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Snippets from Why, Who Died? and Other Crucial Hebrew Slang Terms by Guy Sharett
Kombina or for real?
Kombina קומבינה
Kombina is one of the most salient features of Israeli society. In order to survive in this country, one needs to fend for oneself, using all possible means: Contacts, resourcefulness and creative ideas. The noun Kombina, which entered Hebrew from the Spanish combinar via Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), seems to be a good combination between the three. To have a kombina somewhere means to have a scheme or a plan to get something, not always in the most straightforward way, with the use of connections.
Kombina could be innocent, like asking a friend who works in a cell phone company to track down your stolen machine; or a more serious kombina, where someone is actually cheating other people in order to make money.
Grammatical note - the four letter shoresh (root) k.m.b.n ק.מ.ב.נ means that one can use verbs and nouns from three binyanim here - פִּיעֵל, פּוּעַל, הִתפַּעֵל.
Examples:
יש'ך במקרה איזה קומבינה בבזק?
Yesh'kha be-mikre eize kombina be-bezeq?
Do you happen to have a kombina in bezeq?
[What it actually means: Do you have any contact at the telephone company who could help me?]
הִתְקַמבַּנְת יפה פה, אני רואה. איזה בית, איזה טלוויזיה. פששש.
Hitkambanta yafe po, ani ro'a. Eize ba'yit, eize televizya, psh…
Hitkambanta nicely here, I see. What a house, what a TV, psh…
[What it actually means: You're sitting pretty here. How on earth can you afford this place?]
הוא מִתקַמְבֵּן תמיד, אל תדאג לו.
Hu mitkamben tamid, al tid'ag lo.
He is always mitkamben; don't worry about him.
[What it actually means: He finds his way around; don't worry about him]
שי הזה קוֹמבִּינָטוֹר-על, אני אומר לך.
Shai ha-ze kombinator-al, ani omer lekha.
This Shai is a super-kombinator, I tell you.
[What it actually means: Shai will always figure out a way]
איזה הִתקַמבְּנוּת, איך השגתם את המקומות האלה?
Eize hitkambenut, ex hisagtem et ha-mekomot ha-ele?
What a hitkambenut, how did you get these seats?
[What it actually means: What did you have to do in order to get these tickets?]
And a negative one, where you are the one who has been had (see Latset Fraier):
אחי, מה שמעתי, עשו עליך קומבינה?
Akhi, ma shamati, asu alekha kombina?
Dude, what did I hear, did they do a kombina on you?
[What it actually means: Did you actually pay 350 shekel to get from the airport to Tel Aviv?]
Kombina is one of the most salient features of Israeli society. In order to survive in this country, one needs to fend for oneself, using all possible means: Contacts, resourcefulness and creative ideas. The noun Kombina, which entered Hebrew from the Spanish combinar via Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), seems to be a good combination between the three. To have a kombina somewhere means to have a scheme or a plan to get something, not always in the most straightforward way, with the use of connections.
Kombina could be innocent, like asking a friend who works in a cell phone company to track down your stolen machine; or a more serious kombina, where someone is actually cheating other people in order to make money.
Grammatical note - the four letter shoresh (root) k.m.b.n ק.מ.ב.נ means that one can use verbs and nouns from three binyanim here - פִּיעֵל, פּוּעַל, הִתפַּעֵל.
Examples:
יש'ך במקרה איזה קומבינה בבזק?
Yesh'kha be-mikre eize kombina be-bezeq?
Do you happen to have a kombina in bezeq?
[What it actually means: Do you have any contact at the telephone company who could help me?]
הִתְקַמבַּנְת יפה פה, אני רואה. איזה בית, איזה טלוויזיה. פששש.
Hitkambanta yafe po, ani ro'a. Eize ba'yit, eize televizya, psh…
Hitkambanta nicely here, I see. What a house, what a TV, psh…
[What it actually means: You're sitting pretty here. How on earth can you afford this place?]
הוא מִתקַמְבֵּן תמיד, אל תדאג לו.
Hu mitkamben tamid, al tid'ag lo.
He is always mitkamben; don't worry about him.
[What it actually means: He finds his way around; don't worry about him]
שי הזה קוֹמבִּינָטוֹר-על, אני אומר לך.
Shai ha-ze kombinator-al, ani omer lekha.
This Shai is a super-kombinator, I tell you.
[What it actually means: Shai will always figure out a way]
איזה הִתקַמבְּנוּת, איך השגתם את המקומות האלה?
Eize hitkambenut, ex hisagtem et ha-mekomot ha-ele?
What a hitkambenut, how did you get these seats?
[What it actually means: What did you have to do in order to get these tickets?]
And a negative one, where you are the one who has been had (see Latset Fraier):
אחי, מה שמעתי, עשו עליך קומבינה?
Akhi, ma shamati, asu alekha kombina?
Dude, what did I hear, did they do a kombina on you?
[What it actually means: Did you actually pay 350 shekel to get from the airport to Tel Aviv?]
Mesamsim in Istanbul
לסמס Lesames
The SMS came waltzing in into our life, and being a three letter word means we can use it as a verb in pi'el, pu'al and hitpa'el:
אסור לְסַמֵּס בזמן נהיגה.
Asur lesames bi-zman nehiga.
It's forbidden lesames when driving.
[It's forbidden to send a text message when driving]
סַמֵּס לי את המספר שלה, סבבה?
Sames li et ha-mispar shela, sababa?
Sames her number to me, ok?
[Here sames is in the imperative form]
הִסתַמַּסנוּ כמה שעות אתמול.
Histamasnu kama sha'ot etmol.
Histamasnu a few hours yesterday.
[Hitpa'el is used to denote a mutual action, so it means both sides sent messages]
The SMS came waltzing in into our life, and being a three letter word means we can use it as a verb in pi'el, pu'al and hitpa'el:
אסור לְסַמֵּס בזמן נהיגה.
Asur lesames bi-zman nehiga.
It's forbidden lesames when driving.
[It's forbidden to send a text message when driving]
סַמֵּס לי את המספר שלה, סבבה?
Sames li et ha-mispar shela, sababa?
Sames her number to me, ok?
[Here sames is in the imperative form]
הִסתַמַּסנוּ כמה שעות אתמול.
Histamasnu kama sha'ot etmol.
Histamasnu a few hours yesterday.
[Hitpa'el is used to denote a mutual action, so it means both sides sent messages]
MagniVOT or MAGnivot? A Tokyo scene.
מגניב, מאגניב
MagNIV, MAGniv
Magniv, was the 'cool' of the 90s. In the recent years the word changed its stress (accentuation), which I will explain. The stress has always been on the 'niv' part, that is to say, on the last syllable. But MAGniv, stress on the first syllable, is the new cool of 2011, with a twist. If the old magNIV implied cool people, the new MAGniv is dedicated to people who want to be cool, hipsters, who are but simply wannabes. Hence with the stress on the first syllable, sometimes even written like this – מאגניב - it can be used negatively. We are using here an amazing technology, where we use caps to show the stressed syllable. It's mind boggling.
אני מרגישה צורך להתפלל. אני נוסעת לכותל.
וואו, איזה מגניב.
Ani margisha tsorex lehitpalel. Ani nosaat la-kotel.
Wow, eize magniv.
I feel a need to pray. I am going to the Western Wall.
Wow, how magniv.
היא בחורה מגניבה לגמרי!
Hi baxura magniva legamrei!
She's a totally magniva girl.
And this is the wannabe part:
מזל שלא הבאת את כל החברים המאגניבים שלך. לא בא לי עליהם עכשיו.
Mazal she-lo hevet et kol ha-xaverim ha-magnivim shelax. Lo ba li aleyhem.
It's great that you didn't bring all your magnivim friends. I don't feel like seeing them right now.
תפסיקי לנסות בכוח להיות מאגניבה. את מגניבה כמו שאת.
Tafsiki lenasot be-koax lihyot magniva. At magniva kmo she-at.
Stop trying to force yourself to be magniva. You're magniva just the way you are.
MagNIV, MAGniv
Magniv, was the 'cool' of the 90s. In the recent years the word changed its stress (accentuation), which I will explain. The stress has always been on the 'niv' part, that is to say, on the last syllable. But MAGniv, stress on the first syllable, is the new cool of 2011, with a twist. If the old magNIV implied cool people, the new MAGniv is dedicated to people who want to be cool, hipsters, who are but simply wannabes. Hence with the stress on the first syllable, sometimes even written like this – מאגניב - it can be used negatively. We are using here an amazing technology, where we use caps to show the stressed syllable. It's mind boggling.
אני מרגישה צורך להתפלל. אני נוסעת לכותל.
וואו, איזה מגניב.
Ani margisha tsorex lehitpalel. Ani nosaat la-kotel.
Wow, eize magniv.
I feel a need to pray. I am going to the Western Wall.
Wow, how magniv.
היא בחורה מגניבה לגמרי!
Hi baxura magniva legamrei!
She's a totally magniva girl.
And this is the wannabe part:
מזל שלא הבאת את כל החברים המאגניבים שלך. לא בא לי עליהם עכשיו.
Mazal she-lo hevet et kol ha-xaverim ha-magnivim shelax. Lo ba li aleyhem.
It's great that you didn't bring all your magnivim friends. I don't feel like seeing them right now.
תפסיקי לנסות בכוח להיות מאגניבה. את מגניבה כמו שאת.
Tafsiki lenasot be-koax lihyot magniva. At magniva kmo she-at.
Stop trying to force yourself to be magniva. You're magniva just the way you are.