# Levantine Arabic: فوضوي



## bwac14

Hello,

I was wondering what فوضوية would translate to here:

- شو صاير لعينك؟
- حادث بالبيت بسيط. أنا فوضوية شوي.

The only definitions I can find are _untidy_ and _anarchism_.

Can it also mean _clumsy_? Because that is what would make sense to me here.

Thank you


----------



## WadiH

Usually it means "chaotic" (they also use it as a translation for "anarchism" sometimes but that's very wrong in my view).

I think in this context a good translation would be "disorganized".


----------



## elroy

“clumsy” makes sense to me in this context.  I don’t think “disorganized” fits; being disorganized has nothing to do with being accident-prone.


----------



## WadiH

elroy said:


> “clumsy” makes sense to me in this context.  I don’t think “disorganized” fits; being disorganized has nothing to do with being accident-prone.



If your home is disorganized with stuff lying around all over the place you're more likely to get into accidents.  Of course this would have to be an implicit reading rather than an explicit one, so I understand where you're coming from.  But the word فوضوية just doesn't carry the meaning of "clumsy" in Arabic (but it can mean chaotic or disorganized).


----------



## elroy

I understood the original to mean حركاتي فوضوية.  Now you’re making me second-guess myself!


----------



## WadiH

That's a possibility, I guess.  I just notice from everyday usage that when someone says "أنا فوضوي/فوضوية" they mean they themselves are chaotic or disorderly in general (not that they literally move around willy-nilly in a chaotic fashion).


----------



## Schem

bwac14 said:


> Can it also mean _clumsy_? Because that is what would make sense to me here.



Clumsy or random are appropriate for the context.


----------



## elroy

I don’t see how “random” could fit.


----------



## Schem

العشوائية and الفوضوية are intertwined concepts in modern parlance. In English, describing someone as "random" also often implies a person who is erratic, disorganized, or peculiar enough to be prone to accidents or strange scenarios.


----------



## elroy

Sorry, that’s not what it means in English.  Someone who is random will do or say things that are fantastically surprising or unexpected, with no detectable "rhyme or reason," often in an endearing way.  It's similar to "quirky" or whimsical."  It does not denote or connote being erratic, disorganized, or accident-prone.


----------



## Schem

I take that to mean the same thing. The emotional connotation is just that.


----------



## elroy

No, they are very different things.  You can’t call someone “random” if you mean they are clumsy or accident-prone.


----------



## Schem

I can and I have. 

We've far exceeded nuance into pedantism here.


----------



## elroy

Schem said:


> I can and I have.


 Let me rephrase: you can’t use it that way if you want to use correct English. 


Schem said:


> We've far exceeded nuance into pedantism here.


 This isn’t about nuances or pedantry.  “random” doesn’t work at all in this context.

_- What happened to your eye?
- Oh, just a little accident at home.  I’m a bit random._

makes no sense in English.


----------



## analeeh

Agreed with Elroy. 'Random' means something very different from 'clumsy' in English.


----------



## momai

Where did you find this sentence, if I may ask?


----------



## bwac14

momai said:


> Where did you find this sentence, if I may ask?


It was in a Syrian Arabic dubbing of some Turkish show. So perhaps maybe not the most authentic source . Does it sound unnatural?


----------



## momai

bwac14 said:


> It was in a Syrian Arabic dubbing of some Turkish show. So perhaps maybe not the most authentic source . Does it sound unnatural?


Yes, it does. I would have said انا بنعبط شوي


----------

