Team Nisreen: 7aades seer

This is another clip from Buq3at Daw2, this time from this season (which is airing now, catch it kids). This sketch (vignette? idk) is entitled حادث سير ‘traffic accident’ (7aades seer), and it tells the story of a man who is run over by a well-meaning driver who cannot afford to have his identity exposed and as such is an easy target for blackmail. I’m transcribing the first scene – the whole thing is about 12 minutes long, and this whole episode (particularly the other two sketches) was not very good, but it does have a lot of useful language in it.

I promise to find funnier stuff to transcribe in the near future ان شاء الله. BD’s gone kinda downhill.

مرحبا انسة يعطيك العافية
mar7aba aanse ya3Tiik él3aafye
Excuse me, miss.

ya3Tiik él3aafye – literally ‘God give you health/rest’. A polite thing to say to people who are at work, especially when they’ve finished doing work for you or when you greet them.

اهلين يا استاذ اهلين
ahleen yaa éstaaz ahleen
Hello, sir.

The nurse has a particular quality which is usually described using the adjective زنخ zénekh which literally means ‘foul-smelling’ but here is used to describe her particular rude tone and general mannerisms. This is a curious but very common stereotype in Syrian TV that you can literally see everywhere (they’re always chewing gum too) for some unexplained reason.

طمنيني اجا حدا من اهلو؟
Tammniini éja 7ada mén ahlo?
Have any of his family come yet?

Tamman/yTammen – ‘reassure me’, from fuSHa اطمأنّ.

لا ولله ما حدا بين
laa waLLa maa 7ada bayyan

No, nobody’s turned up.

bayyan – ‘appear’, ‘show up’, ‘become clear’. A very good word.

صرت حاكي معا شي خمس مرات. بكل الاحوال هو شو ما احتاج خليكي معو
Sér@t 7aaki ma3a shi kham@s marraat. bkéll él2a7waal huwwe shu ma 7taaj khalliiki ma3o
I’ve already spoken to her five times… In any case, whatever he needs, stick by him.

Sér@t 7aaki ma3a shi kham@s marraat – he means the guy’s wife. This construction (Saar + active participle) is used similarly to English ‘already’ for emphasis, although it’s much rarer than English ‘already’ and doesn’t work for all of its uses.

بكل الاحوال – in all cases (in any case, anyway)

شو ما – whatever (usually followed by past/subjunctive)

ما تاكل هم يا استاذ المهم يعني شايفني كل شوي عم فوت شيك عليه وعم فوت خططلو وافحصو. الشرطة كانت هون من شوي
maa taakol hamm yaa éstaaz élmohumm ya3ni shaayéfni kéll @shwayy 3am fuut shayyek 3alee w3am fuut khaTTétlo wéf7aSo. éshshérTa kaanet hoon mén @shwayy

Don’t worry, sir. As you can see, I’m going in every so often to check on him, to plan things out for him and test him. The police were here a little while ago.

ما تاكل هم – don’t worry (literally ‘don’t eat worry’, a similar use of اكل to that one from the camel post)

المهم – either ‘the important thing’ or sometimes used to mean ‘anyway’, ‘the point is…’ as a filler

عم فوت شيك عليه – shayyak is obviously from English ‘check’. This combination of a verb of motion (fuut) and a subjunctive is a bit like ‘go check on’ in English.

كل شوي – every little while

خططلو وافحصو – not sure whether khaTTaT has some specific medical meaning here.

اوعى تكوني قلتيلون شي
oo3a tkuuni 2éltiilon shi

You’d better not have told them anything.

اوعى ‘don’t you dare’. This can change for gender + number (oo3i, oo3u) but often does not. Literally the whole sentence is ‘don’t you dare have told them anything’.

لا يا استاذ انا عطيتك كلمة. بس المهم هلق تراضيه الو وتعلمو شو يحكي. معلومك الشرطة راحت بس بترد ترجع
laa yaa 2éstaaz 2ana 3aTeetak kélme. bass élmohumm halla2 traaDii élo w@t3allmo shu yé7ki. ma3luumak éshshérTa raa7et bass bétrédd térja3
Of course not, sir. I gave you my word. But the important thing now is for you to satisfy him and tell him what to say. The police have gone, but they’ll come back.

عطى كلمة – give your word

تراضيه الو – satisfy him, keep him happy (i.e. so he won’t talk to the police). This is a double-object construction

تعلمو شو يحكي – literally ‘teach him what to say’. The subjunctive is used in command constructions like this (قلتلو يتركها ‘I told him to break up with her’).

بترد ترجع – radd yrédd (and réje3 can also be used in the same sense) is often used to mean ‘do X again’ or ‘re-X’ – رديت سألتو مرة تانية ‘I asked him again’, رديت قدمت الامتحان ‘I re-did the exam’. Here it’s kind of unnecessary (the meaning is obviously already included in yérja3) but ‘come back again’ works in English too.

ماشي ماشي المهم ما تجيبي سيرة لحدا
maashi maashi élmohumm maa tjiibi siira la7ada

OK, OK. Just don’t say anything to anyone.

تجيب سيرة – ‘bring a story’, i.e. gossip

لا لا يا استاذ اعوذ بالله انت طالما راضيتني ما بتطلع من عندي الا رضيان بس بدي قلك على شغلة جماعة الاسعاف كتير كتير لسانون طويل
laa laa yaa éstaaz a3uuzu billah inte Taalama raaDeetni maa btéTla3 mén 3éndi 2élla réDyaan. bass béddi 2éllak 3ala shaghle. jamaa3t él2is3aaf @ktiir lisaanon Tawiil
Of course not, sir, God forbid! As long as you keep me happy, you’ll be happy too. But I have to tell you something – the ambulance guys are veeeery talkative.

اعوذ بالله – a fuSHa expression meaning literally ‘I take refuge in God’ but used similarly to English ‘God forbid!’ (‘of course not!’) Very useful.

طالما راضيتني – ‘as long as’, triggering past like a conditional expression.

ما بتطلع من عندي الا رضيان – literally ‘you won’t leave my presence except pleased’.

جماعة الاسعاف – jamaa3et + noun is often used in the meaning ‘the guys from X’ or ‘the ones from X’: متل جماعة باب الحارة ‘like someone from Baab il7aara’.

لسانون طويل – literally ‘their tongues are long’, this expression means that they are rude or gossip a lot (presumably the latter in this context).

تطمني هي جيتي من عندون. المهم انتي طمنيني شلون حالتو شلون وضعو
TTammni hayy jayyti mén 3éndon. élmohumm inti Tammniini, shloon 7aalto, shloon waD3o?
Don’t worry, I’ve just come from there. Just tell me how he’s doing. What condition is he in?

تطمني – the passive (or whatever) of طمن, ‘be reassured’, i.e. don’t worry.

هي جيتي من عندون – literally ‘here’s my coming from them’. jayye here is a noun of instance.

حالتو لهلق مستقرة بس منخاف كتير من المضاعفات مشان هيك لازم كل شوي كل شوي روح واجي لعندو
7aalto lahalla2 mustaqerra bass menkhaaf @ktiir mn élmuDaa3afaat. méshaan heek laazem kéll @shwayy ruu7 w2éji la3éndo

Right now he’s stable, but we’re worried about complications. That’s why I have to keep coming to see him.

لهلق – until now

الله يعطيكي العافية وانا رح ضل دائما شوف خاطرك
aLLa ya3Tiiki l3aafye w2ana ra7 Déll daa2eman shuuf khaaTrek

Thanks so much. I’ll always make sure you’re being looked after.

رح ضل دائما شوف خاطرك – lit. ‘I will always carry on seeing your khaaTer‘, i.e. looking after you etc

المهم هلق رح اتركك معو شوي تفوت تحكي معو وتعلمو شو يحكي ماشي
élmohumm halla2 ra7 ét@rkak ma3o shwayy tfuut té7ki ma3o w@t3allmo shu yé7ki, maashi
Anyway, I’ll leave you alone with him now for a bit so you can go in and talk to him and tell him what to say, OK?

ét@rkak… tfuut té7ki, t3allmo – lots of subjunctives here: tfuut because ‘leave you… so you can/to talk to him’, té7ki and t3allmo because they’re in the verb of motion + subjunctive construction we mentioned before.

ماشي ماشي
maashi maashi
OK, sure.

موفق
mwaffa2
Good luck.

الله معك الله معك
aLLa ma3ak aLLa ma3ak
Bye, bye.

اخ اخ يا اصابيعي اخ ما عم حس فيون ما عم حس فيون دخيلك يا دكتور دخيلك اصابيعي ما بحس فيون
aakh aakh yaa aSaabii3i aakh maa 3am 7éss fiyyon maa 3am 7éss fiyyon dakhiilak yaa doktuur dakhiilak aSaabii3i maa 3am 7éss fiyyon
Oh, oh my fingers, I can’t feel them, I can’t feel them… please, doctor, I can’t feel my fingers!

اخ – pretty obvious from the context, an expression of exhaustion, pain etc

ما عم حس فيون – ‘I’m not feeling them’. Unlike English (but apparently like French) in Arabic verbs of sense are not usually accompanied by ‘can’ in expressions like ‘I can’t see it’, ‘I can hear you’, ‘I can’t feel it’

دخيلك – etymologically apparently something like ‘I place myself under your protection’, but now yet another one of the huge number of ways to say ‘please’

سلامتك سلامتك بس الحقيقة انا مو دكتور
salaamtak salaamtak bass él7a2ii2a 2ana muu doktuuur

I hope they get better. But the truth is I’m not a doctor.

سلامتك – literally ‘your health’, said when someone is ill. Unlike in English (where doctors do not usually begin a consultation with ‘get well soon’) it is also a common thing for a doctor to open a discussion with.

ماني – the ol’ negative copula (‘I’m not’)

مين انت لكان
miin inte lakaan?

Who are you then?

لكان – we’ve seen this word before. It means approximately ‘in that case’ or ‘then’ here.

انا اللي… اللي دعستك
ana lli… lli da3astak

I’m… I’m the guy who ran you over.

اللي دعستك – as discussed in the relative clauses post, da3as here takes first person marking where in modern English relative clauses normally default to the third person whatever (I’m the one who‘s going, not who’m or whatever). Note that اللي like its fuSHa equivalent الذي is in part the definite article (i.e. it’s él-li, at least etymologically) and él-.