר אִטִי, דוֹאַר שַׁבְּלוּל
In English, snail and mail rhyme. Since Hebrew’s words for snail – שבלול[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דואר-איטי-2.m4a” /] or חילזון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דואר-איטי-3.m4a” /], and mail – דואר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דואר-איטי-4.m4a” /], don’t rhyme, there isn’t such a catchy term for the type of mail that requires physical shipment and delivery. You may hear דואר שבלול[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דואר-איטי-5.m4a” /] – literally, snail mail – but it’s not likely. Rather, Israelis refer to דואר איטי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דואר-איטי-6.m4a” /] – literally, slow mail, or just דואר רגיל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דואר-איטי-7.m4a” /] – regular mail, a term used mainly by those born before 1990.
While on the topic of snails, I’ll say that while English distinguishes between snails and slugs, Hebrew doesn’t. Hebrew has two words for these little slithering creatures, שבלול and חילזון, though the distinction between the two is so academic I’m not even going to get into it (in Biblical Hebrew and in Jewish law, חילזון refers to a marine creature from which bluish dye can be derived for ritual use).
In any case, here’s the word שבלול in (slow) action:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דואר-איטי-8.m4a” /]השבלול סוחב על הגב שלו קונכייה.
The snail carries a (special snail-) shell on its back.