having trouble seeing the print? בֹּשֶׂם Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program The Hebrew word for perfume is בֹּשֶׂם, going back to the Biblical word for a substance giving off a pleasant smell. Cologne is מֵי בֹּשֶׂם (meh-ee BOH-sem), meaning pleasant-smelling water, much like the French eau de toilette. But most Israelis refer to cologne, just…
having trouble seeing the print? לְהִתְפָּרֵק Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program before Hurricane Sandy לְהִתְפָּרֵק is a reflexive-intensive הִתְפַּעֵל verb. It means literally to come apart or to fall apart. For example: הָאַרְמוֹן בַּחוֹל הִתְפָּרֵק. But this word is also used in a non-literal sense to refer to that activity of coming home after a long day at work and… well, collapsing or unwinding: אַחֲרֵי יוֹם…
having trouble seeing the print? טֶלֶפוֹן נַיָּד Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program The Hebrew word for mobile – describing something portable or that moves from place to place – is נַיָּד (nah-YAHD). So a mobile telephone is a טֶלֶפוֹן נייד. The word טלפון (TEH-leh-phohn) itself does have a proper Hebrew term invented by the Academy of the…
having trouble seeing the print? נַיֶּרֶת Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program The expression “red tape” refers to the frustrating element in bureaucracy, where people have to wait lots of time for their business to move forward, often due to lots and lots of paperwork. The Hebrew word for “red tape” or simply “paperwork”, נַיֶּרֶת, comes from the…
having trouble seeing the print? עִבְרִית Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program video version! As the Torah portion to be read this Shabbat by Jews (Hebrews) around the world depicts the character of אברהם – Abraham (ahv-rah-HAHM) most prominently, and since this patriarch is referred to in the Torah as אברם העברי (ahv-RAHM hah-eev-REE), now is a…
having trouble seeing the print? מִסְתַּעֲרְבִים Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program This one’s for Shimon K. אֵלִי כֹּהֵן Eli Cohen The Israeli intelligence agencies are among the most effective and notorious in the world. One tactic employed by these agencies is sending an Israeli spy into enemy territory to live as one of them….
having trouble seeing the print? עִמּוּת Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program With two weeks to go before the 2012 United States presidential elections, the two candidates engaged the other night in the third and final presidential debate in their campaigns. If you enter debate into the Morfix online dictionary, you’ll see several translations of the word into…
having trouble seeing the print? סוּג שֶׁל… Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program When they want to express similarity without being too specific (or to say “no” or “not really” without actually saying it), English speakers use the expression sort of or kind of. Often this is a response to a…
having trouble seeing the print? עִבְרִית מִקְרָאִית Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program video version! The Torah portion to be read this Shabbat by Jews around the world features the Biblical version of the origin of the many human languages. So I thought now would be a good time to feature an…
having trouble seeing the print? תֵּבַת דֹּאַר Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program The Hebrew term for mailbox is תֵּבַת דֹּאַר – literally, a box of mail. דואר comes from the Aramaic word for messages passed around by couriers, those people who would run frantically from place to place. תיבת is the construct…
having trouble seeing the print? מַחְסוֹם Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program This word, of the Biblical-Hebrew root ח.ס.מ (kh.s.m), means barrier or blockade – like those that Israel set up to keep terrorists out. An example: כְּדֵי לְהַגִּיעַ לָעִיר מוֹדִיעִין מִכְּבִישׁ 443, צָרִיךְ לַעֲבוֹר מַחְסוֹם. In order to get to the city Modiin…