Hebrew might be one of the world’s oldest dialects, but it also borrows a lot of words from a variety of other languages. Here are 12 you should know:
1. לסמס (English)
Transliteration: leh-sah-mess
Meaning: to text message / send an SMS
2. אחלה (Arabic)
Transliteration: ahkh-lah
Meaning: awesome, great
3. תכל’ס (Yiddish/Hebrew)
Transliteration: tahkh-less
Meaning: bottom line, all in all, true (slang)
4. בלגן (Russian)
Transliteration: bah-lah-gan
Meaning: mess, disorder, chaos
5. טלפון (English)
Transliteration: teh-leh-fone
Meaning: telephone, mobile / cell phone, phone call
6. באסה (Arabic)
Transliteration: bah-sah
Meaning: bummer, disappointment
7. שלוק (German / Dutch)
Transliteration: shlook
Meaning: sip
8. הופה (Greek)
Transliteration: oh-pah
Meaning: declaration of celebration, excitement, being impressed or being surprised
9. צימר (Yiddish)
Transliteration: tzee-mer
Meaning: Bed & Breakfast accommodation
10. נו (Russian)
Transliteration: nu
Meaning: hurry up, So? Eh?
11. לגגל (English)
Transliteration: leh’gah’gel
Meaning: to Google / do a Google search
12. פדיחה (Arabic)
Transliteration: fah-dee-khah
Meaning: embarrassment, screw-up, mess-up
13. ביס
Transliteration: bees
Meaning: bite (of food)
