# You don't want to do this



## hadronic

Hello, 
Is it possible to say אתה לא רוצה לעשות את זה in Hebrew in the meaning of "you should rather not / you must not"? 

Thx!


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## Drink

I would have thought it would be better to say לא כדאי לך לעשות את זה, but let's wait for the natives.


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## hadronic

I would rather translate the English expression along the lines of לא רצוי (it's not advisable, I warn you against... because it harms). לא כדאי would be more like "it's not worthwhile" (but it doesn't harm).


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## hadronic

I'm wrong, I found "לא כדאי לך להשתמש בביטוי הזה". I had always thought לא כדאי was like לא שווה. Thx for the info.

Adding to my first question : if אתה לא רוצה לעשות את זה is possible, does it feel like an anglicism / a barbaric youngster's slang, or does it feel like "normal"?


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## Drink

I think the best way to express כדאי in English is "it's a good idea".


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## amikama

hadronic said:


> Is it possible to say אתה לא רוצה לעשות את זה in Hebrew in the meaning of "you should rather not / you must not"?


In colloquial Hebrew, yes.
אתה לא רוצה לעשות את זה. = אתה יכול לעשות את זה, אבל ממש ממש לא כדאי לך לעשות את זה.


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## hadronic

Thank you. Does it sound like an anglicism like זה מרגיש טוב?


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## ismiv

hadronic said:


> Thank you. Does it sound like an anglicism like זה מרגיש טוב?


To me it does, but it's really a matter of taste, and how long it's been used. I'm afraid anglicism isn't so frowned upon in Israel. 

Another way to say אתה לא רוצה לעשות את זה is "לא מומלץ".

If you want to say it in a threatening way, say
חבל...  (similar to: "It'd be a real a shame if somebody's store caught fire now wouldn't it? "

hope that's clear enough.


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## bazq

Feels like an anglicism 100% for sure, but very common in colloquial Hebrew. 
Doesn't matter really. American English is "prestige" in Israel, it gets total free pass in today's Modern Hebrew, much to the dismay of some people. The worst example: "makes sense" = "עושה שכל". I mean, come on.......


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## hadronic

Does עושה היגיון feel better?


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## bazq

עושה הגיון does not feel better because עושה שכל is a set expression, then again, עושה שכל doesn't sound better to me either. 
I first encountered this idiom on my first year at the university, prior to that I hadn't heard about it in all my 22 years on this earth.
I still don't find it sensible, and it just sounds odd. But apparently it's a thing... I don't use it, and never will. I just use הגיוני. 
You can paraphrase it and say: הופך הגיוני יותר (for something like: "it makes more sense") or something like that, but again, to me הגיוני is much more natural.


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