# לשון הרע לא מדבר אליי



## Ali Smith

Shalom,

What doesלשון הרע לא מדבר אליי mean? “The evil’s language does not speak to me”? If so, the first word is pronounced leshon, not lashon, right?

Thanks!


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## Drink

לשון הרע means "evil language" and is a Jewish religious term for gossip.

Grammatically, this phrase follows Mishnaic Hebrew where often the definite article is placed only on the adjective and not on the noun.


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## slus

It's an expression coined by Rafael Halperin (you can check him our on Wikipedia).
Leshon Hara is an expression meaning gossip/defamation.
It's leshon and not lashon because it's the construct state.


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## Drink

slus said:


> Leshon Hara is an expression meaning gossip/defamation.



In halacha there is a distinction between לשון הרע, which is gossip or unverified claims, and מוציא שם רע, which is defamation. Not sure if that is relevant to Modern Hebrew.



slus said:


> It's leshon and not lashon because it's the construct state.



This is actually incorrect. It is a noun+adjective, not in the construct state. If you look it up in a dictionary, it will say lashon, not leshon. In proper grammar it should be לשון רעה, but in Mishnaic Hebrew, it was common to have the definite article on the adjective and not the noun, and genders of words often got mixed up.


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## Abaye

> *לָשׁוֹן* הָרַע, *לְשׁוֹן* הָרַע


לָשׁוֹן הָרַע - האקדמיה ללשון העברית



> הצירוף *לָשון* הרע נתפס כצירוף סמיכות שגוי (במקום *לְשון* הרע). ניסן ברגגרין מסביר כי זהו צירוף של שם (בזכר) ותוארו.


לשון הרע, עין הרע - האקדמיה ללשון העברית



> יֵשׁ עָווֹן גָּדוֹל מִזֶּה עַד מְאוֹד וְהוּא בִּכְלַל לָאו זֶה, וְהוּא *לְשׁוֹן* הָרַע.


משנה תורה מנוקד - ספר המדע - הלכות דעות פרק ז



> .יֵשׁ עָוֹן גָּדוֹל מִזֶּה עַד מְאֹד, וְהוּא בִּכְלָל לָאו זֶה, וְהוּא *לָשׁוֹן* הָרָע


קיצור שולחן ערוך מנוקד - ל – ויקיטקסט


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## Ali Smith

Drink said:


> In halacha there is a distinction between לשון הרע, which is gossip or unverified claims, and מוציא שם רע, which is defamation. Not sure if that is relevant to Modern Hebrew.
> 
> 
> 
> This is actually incorrect. It is a noun+adjective, not in the construct state. If you look it up in a dictionary, it will say lashon, not leshon. In proper grammar it should be לשון רעה, but in Mishnaic Hebrew, it was common to have the definite article on the adjective and not the noun, and genders of words often got mixed up.


Is this the reason why “the evil eye” in Hebrew is “eye of evil”?
עין הרע


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## Drink

Ali Smith said:


> Is this the reason why “the evil eye” in Hebrew is “eye of evil”?
> עין הרע



If you notice, it's "ayin" not "ein". This is because it is not the construct state. Yes, for the same reason.


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## Abaye

> עֵין־הָרָע (גם: עַיִן־הָרַע, עַיִן רָעָה)


עין הרע - ויקימילון


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