# פרצוף / פנים



## Egmont

** split from here **



ks20495 said:


> ...6. פנים and פרצוף are interchangeable...


However, פנים is more formal. פרצוף is colloquial, almost slangy.


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## origumi

Egmont said:


> However, פנים is more formal. פרצוף is colloquial, almost slangy.


פרצוף appears many times in the Talmud, both Bavli and Yerushalmi, and also in the Tosafta, thus cannot be regarded colloquial. Not a biblical word, apparently borrowed from Greek (προσωπον = prosopon).


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## Egmont

origumi said:


> פרצוף appears many times in the Talmud, both Bavli and Yerushalmi, and also in the Tosafta, thus cannot be regarded colloquial. Not a biblical word, apparently borrowed from Greek (προσωπον = prosopon).


I realize that it's an ancient word, but I think its usage today is more colloquial. (It is among the people I talk to, anyhow.)


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## scriptum

I think Egmont is right.  Of course "partzuf" is an old word and, historically speaking, there is nothing slangy about it.
However, for some mysterious reason, it sounds funny for MH-speaking people. Partzuf as a modern word means: funny face, or ugly face. No one really knows why.


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## Tararam

Wow... I never thought about it like that! haha
Indeed, "partzuf" has become a word you usually use in a humoristic/sarcastic/mocking way ("make a (funny/weird/whatever) face", "take a hit/get punched in the face", "stupid face", "innocent face" and so on...)

Somehow it has adopted this kind of "air" around it.
Nonetheless, I wouldn't go as far as saying it couldn't be used as "face" in a normal, literal way. After all, don't forget "panim" has several other meaning other than "face".


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## sawyeric1

Is פנים masculine or feminine?


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## Drink

It can be either masculine plural or feminine plural. I don't know which is more common today.


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## amikama

Drink said:


> I don't know which is more common today.


In modern Hebrew the feminine plural is much more common: פנים יפות.


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## ronenr

you can freely use feminine and masculine for פנים

Also:
לעשות פרצופים

to express (non-verbally, but to a limited extent verbally as well) that on is not content with a certain situation, idea, without explicitly saying so.

המרצה עשתה לי פרצופים כאשר ביקשתי להגיש את העבודה באיחור
the lecturer "did faces to me" when I asked to submit the assignment late


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## ystab

ronenr said:


> you can freely use feminine and masculine for פנים
> 
> Also:
> לעשות פרצופים
> 
> to express (non-verbally, but to a limited extent verbally as well) that on is not content with a certain situation, idea, without explicitly saying so.
> 
> המרצה עשתה לי פרצופים כאשר ביקשתי להגיש את העבודה באיחור
> the lecturer "did faces to me" when I asked to submit the assignment late



To frown upon something.


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## Drink

ystab said:


> To frown upon something.



To frown upon something is usually figurative for disaproving and does not refer to an actual facial expression.


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## ronenr

Drink said:


> To frown upon something is usually figurative for disaproving and does not refer to an actual facial expression.



Also in Hebrew, not necessarily facial. For example:

הוא עושה לי פרצופים בטלפון

He is frowning upon me over the phone


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## Drink

But that's not how it used in English. Perhaps I didn't explain it well before, but it can only be used in general statements, like "He frowns upon modernism." But you can't use it for specific statements like "I said something modernist and he **frowned upon me."


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## ystab

Drink said:


> But that's not how it used in English. Perhaps I didn't explain it well before, but it can only be used in general statements, like "He frowns upon modernism." But you can't use it for specific statements like "I said something modernist and he **frowned upon me."


Why not “She frowned upon my request to turn the assignment in late” or “he frown upon what I said?”

Maybe I’m misusing the preposition, but I think the closest meaning to לעשות פרצוף is to frown.


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## elroy

I would say "She made a face."


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## Drink

Or "gave a dirty look".


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