Tag Archives: Arabic folk speech

“You’re beating water in a mortar” – Arabic Saying

Nationality: Jordanian
Age: 47
Occupation: Architectural Drafter
Residence: Long Beach
Performance Date: 5/1/2021
Primary Language: Arabic
Language: English, French

Context:

She first heard this saying from her grandma when she was in elementary school in Jordan. She says that you would say this when “somebody keeps talking about a problem and trying to solve it a different way, but you know there is no other answer.”

Text:

Original Script: بدق المي بالهاون

Transliteration: Bido’ el my bil hawen

Literal Translation: Beat the water in mortar

Smooth Translation: You’re beating water in a mortar

Thoughts:

When my informant first told me this several years ago, I realized from the imagery that I was doing something in a way that no progress could be made. The comparison lies in how you do nothing to the water if you beat it in a mortar with a pestle; you just waste time and energy. This saying shows that Arabs value efficiency, since this is a warning said to those who are wasting their time.

“Nothing scratches your itch like your nails” – Arabic Proverb

Nationality: Jordanian
Age: 55
Occupation: Disabled
Residence: Long Beach
Performance Date: 5/1/2021
Primary Language: Arabic
Language: English, French

Context:

He heard this proverb when he was a kid, in Jerusalem. He would hear it being said when someone asks for help, but the helper does not do it the way the person wanted it done.

Text:

Original Script: ما حك جلدك الا ضفرك

Transliteration: Ma hack jildak illa dofrak

Literal Translation: Nothing scratches your skin like your nails

Smooth Translation: Nothing scratches your itch like your nails

Thoughts:

When he said this proverb out loud today (when I forgot to complete something he asked me to do), I quickly wrote it down. It reminded me of the English proverb “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” Proverbs generally give advice in indirect ways, and this proverb does so by giving a comparison: it is much more efficient to scratch your own itch than to ask someone else to do it; you would have to tell them where and how hard to itch.

“We brought you, Moeen, to help. It turns out you need the help.” – Arabic Saying

Nationality: Jordanian
Age: 55
Occupation: Disabled
Residence: Long Beach
Performance Date: 5/1/2021
Primary Language: Arabic
Language: English, French

Context:

He recalls hearing it when he was very young, in Jerusalem, but can’t put it in a time frame. “I used to hear it a lot, but not for me; I could not help at that point.” “We use it when we ask someone for help, but we find out that they need help in that area. For example, if you ask someone for help with homework, and they say, ‘Yeah, I need help in that too.’”

Text:

Original Script: جبناك يا معين تتعين. طلع بدك مين يعين

Transliteration: Jibnak ya Moeen tateen. Tilah biddak meen yaeen.

Translation: We brought you, Moeen, to help. It turns out you need the help.

Thoughts:

This saying delivers the message of “I thought you could help me, but you can’t” in a rhyme in order to take out some of the edge (the rhyme between “tateen” and “yaeen” gets lost in translation to English). This is similar to the Biblical idiom “the blind leads the blind” (Matthew 15:14);* both occupy the space between seriousness and humor, which makes the messages behind them easier to take.

*https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+15%3A14&version=NASB

“A third of the kid is to his uncle” – Arabic Proverb

Nationality: Jordanian
Age: 51
Occupation: Restaurant Owner
Residence: Long Beach
Performance Date: 5/3/2021
Primary Language: Arabic
Language: English, French

Context:

He heard it from his aunt in Jordan when he was a teenager. He says that the proverb means that a boy inherits a lot of his uncle’s traits.

Text:

Original Script: تلت الولد لخاله

Transliteration: Tult elwalad la khalo

Literal Translation: Third of the kid is to his uncle

Smooth Translation: A third of the kid is to his uncle

Thoughts:

I heard this proverb for the first time only recently, and I found it funny how it kind of describes me: I spent a lot of time with my uncles as a kid, and I started taking after them a bit. What interests me is that the amount is ⅓, implying that the mom and dad are the other ⅔ of the child. This proverb shows how strong family ties are even outside of the nuclear family (from what I’ve seen, this holds true: the Arabic families I know are tightly knit).

“The key to the stomach is a bite” – Arabic Proverb

Nationality: Jordanian
Age: 41
Occupation: Accounting Manager
Residence: Yorba Linda
Performance Date: 5/3/2021
Primary Language: Arabic
Language: English, French

Context:

She learned it from her grandma when she was a kid in Jordan. When her grandma offered her food, and she said that she has no appetite, her grandma would say “Muftah el button lo’meh” as a way to get her to eat a bite to increase her appetite.

Text:

Original Script: مفتاح البطن لقمة

Transliteration: Muftah el button lo’meh

Literal Translation: Key to the stomach is a bite

Smooth Translation: The key to the stomach is a bite

Thoughts:

I found it strange that there would be a proverb used to convince someone to eat–usually, the problem is getting someone to stop eating. My family has told me this proverb a few times too when I said I was not hungry, and usually a bite did make me hungry. It wasn’t until this week that I realized that this proverb, from the times I have heard it used, is used when the rest of the family is eating. This proverb is not said to give advice, but to protect the Arabic tradition of eating together as a family.