# Egyptian Arabic: Ya 3mmo يا عمو



## kifaru

I was in Egypt last week and I had many people address me as Ya Ahmu. What does it mean?


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## كلمات

عم means uncle. عمو is slang to address someone you usually know.


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## kifaru

كلمات said:


> عم means uncle. عمو is slang to address someone you usually know.



I knew that it meant uncle but it seemed odd to call a person uncle. Anyone have a cultural context for that? By the way I only heard that when I was with a Sudanese man.


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## cherine

Kifaru, _who_ did address you as 3ammo? It's the common way for younger people to address an older guy with "3ammo"  (or "uncle") and older woman with "tante" طنط .
If they were not younger people using this word, then we need more specific description of the context and maybe a more accurate transcription.


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## suma

I find as Cherine said in many countries it's the most common way for younger folks to respectfully address an adult who they know or don't know. Kind of like saying: Hey Mr.

Maybe in some cultures "Mr" سيد is used formally between peers, but younger people are expected to say _*3ammo*_


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## kifaru

It was hotel staff. People on the street. The people were not much older or younger than me. Even the the cab driver called me that.


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## suma

^Yes in that sense they find  "Mr" سيد  is far too formal, so they use *3ammo*


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## cherine

kifaru said:


> It was hotel staff. People on the street. The people were not much older or younger than me. Even the the cab driver called me that.


This is strange! Are you sure they pronounced it 3ammo? I would certainly expect hotel staff to call a man "ya fandem", definitely not 3ammo.
This is why I asked you to give us a [more] accurate transliteration.


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## kifaru

suma said:


> ^Yes in that sense they find  "Mr" سيد  is far too formal, so they use *3ammo*


Maybe. I am quite sure it was ya, 3ammo. I found it as odd as when I kept hearing cab drivers yelling ya bani adam and honking their horns ay each other.


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## cherine

Ok, one last question please.
You don't have to tell us your age if you don't want to, but are you older (and I mean many years older) than those addressing you with 3ammo? This could be the only possible explanation I can think of, even though I still find it incorrect to be addressed like this by hotel staff. It's not disrespectful at all, but just... not the formal, usual form that I'd expect from them.

But things have changed, and are changing, a lot and so fast these last years.


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## kifaru

I'm a young looking 40. I would say that I was not more than 5 years older or younger than the people who addressed me.


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## cherine

Oh, well then it's certainly one of those new changes in the Egyptians way of speaking.


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## kifaru

Thank you Suma and Cherine.


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## cherine

You're welcome, Kifaru.


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## shafaq

I don't think they are addressing you saying "O uncle !" by using this. .  يا عمّو is the short of something like   يا حبيب عمّه! which means "O dear of his uncle !". Here "uncle" refer to addressing one not to addressee. 
Same way of addressing (and its shorten version as in Arabic counterpart) exists in colloquial Turkish too (as relativity/friendliness indication) and it may be borrowed from Turkish or vice-versa. Mostly, the shorten version is used when one addressing non-relatives and strangers as friendliness show.
Just as an example; In Turkish "Anasının kuzusu !" literally means "Lamb of his/her mummy!" and in colloquial often has been shorten as " Anasının !" which is exact equivalent of  يا أمّه / أمّها ! . Same thing is valid for other "relativity" names (father, uncle, brother etc.)


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## كلمات

cherine said:


> Oh, well then it's certainly one of those new changes in the Egyptians way of speaking.



Well it may be one new way tourists are called by waiters and bazaar vendors.


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## cherine

shafaq said:


> I don't think they are addressing you saying "O uncle !" by using this. . يا عمّو is the short of something like يا حبيب عمّه!


Hi Shafaq,
This is not probable for two reasons:
1- This kind of expressions is only used with children. Kifaru is not that young. 
2- This kind of expressions/structure is used in Levantine (there's at least one previous thread about this) but not in Egypt. A mother doesn't call her son يا ماما or a father call his girl يا بابا like Levantines do.


كلمات said:


> Well it may be one new way tourists are called by waiters and bazaar vendors.


Could be. Maybe other foreigners/tourists who've been to Egypt recently can share their experience about this with us.


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## إسكندراني

Maybe they were saying يا عمّ (ya 3amm)?


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## cherine

I thought about it, but it still has a problem: would you consider it ok for a hotel staff to call you "ya 3amm"?


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## ayed

Cherine!
It may have been said to mean *Uncle Sam *; alluding to _*kifaru *_being from USA?Hence, it was said in short form instead of ياعم سام
This is just a guessing hint.


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## إسكندراني

I don't think 'uncle sam' is used at all in Egypt.
And cherine is right - but maybe it was people close to him? Or maybe there were a lot of Syrians in Egypt by coincidence


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## Tracer

Notice that Kifaru stated that people used  Ya 3mmo *ONLY* when he was with a Sudanese man.  So we can deduce that it was the Sudanese that was being called Ya 3mmo and not Kifaru.

It would be interesting to know what the people called Kifaru when he was NOT with the Sudanese man.

It’s also worth noting that Kifaru originally stated that people called him Ya Ahmu.  To me, anyway, Ya Ahmu and Ya 3mmo are very different.  I don’t see how they could get confused unless the listener knew absolutely no Arabic at all.

Too many ands ifs and  buts to make a definite conclusion here.


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## إسكندراني

Maybe it's Nubian?


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## fdb

I am as mystified by this as everyone else. Could it be that your Sudanese friend is someone significantly younger than yourself? So people were assuming that you are his (metaphorical) uncle?


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## ayed

Usually, it is used to draw one's attention..


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## suma

cherine said:


> ... I would certainly expect hotel staff to call a man "ya fandem", definitely not 3ammo.
> ....



Cherine, don't you think _*ya fandem*_ is a bit old fashioned? I mean do people nowadays in Egypt still say that other than the older folks?


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## إسكندراني

It's not old-fashioned, just formal. And people are formal much more often than in Europe, by the way.


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## kifaru

Very perceptive Tracer. I did however misspeak. I should have said that I only noticed hearing it when I was with a Sudanese man who was somewhat older than me but afterward the staff continuously called me that. I also heard it from a cab driver and a market vendor. I am starting to lean toward Iskanderani's idea since I am quite a bit darker than most of the Egyptians I met and clearly look more "nubian" looking than I suppose the average Cairene person I met but I met many people dark as me dressed in Western dress and I did not hear them called 3ammo.





Tracer said:


> Notice that Kifaru stated that people used  Ya 3mmo *ONLY* when he was with a Sudanese man.  So we can deduce that it was the Sudanese that was being called Ya 3mmo and not Kifaru.
> 
> It would be interesting to know what the people called Kifaru when he was NOT with the Sudanese man.
> 
> It’s also worth noting that Kifaru originally stated that people called him Ya Ahmu.  To me, anyway, Ya Ahmu and Ya 3mmo are very different.  I don’t see how they could get confused unless the listener knew absolutely no Arabic at all.
> 
> Too many ands ifs and  buts to make a definite conclusion here.


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## Kinan

I don't know about Egypt, but in Syria you have to be so many years older to be called 3ammo by another one. 20 years older at least.


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