# All dialects: راح علیه



## sela.urdon

Does this literally mean "it left on him" in (Levantine Arabic)? I heard it used in the context 
وراحت علیه الطیارة  meaning "he missed the plane" but could it also literally mean "the plane left on him" or "the plane left him behind"? Are there any other contexts this could be used in? Thanks!


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## rayloom

Not sure about Levantine Arabic, but it means to miss sth in most Eastern dialects. 
راح عليك الفيلم you missed the movie. 
راحت عليه he missed it (the opportunity).


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## elroy

It only means "he missed the plane."


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## sela.urdon

Hmm interesting that there is a difference in usage there... elroy you can't use this even for other forms of transportation (bus, train, etc.)?


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## elroy

I think you misunderstood my post.  I was responding to this question:


sela.urdon said:


> I heard it used in the context
> وراحت علیه الطیارة meaning "he missed the plane" but could it also literally mean "the plane left on him" or "the plane left him behind"?


 Both of rayloom's examples work in Palestinian and yes, you can use it for other forms of transportation.  We also have the idiomatic expression راحت عليّ نومة, meaning "I overslept."


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## Golden-Rose

It's never the Arabs' fault. If they missed the train, it's because the train left them. If they overslept it's because sleep overtook them. 

If they banged into a wall, it's because the wall hit them - ضربني الحيط


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## Mahaodeh

Golden-Rose said:


> It's never the Arabs' fault. If they missed the train, it's because the train left them. If they overslept it's because sleep overtook them.



 Good one!

On a serious note, the expression means "the incident happened while he was not present" - what 'went' is the incident whether it was a plane that he ought to have caught, an opportunity that he could have taken, a conversation that took place between two different people, or anything else. راحت عليه would still be used if the flight was cancelled and the plane was grounded because the time to fly has already gone (راح).

راحت عليه نومة is of course idiomatic because he was present - at least in his body. Alternatively, you can say that he didn't miss the sleep, he missed the waking up part .


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## elroy

Maha, I think you're over-analyzing this.  It's just like "miss" in English.  It's not about whether you're present or absent.  If I'm running down the platform to catch my train and it rolls away seconds before I get to the boarding area, it's still the case that الترين راح عليّ - i.e. I missed the train - even though I was physically present when it departed. 

I would not use راحت عليّ for a canceled flight.   I'm surprised to hear you say that you would.

Finally, I believe the origin of راحت عليّ نومة is "I missed a certain amount of sleep (a نومة), which made me sleep-deprived and that's why I overslept."  We just don't say all that; we only say the first part and the rest is understood.


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## Interprete

Would it be possible to use فات as a synonym?


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## Mahaodeh

elroy said:


> Maha, I think you're over-analyzing this



Maybe I am. I do that sometimes, maybe it's just the way my mind works .

However, you seriously don't think this is what it means? I know how it's used, but I understand it as: it's gone when I wasn't there, that's why we don't jus say راحت الطيارة, which we would if it flew when we were present, we say راحت *عليه* الطيارة because we missed it, we were not there at the time. It's the same use as the classical use فاته الشيء أو الأمر. As a matter of fact, معجم اللغة العربية المعاصرة gives the meaning of راح عليه to be فاته. Classical dictionaries give the meaning of the latter as فاته الأمر: ذهب عنه. It's pretty much the same, isn't it, and it all has to do with 'going'.

Ok, so maybe I dabble too much with dictionaries. I think I'll just quit on this before I say something really wrong .



elroy said:


> would not use راحت عليّ for a canceled flight.  I'm surprised to hear you say that you would.



I might no say راحت عليّ الطيارة but I would say راحت عليّ - unless I still managed to do what I set out to do that is. But you are absolutely right, الطيارة ما راحتش علي، السفرة هي اللي راحت.



elroy said:


> Finally, I believe the origin of راحت عليّ نومة is "I missed a certain amount of sleep (a نومة), which made me sleep-deprived and that's why I overslept." We just don't say all that; we only say the first part and the rest is understood.



This one I was just making guesses, it's an idiom so it doesn't actually have a direct relation to missing something or going. But if it did have a direct relation, I think there could be a lot of possibilities.


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## Mahaodeh

Interprete said:


> Would it be possible to use فات as a synonym?



Yes, that is the standard Arabic word. It's also used in some dialects alongside راح عليه.


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## sela.urdon

Maha, my interpretation (from a non-Arabic speaker's standpoint) is that "the plain/train/whatever went on me." We could almost say this in English too, it almost reminds me of someone saying "he walked out on me," sort of meaning they left someone behind. On a related note, I thought فات in fosHa was more used for time passing by rather than an actual train/plane/etc. In dialect, فات is used to mean to enter, right?


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## elroy

Mahaodeh said:


> However, you seriously don't think this is what it means?


 I don't.  I think it's about something going away (so it's now gone) without me using it/taking advantage of it/availing myself of it.  It's not about being present or absent. 


Mahaodeh said:


> that's why we don't jus say راحت الطيارة, which we would if it flew when we were present, we say راحت *عليه* الطيارة because we missed it, we were not there at the time.


 But I _would_ say راحت عليّ الطيارة if it flew away while I was present.  See also my example with the train.  راحت الطيارة is just a neutral statement meaning "The plane left" or "The plane is gone."  It says nothing about how that affected me.  راحت عليّ الطيارة means "I missed the plane," whether or not I was there when it left. 


Mahaodeh said:


> I might no say راحت عليّ الطيارة but I would say راحت عليّ - unless I still managed to do what I set out to do that is.


 Okay, so you mean راحت عليّ as in "I missed my chance [to do whatever it is I was going to fly to do]"? If so, I agree with you, but in that case راحت عليّ does not directly refer to the flight being canceled.  That just happens to be the reason why I missed my chance to do X. 





> But you are absolutely right, الطيارة ما راحتش علي، السفرة هي اللي راحت.


 Do you mean راحت عليّ السفرة/الرحلة عشان الطيارة التغت?  That would work for me.  





sela.urdon said:


> Maha, my interpretation (from a non-Arabic speaker's standpoint) is that "the plain/train/whatever went on me."


  It's like when you say "The plate broke on me" or "Don't bail out on me," where "on me" expresses that the action affects you negatively.  So it's literally "The plane left on me" meaning "The plane left, and that affected me negatively because I wasn't able to catch it."  But really, analyzing the literal meaning of the phrase is of little practical benefit.  If your interest is communication, all you need to know is that it means "I missed the plane."  Think of it as one of those cases where the subject and object are reversed (another example: "I liked the movie" - عجبني الفيلم). 


sela.urdon said:


> On a related note, I thought فات in fosHa was more used for time passing by rather than an actual train/plane/etc.


 No, you can say فاته القطار in فصحى.  You can even use Form II and make "he" the subject - فَوَّتَ القطار. 





sela.urdon said:


> In dialect, فات is used to mean to enter, right?


 Yes (in Palestinian, anyway).


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## Mahaodeh

فات has a much wider use than راح عليه. The general usage is 'passed' and 'went'. I'm not sure if it was used classically to mean enter, but in some dialects it does have that meaning so there may be an origin in classical usage but I didn't find it in the dictionary.

فات الزمن: time has passed
فات فلان من جانبي: Fulan passed by me
فاتني فلان: he went and left me behind
فاتني الطعام: I missed the food


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## sela.urdon

Thank you, Elroy! And Mahaodeh.


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## Interprete

Mahaodeh said:


> Yes, that is the standard Arabic word. It's also used in some dialects alongside راح عليه.


Thank you. It seems to me that this is also what an Egyptian would say, but I can't remember for sure.


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## Mahaodeh

Yes, Egyptians use it, so do Iraqis, probably others too.

I'm not sure about Egyptian Arabic, but in Iraq it's more common to say راح عليه, I would say it's (my guess) maybe 65% of the time راح عليه and 35% of the time فاته.


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## tounsi51

In TA we would use the verb فات

- فاتني or فاتتني

It can also means, that is beyond me (a technology for example)


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## Hemza

In Morocco, we say مشى عليه or فات عليه and in Southern bedouin dialect, we also say عقب عليه.


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## Mahaodeh

Hmmm, it seems that all the expressions have something to do with 'moving away'.


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## tounsi51

We have an expression in TA, donno if exists elsewhere:

قبل ما يفوت الفوت = before it is too late


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## 3arbiChawi

In algerian arabic   we use both  فات or راح علیه


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## apricots

tounsi51 said:


> We have an expression in TA, donno if exists elsewhere:
> 
> قبل ما يفوت الفوت = before it is too late



This is used in PA. Also, ما فاتش الوقت meaning there's still time left.


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## elroy

I've never heard either of those in PA.


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## apricots

Well, they're both used so...


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