# חבל על הזמן



## cfu507

חבל על הזמן means a waste of time in English. But in Hebrew we say it also as a slang for "I had a great time!" or "it was great!". We even gave it the acronyms "חבל"ז". Is there an equivalent expression for the positive חבל על הזמן in English?

Your friend: "how was your trip?"
Your answer would be: "..........."


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## elroy

Is there anything that חבל על הזמן (used with a positive meaning) expresses that you don't think "I had a great time" expresses?

Or are you looking for an English expression that's used ironically in the same way?  If so, I'm afraid I can't think of an expression that literally means that something was a waste of time but is actually used to mean that it was very enjoyable.


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## cfu507

Saying חבל על הזמן is not an ironic expression, it just has two meanings.
How would you say that something you have done, a trip for example, was very enjoyable? Is there any general expression or slang for that?


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## elroy

cfu507 said:


> Saying חבל על הזמן is not an ironic expression, it just has two meanings.


 Indeed it does, but isn't one of those meanings ironic?

Dictionary.com lists the following as the first definition of _irony_: 





> the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning: the irony of her reply, “How nice!” when I said I had to work all weekend.


 The literal meanings of חבל are all negative. From Morfix: 





> pity, not worth it ; it's a pity that .... ; alas!, woe! ; it's a pity ; (colloquial) it's unfortunate, bad luck


 Therefore, using it with a positive meaning is ironic. 


			
				cfu507 said:
			
		

> How would you say that something you have done, a trip for example, was very enjoyable? Is there any general expression or slang for that?


 You could say "I had a blast!".

Other expressions:

_I had a fabulous time!_
_I enjoyed every minute of it!_
_It was awesome/wonderful/great/fantastic/terrific!_
_It rocked!_


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## TalK

cfu507 said:


> Saying חבל על הזמן is not an ironic expression, it just has two meanings.
> How would you say that something you have done, a trip for example, was very enjoyable? Is there any general expression or slang for that?



There isn't really a general expression or slang in American English that's equivalent to Hebrew expressions like "chaval al hazman," "sof haderech," or "lapanim." You could say "my trip was amazing" or "my trip was awesome," which isn't slang, but you could also say "my trip was f*ckin(g) amazing" or "my trip was f*ckin(g) awesome" to really emphasize that it was chaval al hazman. 
Some people my age might say "it was sick," but it all depends on who you are.
Other people, mostly of urban culture, might say things like "it was off the hook" or "it was off the chain," but it would most likely sound weird coming from an Israeli.


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## david314

The only saying that comes to mind is the east coast (Tony Soprano) expression: _Forget about it! _


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## Aoyama

The point here is that חבל על הזמן has a positive meaning whereas, as Elroy rightly states 





> The literal meanings of חבל are all negative


.
It is a classic example of an expression distorted to express the opposite of its original meaning.
Many examples can be found, like the French *terrible* (c'est terrible) meaning here great, _awesome _(same change of meaning in English) or even the Japanese *sugoi* (frightening, terrible but also meaning *super*).
So חבל על הזמן would then mean *what a waste of time* // *what a great time that was/I had* .../ I had a hell of a time


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## cfu507

Would you say that "I had a hell of a time" is ironic?


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## Aoyama

"A hell of ..." can both be positive or negative, rather than ironic.
 "I had a hell of a time"  would then mean : I had a bad time or a good time, which would in a way be close to the Hebrew *חבל על הזמן* which could also very well mean its original word to word meaning (depending on context) : what /it's a waste of time, it's not worth the trouble ...


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