“I was SO stuck!”
Does this sound familiar?
If so, you’re either a Heblish-speaker or – more likely – the parent of one.
Originally, I was going to include this expression in my next excerpt from the Official Our Shiputzim Heblish-English Dictionary (the most recent edition is available here).
However, upon reflection, I decided that the term really deserves its own post. After all, it’s apparently extremely popular among the teenager set. And besides, I haven’t quite figured out a good English definition…
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
You see, the Hebrew source for “being stuck” is תקוע (taku’a – literally, stuck).
The phrase refers to that uncomfortable feeling of being awkwardly and self-consciously out-of-place.
Needless to say, teenagers feel this way fairly often.
But even adults can “be stuck” – like when one is invited to a party where one knows no one but the host.
Yet, how does one translate this into English? Is there a single word which best describes this all-too-common sensation? Please leave your suggestions in the comment section.
But in the meantime, I guess we’re all, well, stuck with the Heblish…
you've finally seen the light.
ReplyDeleteSPYYMZ
Hi, SPYYMZ! Nice to hear from you.
ReplyDeleteWhen does Y(1)'s keytanah end?
Wow! I too have a running list of fun things my kids say that I wouldn't expect anyone else to understand. They include, among others:
ReplyDelete- (when they were younger, and we were going out)- Who's going to save on us?
-I'm not regular to that
-to show you something?
-these stuff (instead of these things)
-one one (instead of one at a time)
-for my good luck... (lemazali hatov - this is the most absurd, in my mind)
Oh, thanks for giving me a forum to share!
Thanks to your posts I am getting quite knowledgeable about Heblish.
ReplyDeleteToby - Thanks for sharing that great list. I especially like the "אני לא רגיל לזה" example.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, many of your amusing signs look like they were written by a Heblish speaker... and not a very fluent one at that!
:-)
Ilana-Davita - Maybe we should think about working together on a Heblish-French dictionary...
:-)