# מה פתאום



## Ali Smith

Shalom, what does פתאום mean?

סבא, סבתה, שלום! סוף-סוף באתם! חיכינו לכם!

איה, יעל! כמה גדלת! את נראית מצוין! שלום לכולכם! מה שלומכם? מה שלום כל המשפחה?

אצלנו הכל בסדר. ואצלכם? איך עברה הנסיעה? גם אתם נראים טוב. קצת עיפים?

לא, מה פתאום? היה לנו הרבה זמן לנוח במטוס; ארבע שעות...

Thanks in advance!


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## slus

פתאום means suddenly but
מה פתאום is an expression meaning something like "no way".


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## Abaye

Notice that (the non-existing) root פתא of פתאום is most likely a variant (under foreign influence) of root פתע which gives us the word לפתע with same meaning as פתאום, and specifically the expression לפתע פתאום "very suddenly" with intentional redundancy as a mean of emphasis.

Also here: פתע ופתאום - האקדמיה ללשון העברית


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## Ali Smith

Thanks!
If לא פתאום means “no way”, why is there a question mark after it?


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## Drink

Abaye said:


> Notice that (the non-existing) root פתא of פתאום is most likely a variant (under foreign influence) of root פתע which gives us the word לפתע with same meaning as פתאום, and specifically the expression לפתע פתאום "very suddenly" with intentional redundancy as a mean of emphasis.
> 
> Also here: פתע ופתאום - האקדמיה ללשון העברית


It's not necessary to conjecture foreign influence. There are other roots where the א and ע alternate that are certainly not foreign, such as אכל and עכל. The theories I've seen conjecture that the ע intensifies the meaning.


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## rosemarino

מה פתאום is an idiomatic expression that is used frequently in conversation by Israelis.  It seems to me that it is used in contexts where English speakers might say, no way, are you kidding?, what on earth?

As in are you kidding? and what on earth?, the question is rhetorical.

Abbaye provides a good explanation of its usage in this thread:
don't tell me that (disturbing possibility/realization) :

אל תגיד לי is when you hope that something hasn't happened.
מה פתאום is when you think that something hasn't happened or is an unlikely event.
באמש'ך is when you need approval (or challenge someone to affirm) that something has happened.

Examples:
אל תגיד לי שמכבי שוב הפסידה?!
מה פתאום מכבי הפסידה? היא קלעה סל בשנייה האחרונה!
מכבי הפסידה לקבוצה הבולגרית? באמש'ך?


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## Abaye

Drink said:


> It's not necessary to conjecture foreign influence.


I referred to the article by The Academy, they write about probable Akkadian involvement. Maybe "foreign influence" wasn't the best wording as we deal with possible borrowing, not influence on existing word.


> באכדית מתועדת המילה pittima במשמעות 'פתאום', ואפשר שמקורה בשורש פת"ע. המילה העברית פתאום היא ככל הנראה תוצאה של שאילה מן האכדית.


פתע ופתאום - האקדמיה ללשון העברית


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## Ali Smith

How would you translate it in the following context?

אבא, אתה כועס עלי מפני שאני שואל אותך הרבה שאלות?
לא, יוסי, מה פתאום? רק מי ששואל שאלות לומד.

My translation: Dad, are you getting angry with me because I'm asking you lots of questions?
No, Yosi, are you kidding? Only he who asks questions learns.


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## Drink

Not exactly. An English speaker might say here "What do you mean?" But actual intended meaning is more like "Where did you get such an idea?" or "Why would you think that?"


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