having trouble seeing the print? מַנְהִיג, מַנְהִיגָה I’m reading The Prime Minsters by Yehuda Avner, currently at the part about the winter of 1947 in Jerusalem. I’m getting inspired and delighted by the daring and, sometimes, the faith, Jewish people displayed in those days… especially by one of the key leaders in the liberation…
having trouble seeing the print? יְדִידוּתִי, חֶבְרוּתִי First, an addendum on yesterday’s entry: לְהַרְעִים (leh-hahr-EEM) is indeed a more Biblical and less Modern way of saying to thunder. However, I forgot to mention the more commonly-used word today for to thunder: לִרְעוֹם (leer-OHM), an active-simple פעל (pah-AHL) verb. Now for today’s dose. A while back…
having trouble seeing the print? רַעַם, לְהַרְעִים Yesterday we discussed lightning and related words. That’s the visual element in thunderstorm. Today we’ll discuss the sound element – thunder. The word for thunder itself is רַעַם (RAH-ahm). It appears in the Bible, notably in Psalm 104 (verse 7): מִן גַּעֲרָתְךָ יְנוּסוּן, מִן קוֹל רַעַמְךָ יֵחָפֵזוּן – from Your reprimand do they flee,…
having trouble seeing the print? מִבְזָק When I said this term meant news flash this morning to Adam on RustyMike Radio, he said, “I haven’t heard that in a while.” Indeed, the English version of Ynet (the Hebrew is ynet.co.il) renders מִבְזָקִים (meev-zah-KEEM) as updates instead of news flashes. I guess I translated מִבְזָק (meev-ZAHK)…
כּוֹנְנוּת In spite of existential threat, life goes on in Israel. Of course, we prepare for whatever calamity may threaten us, including setting up an “iron dome” and an alarm system so that the residents of towns bombarded daily from Gaza have a safety plan. Likewise, the people living on the eastern seaboard of…
כְּרִיכָה In Egypt and Iran, the masses are demonstrating against Israel. At least one person in Tehran (the president), is vowing that the establishment of a Palestinian state will be the first step towards making the entire “Palestine” a Muslim state. As for the Jews inhabiting their native land… well, Ahmadinejad’s purported solution…
לְהִסְתַּבֵּךְ We’ve still got spots in our Late-summer conversational Hebrew courses starting in Tel Aviv and Raanana THIS SUNDAY, August 28 – check them out! Suppose someone you know gets in trouble with the tax authorities… or with her mother in law for saying something about her cooking… or with his wife…
מִסְתַּבֵּר Late-summer conversational Hebrew courses starting in Tel Aviv and Raanana THIS SUNDAY, August 28 – check them out! Suppose one summer afternoon you get all dressed up for a wedding, make your way to the bus station, board a coach poised for a drive of an hour and a half,…
אָנוֹנִימִי, אַלְמוֹנִי Late-summer conversational Hebrew courses starting in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Raanana THIS SUNDAY, August 28 – check them out! This one’s for my friend Benjy, who challenged me to introduce words that he might not yet know. The more commonly-used translation of anonymous is also the one borrowed from another language…
מַסְלוּל Late-summer conversational Hebrew courses starting in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Raanana THIS SUNDAY, August 28 – check them out! About a year ago I did an entry on how to say hiking trail in Hebrew. The word מַסְלוּל (mahss-LOOL) means, in its purest form, path. It comes from the…
דִּוּוּחַ When listening to breaking news, you’re likely to hear the word report tossed around a lot. The Hebrew word for to report, especially when reporting an incident, is לְדַוֵּח (leh–dah-VEH-ahkh). It’s an active-causative פיעל (pee-EL) verb. The logo of רשות השידור the IBA (Israel Broadcasting Authority) Thus a report – the noun form of לדווח…