How do you say 'ok, boomer' in Hebrew?
How do you say 'ok, boomer' in Hebrew?
Hebrew slang is in a golden age, drawing on great words from other languages while innovating established Hebrew words to move the language forward. Gen Z slang is alive and well within Hebrew.
“Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about” - Benjamin Lee Whorf
If language shapes how and about what we think, then slang further morphs our thoughts. Slang is both a shortcut and taking the scenic route.
Sharing a slang word or expression every week for the last year and a half has been a labor of love. Why a labor, you might ask? Well, finding Hebrew slang online hasn’t been a walk in the park. For the first few weeks, I could coast on ‘sababa’ (cool or great) and ‘ma holech?’ (‘what’s up?’ or ‘what’s going on?’), but as I got deeper in, the slang wasn’t as readily available. This led me to a deep dive into the world wide web of slang.
As my wonderful wife, Lior, encourages me to do when looking for a restaurant or attraction in the area, ‘search in Hebrew!’ I broadened the search from ‘slang in Hebrew’ to סלנג ישראלי (slang yis-ruh-eh-lee) and shazaam. This change of pace opened up the game quite a bit and I was beholden to slang I had never imagined existed. I felt like I was returning to my roots. Some of it was clever, some silly, and some of it plain disgusting.
My roots? Well, I can trace my love of Hebrew slang to summer camp at Camp Ramah in Canada. A lot of things in my life can be traced back to Jewish summer camp, but I digress… This is about Hebrew slang. My beloved counselor from Israel shared some slang with a small group of campers. Now this wasn’t just any old slang from your savta, this was deeply offensive and inappropriate slang. I rarely shared it with anyone and I certainly won’t share it here, as people have become even more sensitive over the years. But it did succeed in getting me hooked on these word plays and mixes that I didn’t know existed in Hebrew.
It was, in some ways, a coming of age. I would search for more slang, but became disappointed when I could only really find ‘10 Slang Expressions in Hebrew that You Will Need on Your Birthright Trip’. There were a few gems, but not anything too cutting or innovative.
The search began for more slang that offered a window into Israeli culture. I fall in love with slang pretty easily, but there is one diamond that stands out among other precious stones. I wasn’t even looking for this one, but I found it.
It’s ‘ok, boomer’: sabra edition!
Translation: “The Academy for the Hebrew Language: From now on don’t say, ‘ok, boomer’, say ‘what are you sachi(?), member of the 1948 generation’" (ma ah-tuh sawch ben dor tuh-shawch) - it rhymes in Hebrew.
There are a few pieces to unweave here. Sachi isn’t simple to define. It generally means ‘sober’, but the slang goggles produce something more like ‘boring’ or ‘naive’. As in someone who won’t drink or stay up late. It seems that some Israelis look at Americans in general as being sachi. I look at it as more of a ‘bright-eyed and bushy-tailed’ vibe.
Adding constantly to the pool of slang in Hebrew is the glorious institution of the Academy of the Hebrew Language, which adds new words and slang to the mix on a regular basis. Even more impressive than their contribution to the development of the Hebrew language is their social media game. I called their social media guy once to show respect without having anything specific to say. He seemed annoyed, but I felt compelled to offer props. An example of his/their stellar blend of language and pop culture is found below:
Translation: Stop saying ‘this doesn’t makes sense’, it’s ‘not logical’ (or makes sense - but in one word) - tof-see-koo leh-ha-geed zeh lo oh-seh say-chel, zeh lo heg-yo-nee - similar to ‘stop trying to make fetch happen’.
Another example of some cleverly crafted new slang is the advent of להסגביר (leh-haws-gveer), which means ‘to mansplain’. This combines two Hebrew words in an innovative way:
להסביר + גבר = להסגביר (le-haws-beer + geh-vehr = le-haws-gveer)
To explain + a guy = to mansplain
To wind down, I heard a fun anecdote a while back about a trend of secular Tel Avivis using ‘chasdei Hashem’ (similar to ‘Baruch Hashem’, but focuses on the kindnesses of Hashem) in regular conversation as a result of watching the hit Israeli TV series, Shtisel. This was a particularly interesting crossing of paths and heightened my excitement about slang. I hope to share similar anecdotes in future posts.
Some excellent resources for learning new slang:
Rubik Rozental, Israeli author who writes extensively on the Hebrew language and slang (if you have a comfort with Hebrew) - https://www.ruvik.co.il/
@Mazze_dict on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mazze_dict/ (also in Hebrew; some clever, creative, and not always PC slang)
Wikislang - https://wikislang.co.il/ - also in Hebrew - broken up into categories (such as army, student, Tel Aviv, etc.)
iCenter - Israel education organization based in Chicago with some solid resources, including slang terms and expressions - https://theicenter.org/icenter_resources/hebrew-slang/ (with English translation and transliteration)
Exciting news: Here is the inaugural episode of the Sababoosh podcast! There are some surprises in the near future with exciting guests who share their expertise and experiences in different spheres of Israeli culture.
This is the first episode on Hebrew slang with Hebrew guru and host of the podcast, ‘Streetwise Hebrew’, Guy Sharett. It was such a pleasure to speak with Guy and learn a lot about Hebrew, slang, and the future of the language. I hope you enjoy!
The next two episodes will focus on TV and comedy in Israel (with some unique and entertaining guests)!
Slang of the week:
בדוק
Buh-dook
For sure (literally ‘checked’)
Song of the week:
אוטוטו
Oh-toe-toe
Slowly (older slang)
Note: I’m Team Static for life, but this is a catchy tune by the other half of Static and Ben-El. Their break-up was a tough one for a good part of the country that coincided with the start of the Judicial Reform protests, but they are now producing some quality music independently.