# شر البلية ما يضحك



## xebonyx

هل بامكان أحدكم أن يشرح لي هذا معنى مثل عربي؟ حصلت ردود مختلطة عليه. هل يعني عليك أن تضحك عندما تتحدث مواقف سيئة؟
هل يمكنكم التوفير مثال؟​ 
Can someone explain this phrase to me? I've gotten different responses. Does it basically mean "learn to laugh at horrible misfortune" / "when horrible misfortune comes laugh at it" ?

Thanks!


----------



## Mahaodeh

No, it doesn't mean you have to laugh at all, it just means that sometimes great desasters happen in a funny way, not that you would be laughing, just that you would be surprised at it. Generally, if it happend in a movie you would laugh but in real life, funny as it is, the desaster prevents you from actually laughing.

These are examples of such funny desasters:
http://majdah.maktoob.com/vb/majdah19319/
http://vb.arabseyes.com/t26532.html


----------



## suma

xebonyx said:


> هل بامكان أحدكم أن يشرح لي هذا معنى مثل عربي؟ حصلت ردود مختلطة عليه. هل يعني عليك أن تضحك عندما تتحدث مواقف سيئة؟​
> 
> 
> هل يمكنكم التوفير مثال؟​
> can someone explain this phrase to me? I've gotten different responses. Does it basically mean "learn to laugh at horrible misfortune" / "when horrible misfortune comes laugh at it" ?
> 
> Thanks!


 
هل بإمكان أحدكم أن يشرح لي معنى هذا المثل العربي؟ حصلت علي ردود مختلفة. هل يعني (هل المعنى) أن​also it's   البلية  not   ألبلية​


----------



## xebonyx

suma said:


> هل بإمكان أحدكم أن يشرح لي معنى هذا المثل العربي؟ حصلت علي ردود مختلفة. هل يعني (هل المعنى) أن​


 
suma


----------



## WadiH

Sometimes you would see something so ridiculously wrong or unfortunate that it causes you to laugh at the irony (not because you're amused but more out of bitterness or frustration).  If someone resents your laughter you could explain yourself by saying "my friend, the worst kind of calamity is that which makes one laugh," i.e. شر البلية ما يضحك.


----------



## djamal 2008

في هذا الحال تكون ما الزائدة إذا؟


----------



## londonmasri

I often people saying 'well, you can either laugh or cry (about it)'. When it's gotten so bad, you can only laugh...


----------



## Mahaodeh

londonmasri said:


> I often people saying 'well, you can either laugh or cry (about it)'. When it's gotten so bad, you can only laugh...


 
No, that is not the point; it's sort of what you call المضحك المبكي; Wadi mentioned the word I missed: it's the "ironey" that makes you laugh, not that you are amused.



djamal 2008 said:


> في هذا الحال تكون ما الزائدة إذا؟


 
لا، الما تؤثر على المعنى كثيرا: قولك "شرُّ البلية ما يُضحكُ" يعنى: شرّ البلية الذي يضحك (ما هنا بمعنى الذي)، لا أعرف كيف أشرح لك الفرق ولكنني أراه واضحا


----------



## xebonyx

Ok, I get it. It's kind of like a laugh of exasperation: "Haha (are you kidding me? This is happening again?)"


----------



## WadiH

xebonyx said:


> Ok, I get it. It's kind of like a laugh of exasperation: "Haha (are you kidding me? This is happening again?)"



Bingo.


----------



## Matat

Is it يُضْحِكُ or يُضَحِّكُ?



djamal 2008 said:


> في هذا الحال تكون ما الزائدة إذا؟


لا، إنها ما الموصولة.


----------



## elroy

Matat said:


> Is it يُضْحِكُ or يُضَحِّكُ?


 I think it's يُضْحِكُ.


----------



## Matat

elroy said:


> I think it's يُضْحِكُ.



Thank you!


----------



## HotIcyDonut

Is the intended meaning "So terrible it makes you laugh" (when the situation is f*cked up for you, but you still laugh at this worst time, a psychological defense mechanism), or maybe "so bad it's actually good" (like when, for example, you watch bad horror movies, with much trash so dire and stupid they're actually amusing )?

شكراً مقدماً.


----------



## djara

A possible translation: What is most woeful is what makes (people/you) laugh
What you may think is a laughing matter is actually the worst predicament.


----------



## cherine

djara said:


> A possible translation: What is most woeful is what makes (people/you) laugh
> What you may think is a laughing matter is actually the worst predicament.


I think it's the other way round: sometimes a situations happens when things are so bad you just burst out laughing, not necessarily as a defense mechanism, maybe because it's so bad it's surreal and you can't believe it and you just laugh.


----------



## elroy

In English we say, “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.”

don't know whether to laugh or to cry


----------



## djara

cherine said:


> I think it's the other way round


Would it be possible to know how the syntax of the sentence makes you reach that meaning? I'm not saying that your reading is wrong. I sincerely wish to know how it works.


----------



## elroy

شر البلية هو ما يضحك، أي أن شر البلية هو ما يدعو للضحك. إذا رآك أحد تضحك إثر مصيبة وسألك لماذا تضحك، ستقول له شر البلية ما يضحك، أي أن ما يضحكني هو شر البلية. شر البلية عظيم لدرجة أنه يضحكني.


----------



## cherine

Yes, that's how I read it too. It's like خير البلاد بلادي، خير رفيق في الزمان كتاب، شر الناس ذو الوجهين...etc.
The best/worst xyz is so and so.


----------



## djara

cherine said:


> It's like خير البلاد بلادي، خير رفيق في الزمان كتاب، شر الناس ذو الوجهين...etc.


Thanks. But what do you make of the ما in the original? 


elroy said:


> أي أن شر البلية هو ما يدعو للضحك


Isn't that what I said in " What is most woeful is what makes (people/you) laugh "?


----------



## cherine

djara said:


> what do you make of the ما in the original?


It's a حرف صلة, no? If we take the other examples again, we can say:
شر الناس مَن له وجهان، خير البلاد التي أعيش فيها، خير رفيق في الزمان ما تقرأه من كتب مفيدة


> Isn't that what I said in " What is most woeful is what makes (people/you) laugh "?


Maybe we're just mis-understanding our understandings.


----------



## elroy

I don’t understand شر as a superlative.  

I understand the sentence as:

_The gravity of the adversity is what calls for laughter  (the reason one might laugh)._

يعني بالعامي، البلية من كتر ما هي عويصة، بتضحّك


----------



## cherine

elroy said:


> يعني بالعامي، البلية من كتر ما هي عويصة،


Exactly, this من كتر ما is what makes it a superlative. To my understanding anyway.
It's like the saying الحاجة إذا زادت عن حدّها اتقلبت ضدها when something is too much/beyond its limit, it turns into its opposite.


----------



## elroy

Oh, I thought you meant شر البلية = “the worst adversity.”  I must have misunderstood you.


----------



## cherine

But it does mean that. شر البلية، أسوأ بلية، أشدّ بلية.
I think we're all having a major communication problem today


----------



## djara

elroy said:


> من كتر ما هي عويصة، بتضحّك


We have a Tunisian saying كُثْر الهم يضَحِّك


----------

