# All dialects: مش فاضي أحك راسي



## elroy

Hello!

In Palestinian Arabic, the expression مش فاضي أحك راسي (literally, "I don't have enough time to scratch my head") is a hyperbolic expression that means "I'm very busy."

Is this expression used in your dialect?  If not, do you have an equivalent expression?

Thanks!


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## cherine

We have it in Egyptian Arabic, but we don't say أحك راسي, we say أَهْرُش.
We say مش فاضي/فاضية اهْرُش


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## elroy

What does أَهْرُش mean?


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## cherine

It means: scratch (my head). We don't need to add راسي because the meaning is clear and the verb is usually used with this meaning anyway, and also with the meaning of scratching one's skin when it's itchy.


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## momai

The same expression exists in Syria,too.


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## Ectab

In Iraqi Arabic we say: ما عندي وكت احك راسي
Lit: I don't have time to scratch my head.


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## barkoosh

Also مش فاضي حك راسي in Lebanon.


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## Eman5

cherine said:


> We have it in Egyptian Arabic, but we don't say أحك راسي, we say أَهْرُش.
> We say مش فاضي/فاضية اهْرُش


But cherine, I hear both words.


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## cherine

You mean أحك راسي? Could you please specify where in Egypt did you hear it? That would be interesting to know.


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## Eman5

In sohag أحك is used more than أهرش.and we say مش فاضي / فاضية أحك( ف)راسي to mean that we are very busy.and I think that it is used in the other governorates of upper Egypt. 
I usually hear أهرش with the meaning of scratching one's skin when it is itchy.


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## I.K.S.

I would say :ما عنديش الوقت فين نحك راسي


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## cherine

Eman5 said:


> In sohag أحك is used more than أهرش.and we say مش فاضي / فاضية أحك( ف)راسي to mean that we are very busy.and I think that it is used in the other governorates of upper Egypt.


Very interesting! Thank you, Eman. This isn't the first time I notice similar features between Sa3idi and Palestinian Arabic.


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## Hemza

إتحادية قبائل الشاوية said:


> I would say :ما عنديش الوقت فين نحك راسي



In حسانية:
ما عندي وقت باش نحك راسي (but I don't know if it's idiomatic).


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## eskandar

Is some form of this expression used in fuS7a? Any literary examples? The same exact expression is used in Persian and Urdu, so I wonder if they might have borrowed it from Arabic - or perhaps just a coincidence.


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## elroy

eskandar said:


> Is some form of this expression used in fuS7a? Any literary examples?





eskandar said:


> The same exact expression is used in Persian and Urdu, so I wonder if they might have borrowed it from Arabic


 I don't know if you intended to imply there was a relation between these two, but just in case, there isn't.  Whether or not the expression is used in non-colloquial Arabic is irrelevant to the question of whether Persian and/or Urdu borrowed it from Arabic, as it could very well have been borrowed from colloquial Arabic. 

The reason Spanish has, for example, _aceite _and _aceituna _- and not *_alceite_ or *_alceituna_ - is that these words were most likely borrowed through spoken Arabic, not written Arabic.


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## eskandar

I don't want to get too off-topic but there is indeed a relation and the situation of Persian and Urdu is quite unlike Spanish. Arab rule over Iran was brief and limited and there are almost no loanwords in Persian from spoken (as opposed to written) Arabic other than extremely recent ones (eg. chafiyeh from Iraqi Arabic).


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## Schem

The same meaning in Najdi/Gassimi Arabic can be expressed with the format عساي followed by a generally petty or minuscule action. So, in this instance, it would be عساي احك راسي (sarcastically implying the speaker wishes they had the time to scratch their head) and outside of this example the possibilities with the format are potentially limitless.


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## cherine

eskandar said:


> Is some form of this expression used in fuS7a? Any literary examples? The same exact expression is used in Persian and Urdu, so I wonder if they might have borrowed it from Arabic - or perhaps just a coincidence.


I don't remember encountring this in fuS7a. Could it borrowed from another language?


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## eskandar

Doubtful. I'd probably chalk it up to coincidence if it's not from Arabic.


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