# Levantine Arabic: to show off/a show-off



## Raspberryjam

How would you say: "to show off" in Levantine? 

E.g. 'He's just showing off/bragging'

Or as an adjective: 'He's a big show-off'


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## elroy

Palestinian: بتباهى/بتفشخر/بورجي حالو


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## WannaBFluent

تباهى also exists in Syria, and تفشور which I guess is the equivalent of the Palestinian تفشخر


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## momai

In Syrian:
شايف حالو =مقنزع = arrogant
شايف/بشوف حالو ب = to show off with sth. It can also indicates pride e.g. أنا بشوف حالي ببي Ana bshuf 7aale bbayie.
ببهور = to brag, to boast


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## Tilmeedh

WannaBFluent said:


> تباهى also exists in Syria, and تفشور





momai said:


> شايف/بشوف حالو ب = to show off with sth. It can also indicates pride e.g. أنا بشوف حالي ببي Ana bshuf 7aale bbayie.



Do these examples work?

'He showed off his singing skills at the party yesterday.' (Neutral or negative connotation, depending on the circumstances.)

" تباهى مهاراته للغنا بالحفلة مبارح. "

" تفشور مهاراته للغنا بالحفلة مبارح. "

" شاف حالو بمهاراته للغنا بالحفلة مبارح. "

'He's always showing off his expensive new car by driving it around the neighbourhood really fast.' (Negative connotation, naturally.)

" بيتباهي دايما للجران سيّارته الغالية الجديدة بقيادتها بسرعة كتير حول الحيّ. "

" بيتفشور دايما للجران سيّارته الغالية الجديدة بقيادتها بسرعة كتير حول الحيّ. "

" بيشوف حالو للجران بسيّارته الغالية الجديدة بقيادتها بسرعة كتير حول الحيّ. "

'The new millionaire showed up to the wedding in a huge limousine. He's become such a show-off since winning the lottery.' (Negative connotation, naturally.)

" المليونير الجديد وصل لزفاف العرس هو وكان عم بيسوق  سيّارة ليموزين كبيرة كتير. صار ---- صرلي الزمان اللي ربح فيه يا نصيب. "



momai said:


> In Syrian:
> شايف حالو =مقنزع = arrogant
> ...
> ببهور = to brag, to boast



Are these illustrative examples?

'The politician dealt with the waiter in an arrogant way because he considered him inferior.'

" رجل السياسي تعامل مع الكارسون بشكل شايف حالو لأنّو أعتبرو أصغر. "

" رجل السياسي تعامل مع الكارسون بشكل مقنزع لأنّو أعتبرو أصغر. "

'The lawyer is always bragging about his achievements.'

" المحام بيبهور دايما عن أنجازاته. "


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## momai

Tilmeedh said:


> 'He showed off his singing skills at the party yesterday.' (Neutral or negative connotation, depending on the circumstances.)



شاف حالو مبارح بالحفلة بمهاراتو الغنائية .



> 'He's always showing off his expensive new car by driving it around the neighbourhood really fast.' (Negative connotation, naturally.)


هوي بشوف حالو قال يعني هيك دايما بالمشاوطة حوالا الحارة بسيارتو الجديدة.


> 'The new millionaire showed up to the wedding in a huge limousine. He's become such a show-off since winning the lottery.' (Negative connotation, naturally.)


المليونير الجديد اجا عحفلة العرس بليموزين كبيرة كتير. من لما ربح باليانصيب وهو بحالة شوفة هالحال.


> 'The politician dealt with the waiter in an arrogant way because he considered him inferior.'


السياسي تعامل مع الغارسون بتكبر واستصغار.


> 'The lawyer is always bragging about his achievements.'


المحامي بضل يتبهور بانجازاتو.


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## Tilmeedh

Thanks so much for all your assistance, Momai.

Just a few quick follow-up questions.

1) You didn't use " تباهى " or " تفشور " in any of the sentences. How do they differ from " شاف حالو "?

Also, I presume that " تباهى " is pronounced "tbaaha/tbéha" in past and "byitbaahé/byitbéhé" in present. What about " تفشور "?

2) How is " مقنزع " transliterated and when is it used?

3)



momai said:


> هوي بشوف حالو قال يعني هيك دايما بالمشاوطة حوالا الحارة بسيارتو الجديدة.



How would this be translated literally back into English?


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## analeeh

It's _yitbaaha _and _yitfashkhar/yitfashwar_ (depending on region). I have an idea of how they differ but I'll let a native speaker answer.


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## Hemza

elroy said:


> Palestinian: بتباهى/بتفشخر/بورجي حالو



Sorry off topic but بتفشخر is also the word used in Morocco (and I guess, but I'm not sure, for the rest of the Maghreb the same goes on).


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## momai

Tilmeedh said:


> Thanks so much for all your assistance, Momai.


You're always welcome.


> 1) You didn't use " تباهى " or " تفشور " in any of the sentences. How do they differ from " شاف حالو "?


Well, the answer is very easy. tbaaha is simply an imported MSA word which is used the same way as "shaaf 7aalo".
I personally don't use "تفشور" so I don't know how it's used.


> Also, I presume that " تباهى " is pronounced "tbaaha/tbéha" in past and "byitbaahé/byitbéhé" in present. What about " تفشور "?


It's pronounced with 'aa' in my dialect which makes me assume it's a "recent" loan from MSA (cp. تقاتل tqeetal).
tbaaha: past tense
byitbaaha: present tense


> 2) How is " مقنزع " transliterated and when is it used?


mqanza3. Damascenes use m'anza3 مأنزع ,instead. It is used as an adjective, mostly following the noun directly as in

هادا واحد مقنزع/مأنزع وما بيعجبو شي.



> 3)How would this be translated literally back into English?


I avoided translating your sentence word by word. So translating it back into English would really make no sense.


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## Tilmeedh

momai said:


> mqanza3. Damascenes use m'anza3 مأنزع ,instead. It is used as an adjective, mostly following the noun directly



Hmm, how does this word differ from " مستكبر " 'mustakbir'?

Could 'mqanza3/m2anza3' be translated as 'cocky', by chance?



> as in
> 
> هادا واحد مقنزع/مأنزع وما بيعجبو شي.



"This is someone arrogant and he doesn't like anything"?



> I avoided translating your sentence word by word. So translating it back into English would really make no sense.



Haha, understood.

What does " مشاوطة " 'mshaawaTa' mean by itself? I deduce it's the masdar of a verb " شاوط " 'shaawaT'. WordReference and Almaany appear to lack these terms: are they only colloquial?

Also, a Syrian has told me that " حارة " means 'small street'. Does this word simply have two different major uses?


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## Raspberryjam

momai said:


> هوي بشوف حالو قال يعني هيك دايما بالمشاوطة حوالا الحارة بسيارتو الجديدة.



Just wondering if you could explain what the function of 'qaal ya3ni heek' is here and what the 'bil mashaawaTa Hawalan' means. Thanks!


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## raful

Raspberryjam said:


> How would you say: "to show off" in Levantine?
> 
> E.g. 'He's just showing off/bragging'
> 
> Or as an adjective: 'He's a big show-off'



What about the expression - بتصرّف زي ولاد بيرو ? Would it work here?


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## momai

Tilmeedh said:


> Hmm, how does this word differ from "" 'mustakbir'?
> _mustakbir _is haughty.
> Could 'mqanza3/m2anza3' be translated as 'cocky', by chance?


This is a hard one. I needed to look up the synonyms of arrogant in a dictinary to make a decision. I think _bumptious _is the one that fits best to my understanding of the word.


> "This is someone arrogant and he doesn't like anything"?


Yes.


> What does " مشاوطة " 'mshaawaTa' mean by itself?


شاوط حوالا  ShaawaT 7waala means to drive around. It is probably related to "shawT".



> Also, a Syrian has told me that " حارة " means 'small street'. Does this word simply have two different major uses?


حارة can mean lane not small street (I personally use مسلك for this), but 7aarah usually means a neighbourhood in Syria.



Raspberryjam said:


> Just wondering if you could explain what the function of 'qaal ya3ni heek' is here and what the 'bil mashaawaTa Hawalan' means. Thanks!


It contributes to the negative connotation which Tilmeedh wanted to have.


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## oopqoo

momai said:


> It contributes to the negative connotation which Tilmeedh wanted to have.


What does it actually translate to? If I were to translate your sentence:
هوي بشوف حالو *قال يعني هيك* دايما بالمشاوطة حوالا الحارة بسيارتو الجديدة.
I'd say: "He brags *said like that* always in the driving around the neighborhood in his new car"
In English, the "said like that" seems out of place, so I assume there's a colloquial meaning to it that we're unaware of. What is it then?


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## Mahaodeh

Tilmeedh said:


> Hmm, how does this word differ from " مستكبر " 'mustakbir'?





momai said:


> This is a hard one.


I agree, this is a hard one. Looking up translations in dictionaries, it seems that _bumptious_ can also mean شايف حالو or مغرور. The difference is:
مستكبر = thinks of himself as better than others, and treats others with despise. I'd say, 'arrogant' is a good enough translation.
مغرور = thinks very highly of himself, but does not treat others with despise. I'd say, 'pompous' or 'cocky' is a good translation.


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## apricots

I have never heard bumptious in my life.


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## raful

As far as I know, مستكبر today means "tyrant"


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## Mahaodeh

raful said:


> As far as I know, مستكبر today means "tyrant"



It can be one of the meanings. That's true.


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## Tilmeedh

oopqoo said:


> What does it actually translate to? If I were to translate your sentence:
> هوي بشوف حالو *قال يعني هيك* دايما بالمشاوطة حوالا الحارة بسيارتو الجديدة.
> I'd say: "He brags *said like that* always in the driving around the neighborhood in his new car"
> In English, the "said like that" seems out of place, so I assume there's a colloquial meaning to it that we're unaware of. What is it then?



It's good to know I'm not the only one who finds this expression perplexing 

Maybe a couple more examples containing " قال يعني هيك " would help?

(And perhaps a moderator should split this discussion into a new thread?)



apricots said:


> I have never heard bumptious in my life.



Me neither.

What meaning is intended here? Maybe 'conceited' (one synonym I found)?


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## Mahaodeh

Tilmeedh said:


> Me neither.



Neither have I, but I did find it in a dictionary.


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## WannaBFluent

By the way, I got a question about *tbaaha*. I found an entry in a dictionary that says:

تباهى
تفاخر. *وهم يستعملونها للواحد*

What they mean by _'and they use it once'_ ??


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## Mahaodeh

The translation is "and they use it for the singular".


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## WannaBFluent

Mahaodeh said:


> The translation is "and they use it for the singular".


Oh ok thanks but it's still confusing. It's a verb so of course it can be used in the singular.  I don't get the point.

By the way, I've seen the verb *kišax *'to show off', 'brag', 'be a boaster' used in the Gulf. I don't think it's used in Levantine countries, or maybe it's used in Najdi too, but still I wanted to know where does this verb come from. The only thing I found about the root *k-š-x* in MSA is *kašxaan *'cuckold' (someone who is a matchmaker for his own wife with other men).

I was wondering if it comes from that, and by the way, in France we use the expression 'avoir une chance de cocu' (to have a cuckold's luck) which means 'to be very lucky' so we never know. 

And to conclude, is *k-š-x* root used in Levantine, at least to express 'cuckold' ?


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## apricots

Cuckold in PA is مْقرِّن


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## WannaBFluent

I've seen that mbahwar مبهور which would theorically be the passive participle of بهور which doesn't exist, is used as an active participle of تبهور as its theorical active participle doesn't exist (métbahwer متبهور doesn't exist).

But mbahwar مبهور is continuous or resultative ? translated as (someone) who brags, or (someone) who has bragged ?
Could you illustrate its usage with a simple sentence as an example, it would be nice


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