# All Dialects: fashar فشر



## Josh_

I was just wondering about the exact usage(s) of the interjection fashar فشر in the dialects. Is it used as a response to when someone says something that isn't true (English "That's a lie!"), like, let's say:

"smi3t innak kunt mizawwagh mil-madrasa imbaariH."
"fashar!"

"I heard you skipped school yesterday."  
"That's a lie!"

Or can it be used as a response when someone exaggerates about something, similar to the English "come on!" or "come off it."

"ti3raf inn Tom tili3 foo2 il-haram?"
"fashar!"

"Did you know that Tom climbed to the top of the Pyramid?"
"Come on, (your joking)."

Thanks.


----------



## elroy

That's not how it's used in Palestinian Arabic.

We use it to mean something along the lines of, "He wishes!"

This is best illustrated with examples:

_Ra7 ti3zem 'Brahiim 3al 7afle?_
_Fashar! Huwwe wala marra bi3zimni 3ala ishi._
Will you invite Abraham to the party!
He wishes (I'd invite him!)/No way! He never invites me to anything.

_Smi3et shuu 2aal ij-jaar? 2aal min ilyoom u Taale3 mamnuu3 7ada yla33eb wlaado barra wara l-3imaara._
_Fashar! Haay il-3imaara ilna kulna u ma2iloosh 7a2 yit2ammar 3aleena wiy2ulna eesh insawwi._ 
Did you hear what the neighbor said? He said from now on no one is allowed to let his kids play outside behind the building.
He wishes (he could get away with that)!/No way! This building belongs to all of us and he doesn't have the right to lord it over us and tell us what to do.

Basically, it's a self-righteous expression of determination and defiance. You use it to show that the person in question "will not win"; you will not let him get his way/get the better of you/insult you or offend you by doing something unacceptable/etc. 

In Palestinian Arabic we can also say "fashrat 3eeno!" which has the same meaning but is more intense.


----------



## Josh_

Interesting. That makes sense for what I am about to explain. I actually was wanting an eastern dialect example more than anything else (although I would like to know the usage in Egyptian and other dialects). I suspected there was more to it than I was aware of as I have personally never heard it or used it in context. I was asking on behave of an American friend of mine who has a Lebanese friend and related a story to me in which the Lebanese man was on the phone with someone who asked about "so-and-so" being his girlfriend to which he responded "fashar."


----------



## elroy

Well, in that case it would be "fashrat" because the reference is to a girl.

In that context it means "She wishes she could be my girlfriend!"  The usage is quite derogatory; the guy is implying that having her as a girlfriend is far beneath him.  

By the way, it's always good to provide as much context as possible right from the start so your questions can be addressed as appropriately as possible.


----------



## Josh_

Well, I wanted to know what the word meant generally, not just in this specific example. 

I thought it was an interjection, used to refer to the statement (like Tuzz (طز )), not to refer to a specific person and not inflected for person, either. In the example I provided the guy was referring to the statement of a third party (not the girl in question) about the other girl being his girlfriend. Who knows? Maybe it's different in Lebanese. 
I got the feeling it may be derogatory.


----------



## elroy

Josh Adkins said:
			
		

> ...not to refer to a specific person and not inflected for person, either.


"Fashar" is a verb - 3ala wazen "daras." So if you were saying it directly to a person you would say "fasharet" or "fasharti." If you were addressing a group you would say "fashartu." You get the idea.


> In the example I provided the guy was referring to the statement of a third party (not the girl in question) about the other girl being his girlfriend.


I need more information; this description is too vague. Having read your previous post I thought the conversation went something like this:
_-Flaaneh Sa7ibtak?_
_-Fashrat!_
If you could provide a specific dialogue (or the closest possible approximation of what it was like), that would be helpful. 


> Who knows? Maybe it's different in Lebanese.


Doubtful.


----------



## MarcB

Josh,
I don't know if this helps. In Khaleeji it means curse or insult as well.


----------



## Josh_

Thanks Marc.  I am curious as to the variety of meanings of this word in the dialects, so you post indeed helps.



			
				elroy said:
			
		

> "Fashar" is a verb - 3ala wazen "daras." So if you were saying it directly to a person you would say "fasharet" or "fasharti." If you were talking about a group you would say "fashartu." You get the idea.
> 
> I need more information; this description is too vague. Having read your previous post I thought the conversation went something like this:
> _-Flaaneh Sa7ibtak?_
> _-Fashrat!_
> If you could provide a specific dialogue (or the closest possible approximation of what it was like), that would be helpful.
> 
> Doubtful.


I know it's a verb, but it's also an interjection. It is in Egyptian and I even checked in my Palestinian dictionary. It said that the verb was "to boast; show off, brag 2)to tell tall tales, to lie." The interjection, which is only "fashar!" has the definition of "That's a lie!/He's making it up."

Your explanation is clear. I was not there and don't know if I could provide an adequate dialogue, but nonetheless, I will try. Bear in mind that the interjectory word was stated in Arabic while the other words were in English.

(Names made up)
Dan: I heard that Sarah is your girlfriend?
Bill: Fashar!!

I took it to mean something like "That's a lie" or "Whoever told you that is making it up" or just "That's made up." With what you say, elroy, it could also be something like "She wishes!!" But I wanted to be sure, that's why I asked here. My American friend knows Arabic enough to know the difference between words so had it been "fashrat" or something similar, he would have said it that way, but he seemed confident it was just "fashar."


----------



## MarcB

Josh, 
You are welcome brag,boast is the MSA meaning. It is also used in Khaleeji. And like Elroy said, so it has multiple meanings. As a verb and as an interjection.


----------



## Wissam5000

Hi,

As a lebanese guy, I guess elroy explanation is great. The word is somehow a bit insulting, and we avoid to use it.


----------



## elroy

Josh Adkins said:
			
		

> I know it's a verb, but it's also an interjection. It is in Egyptian and I even checked in my Palestinian dictionary. It said that the verb was "to boast; show off, brag 2)to tell tall tales, to lie." The interjection, which is only "fashar!" has the definition of "That's a lie!/He's making it up."


Sorry to be so late in getting back to you.

I am aware of this meaning of "fashar" as a verb (although it's not too common) but I'm not familiar with its use as an interjection - which is not to say, of course, that it's incorrect.


----------



## cherine

Thanks Elroy for bringing this up -again- thus helping me to notice what I failed to notice before 
The verb fashar (which didn't come by my mind until now) is widely used, but in it's adjectiv form, in Egypt : fashshaar فَشّار that's the person who loves to tell tales (lies) about things, mainly "pseudo-heroic"  and there's of course the feminine form فشارة .
The verb is also used in present tense "yufshur" يُـفْـشُـر : to tell lies. It's different from "yekdeb" (colloquial of yakdhib يكذب ) because these "lies" are usually of different character (as I said : heroic, in the kind of : I did this and I did that), not like the "usual" lies  but not less condemnable.

As for the interjection


			
				Josh Adkins said:
			
		

> I thought it was an interjection, used to refer to the statement (like Tuzz (طز )), not to refer to a specific person and not inflected for person, either.


That was what occured to me : fashar as an interjection. The first time I heard it as a verb was in this thread, the second time was two days ago, in a movie where a woman says to another (fasharet 3einek فشرت عينك ) and I can't translate it 
But the usual use of this word in Egypt is as interjection, simply meaning : that's a lie, or: that's not true.

As for Tuzz (طز )) it's another interjection, not really rude, but rather a bit impolite, which means indifference : nothing matter, I don't care.
It was used in a movie "al-Qahira 30" (based on a novel by Naguib Mahfouz) where one of the characters, very poor used to say it, as if saying : nothing has a value in this life. (It's a very good movie by the way).


			
				Josh said:
			
		

> I got the feeling it may be derogatory.


Not really. It just means that something is not true. At least here, in Egypt.


----------



## Josh_

Thanks to all of you for your responses.


----------



## lama

in lebanon "fashar"means "no!i'm better than that" for example:re7et 3a 7afleto?
fashar!
*did you go to his party? no,i'm classier than that


----------



## Ghabi

cherine said:


> But the usual use of this word in Egypt is as interjection, simply meaning : that's a lie, or: that's not true.



Hello Cherine, I wonder can I use it in the sense of "I'm flattered" (i.e. "What you said pleases me, but that's not true", said in a friendly tone)?


----------



## cherine

No, I don't think that would work. It would sound a bit weird if someone tells you something nice, and you reply with something like "that's a lie".


----------



## Ghabi

Thanks, Cherine.


----------



## Xence

Even though the interjection _Tuzz_ is widely used in the Maghreb, I've never heard someone saying "_fashar_" (at least in Algeria).
Except in the Egyptian series, of course...


----------



## Mahaodeh

I don't think fashar is used in Iraq either; never heard it there.


----------



## Hemza

Xence said:


> Even though the interjection _Tuzz_ is widely used in the Maghreb, I've never heard someone saying "_fashar_" (at least in Algeria).
> Except in the Egyptian series, of course...



فشر (fashshar بتشديد الشين) is used in Morocco as a verb and it means "to tell false stories or to complain about a false thing" (ex: يفشر علينا). And true, طز is widely used


----------



## I.K.S.

Salam ,Is it used in the east of the country ?


----------



## Hemza

I have no idea, I heard it from my mum sooo many times so I simply guessed it is used in Morocco without wondering شرق غرب شمال جنوب وسط 
Now, I have a doubt, I wonder if it is not تفشر (بتشديد الشين)


----------



## syrian190

تعريف و معنى فشر في معجم المعاني الجامع - معجم عربي عربي​
*فشَرَ*: (فعل) 

*فشَرَ* يَفشُر ، *فَشْرًا* ، فهو فاشِر
*فشَر* الشَّخصُ :كذب وادّعى باطلاً كان يفشُر وهو يروي مغامراته،
كلامه مليء بالفَشْرِ


----------

