Can’t read Hebrew yet? שַׁעֲוָה The Israelites in the desert would still have gotten in trouble, but they would also have saved themselves a lot of money had they used wax instead of gold when they made the calf. They could have painted it gold. The Modern Hebrew word for wax is…
Can’t read Hebrew yet? נָמֵס, מִתְמוֹסֵס You may recall the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz crying out, I’m melting! I’m melting! In Hebrew, that’s: אֲנִי נְמֵסָה! אֲנִי נְמֵסָה! The root of נמסה is מ.ס.ס (m.s.s), plugged into a variation of…
Can’t read Hebrew yet? לַעֲקוֹף In my native California, the left lane of the freeway is the fast lane, and that’s what I once assumed was true in Israel as well. But when I started having people drive up right behind me and flashing their high beams, I inquired and discovered…
Can’t read Hebrew yet? אַחְלָה! A lack of formal peace among political entities does not stop peace in other strata of society… at least when it comes to language. אַחְלָה – an Arabic word Israelis use to express happy agreement or to simply say great! or cool! or sweet! – is one of the first words learners typically…
Can’t read Hebrew yet? כָּפִיל At some point I decided I had better things to do, but for about half an hour last week I used an automated service to help me choose exactly whom among the celebrities I most resemble. That’s because last week was Doppelganger week on the social…
Can’t read Hebrew yet? פַּעֲמוֹן As Aaron the High Priest would advance step by careful step into the holiest chamber, little bells attached to his garments would chime, as if to announce his presence. The Hebrew word for bell is פַּעֲמוֹן . You may recognize its root as פ.ע.מ (p.a.m), the…
Can’t read Hebrew yet? אַחְזוֹר אֵלֶיךָ, אֵלַיִךְ There’s I’ll call you (see yesterday’s dose), and there’s I’ll call you back. So if someone makes you an offer that you’re not sure about, you can buy some time with: אֲנִי אֶחְזוֹר אֵלֶיךָ. I’ll get back to you (to a…
Can’t read Hebrew yet? אֶתְקַשֵּׁר Blind date. Not sure if there’ll be a next one – need to sleep on it. I might say to her, אֶתְקַשֵּׁר אֵלַיִךְ. I’ll call you (a female). The word לְהִתְקַשֵּׁר means to call by phone. It’s a reflexive-intensive verb of the root…
Can’t read Hebrew yet? מִלַּת מַפְתֵּחַ Effective communication – getting messages across from a giving party to a receiving one – includes saying the right words. Likewise, for a website to be found, it needs to have content that matches the right words, the ones that people are using to…
having trouble seeing the print? בִּלְחִיצַת כַּפְתּוֹר Think of the phone you carry in your pocket or purse. With digitization, buttons have been transitioning from something we push to something we click. Thus the English expression at the push of a button has evolved into at the click of a button. Hebrew retains…
having trouble seeing the print? אֵרוּעַ הַתְרָמָה In order to do their good work, organizations need funds. So they go out and raise money in all sorts of creative ways, one of which is to hold a posh event where people come all dressed up, drink some good wine and make donations. …