# wallaahi



## gsc

My book says this translates to 'by God'

I wanted to ask if this is used in a religious content.

For example, in English we might be asked if we are well and answer 'Well? Christ, I've had flu all week!'

In this sense it is an expletive and in no way infers the speaker is religious, possibly just the opposite. In fact had I used this phrase when my mother was alive it would have been frowned on as possibly being offensive to some-one that was religious.

Does it have a similar connotation in Arabic?


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## Haroon

Well, it is a word used for swearing ( in the sense of : affirm: to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true; "Before God I swear I am innocent" promise solemnly; take an oath ).So, it is a neutral word as it does not matter whether the speaker is religious or not . However, it  may reflect that the person is - somehow - devoted to God  as other people may use other forms of swearing ( in the above-mentioned sense and not at all in the sense of cursing) . Others forms vary , like by my honour, may I lose my life, ...... etc .


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## Josh_

Yes, as Haroon said, it is used to give emphasis to a statement.  It is sometimes translated as 'really' in English.

Here is one example of usage:

Child:  maruHtish in-naadi!
Parent:  wallaahi?
Child:  wallahi.

I did not go to the club!
Really?
Really.


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## gsc

Thank you Haroon


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## MarcB

Although the phrase has it's origin in religion it is not always a religious expression. Unlike western thought "do not take God's name in vain"the many expressions with Allah are not considered as such.


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## gsc

Thank you Josh and Mark


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## cherine

MarcB said:


> Although the phrase has it's origin in religion it is not always a religious expression. Unlike western thought "do not take God's name in vain" the many expressions with Allah are not considered as such.


This is very true, but in Egypt, many Christians prefer to avoid it. When they want to confirm a statement, they say: "sadda2ni" صدقني (believe me). I know some Christians who never, or almost never, say "wallaahi". I never understood this till I learned about the "do not take God's name in vain".


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## *khalid

Josh_ said:


> It is sometimes translated as 'really' in English.
> 
> I did not go to the club!
> Really?
> Really.


 
no my friend , thats wrong

it just for swearing

​


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## ayed

MarHaba, Khalid , to the Arabic forum.
Though I agree with you, Khalid, that this word is mainly used for swearing.Yet, it is usually used in the contexts of exclamation surprising or wonder.Two things one has in a language:
*Denotation : الاسم and Connotation : المسمى *
So, you may have a word(denotation) and many meaning(connotation)


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## Mahaodeh

Josh_ said:


> Yes, as Haroon said, it is used to give emphasis to a statement. It is sometimes translated as 'really' in English.
> 
> Here is one example of usage:
> 
> Child: maruHtish in-naadi!
> Parent: wallaahi?
> Child: wallahi.
> 
> I did not go to the club!
> Really?
> Really.


 
Although the best translation is what you gave (really), in reality what the parent is trying to say is "do you add wallaahi to the end of the sentence" (i.e. do you swear about that); so the child adds it to confirm that what he said is true.

---------------------------------------

Regarding "do not use God's name in vein", this actually exists in Islam, unfortunately most people ignore it to the extent that it _is_ sometimes in fact in vein.


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## Josh_

I definitely do not want to minimize the religious nature of this word and that it is an oath (any learner of Arabic should be aware of it), but as was discussed one does not necessarily need to be religious to use it.  Further, in addition to an explanation (such as it is an oath used as an affirmation to a statement) I believe it helps the non native learner to relate it to something which functions in a similar way in his/her native language.  Of course, translating it as 'really' loses the religious aspect, but shows how the phrase is used as it serves a similar function.  

Similar words and phrases that are also religious in nature are fairly rare in English. Adding 'by God' to a statement is quite unnatural, but there is (at least) one equivalent (that I can think of off hand) that has a religious nature -- _I swear to God_ -- but it is not used with nearly the same frequency as _wallaahi_ is, nor can it be used in all the situations that _wallaahi_ can be used in.


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## gsc

Just for the record, here is the dialogue from Kullu Tamam after izzayyik.

wallahi mish 'awi. ta3baana shwayya kida.  wi wakhda bard.


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## ayed

gsc said:


> wallahi mish 'awi. ta3baana shwayya kida. wi wakhda bard.


 In fact, she is not very well.She is a bit sickand has caught cold.


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## gsc

Thank you Ayed.

ta3baana is sick or tired?  (I am still trying to get used to all the ways kida is used )

In this case wallahi clearly has no religious connotation.

This is a very important thing for me to understand although it appears Egyptians don't have the same concept of 'not taking gods name in vain' that we do in England so perhaps I need not worry about causing offence.

Although what I was taught as a child may be vastly out of date now.  Although I am 56, I am still 17 in my head and often forget I am now one of the 'older generation'.  <sigh>


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## cherine

gsc said:


> ta3baana is sick or tired? (I am still trying to get used to all the ways kida is used )


ta3abaana = tired, 3ayyaana عيانة = sick.
kida= like this. But in this sentence it's more of a filler than a word with a literal meaning.


> In this case wallahi clearly has no religious connotation.


Exactly. As most contributors in this thread said, wallahi is not always an oath, it's often used with the meaning of "really" or "actually".


> This is a very important thing for me to understand although it appears Egyptians don't have the same concept of 'not taking God's name in vain' that we do in England so perhaps I need not worry about causing offence.


The offense is taken when someone takes an oath while lying. Other than that, the simple use of "wallahi" as a confirmation "tool" is fine in Egypt.


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## gsc

Thank you Cherine. Now I must get back to listening I think. I have so many questions I am not getting very far through the book. Maybe I will go right through then do it a second time for questions 

They talk so quick and drop so many vowels that by the time unfamiliar words are added to the equation I have no chance.  I am on slow speed in windows media player trying to take it all in.  I fear it will be a long time before I can hold any sort of conversation.


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## londonmasri

In other contexts ta3baan can also mean rubbish ))

For example if someone listens to a poet and then afterwards describes it as 'ta3baan' this basically means he is not very good.


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## ayed

londonmasri said:


> In other contexts ta3baan can also mean rubbish ))
> 
> For example if someone listens to a poet and then afterwards describes it as 'ta3baan' this basically means he is not very good.


 Exactly so..


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## gsc

a very useful phrase then - I have visions of listening to some-one and yawning because they are boring - got no problem remembering that one!


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## Josh_

londonmasri said:


> In other contexts ta3baan can also mean rubbish ))
> 
> For example if someone listens to a poet and then afterwards describes it as 'ta3baan' this basically means he is not very good.


Yes, 'rubbish' or maybe something with not quite as strong a meaningn, such as 'bad' or 'of poor quality.' That reminds me of a time when I was asking a professor about an Arabic program at another college and he told me not to take classes there لأنها كلية تعبانة .


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## londonmasri

Josh_ said:


> 'of poor quality.' That reminds me of a time when I was asking a professor about an Arabic program at another college and he told me not to take classes there لأنها كلية تعبانة .


 
Poor quality - thats a perfect translation!

(Poor college, should have got some sleep...   Just too funny today!! )


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## *khalid

ayed said:


> MarHaba, Khalid , to the Arabic forum.
> Though I agree with you, Khalid, that this word is mainly used for swearing.Yet, it is usually used in the contexts of exclamation surprising or wonder.Two things one has in a language:
> *Denotation : الاسم and Connotation : المسمى *
> So, you may have a word(denotation) and many meaning(connotation)


 
حياك الله اخي العزيز اياد , اشكرك على هذا الترحيب 

You're right,  I agree  

الكلمة الواحدة تخرج الى عدة معاني​


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