When learning a language, it’s important to go beyond basic vocabulary study (as important as that may be by itself) and challenge yourself to think and interact with your surroundings in the way that natives do.
With learning Hebrew, it’s no different. A colorful and vibrant language, Hebrew can be very tricky to grasp if you don’t know how to tune into its wavelength. Like any other, it’s a tongue with its own, quirky sense of humor and its own unique outlooks on life.
You can try to get a grasp of how to “think in Hebrew” by studying and practicing some common Hebrew idioms, the kind that natives use all the time on an average day!
Understanding and recognizing these figures of speech will also give you an advantage in listening comprehension and make following the plot of your favorite Israeli TV shows or podcasts much easier!
Let’s take a look at a few of the most crucial Hebrew idioms worth knowing!
1. מטבע לשון
Literal translation: A coin of the tongue
To kick off our list, what better choice of idiomatic Hebrew expression to pick than one which literally means “idiom”!
That’s right, מטבע לשון, as odd as it may seem literally translated, is what Hebrew speakers call any kind of elaborate, poetic, or abstract expression that communicates a certain meaning in daily speech.
There are alternative, more straightforward terms you can use as well – ניב and ביטוי are the most common, and they approximately translate to simply “expression”, though the former can also be “dialect”.
2. על הפנים
Literal translation: On the face
Huh, what’s on my face? If that’s your reaction to על הפנים, you haven’t tuned into the Hebrew frequency yet!
If a friend tells you that the food at the place they told you about last week was really on the face, they’re not stopping themselves mid-sentence to point out a little splotch of tomato sauce on your cheek. Rather, they are saying that the food was really not it, as in, underwhelming.
The expression על הפנים can also be used to talk about how someone’s feeling – usually, it implies they’re sad, disappointed, or dejected in some way.
3. למצוא חן בעיני
Literal translation: To find charm in the eyes of
This sounds to a foreign ear like a quite lofty expression, not something that would likely be used in day-to-day speech. But alas, למצוא חן בעיני is actually one of the most widespread ways to say “to like something” in Hebrew.
This is partly because the simple one-word way, לאהוב, also means to love, to adore, to absolutely admire!
So when you want to draw a line and just casually let someone know that you are a fan of something – whether that’s a certain color, a band, a piece of music, or who knows what else – then you better say that it finds charm in your eyes!
4. מה אני, עז?
Literal translation: What am I, a goat?
If you feel like other people are taking advantage of you, belittling you or your abilities, it may be time to step up and say, “What do you think I am, a goat?”
Well, at least in Hebrew, that’s a perfectly valid response to such a circumstance.
The poor goat in this context is most likely related to the concept of a scapegoat (which itself stems from a Hebrew, specifically a Tanakhic idiom), meaning someone who is used without proper reason as a punching bag by others and blamed for wrongdoing.
5. לחיות בסרט
Literal translation: To live in a movie
Who hasn’t daydreamt at some point about living the life of a famous movie star?
Clearly, the Hebrew language is no stranger to the idea of the glamor and the glitz – but watch out, because this phrase probably doesn’t actually say what you might think!
To “live in a movie” in Hebrew doesn’t mean to lead the kind of lavish, exceptional lifestyle that a Clark Gable or a Grace Kelly would envy.
In fact, it’s not a nice thing to say about someone at all!
Rather, לחיות בסרט is used to talk about someone who has no idea how far-fetched and lofty their words sound, making up tall tales and sticking to unrealistic goals against all reason.
In English, you might say that kind of person has their head in the clouds – in Hebrew, they’re living inside a movie!
6. דווקא
Literal translation: untranslatable
This is a tough one. In my estimation, דווקא appears at least once in about every third average Hebrew sentence in daily conversation – and yet, I have not managed to find any one-line definition or translation of the word that really expresses what it means to native speakers.
I find it the easiest to show by means of example. Have a look at the little dialogue here:
קנית את השמלה השחורה? חשבתי שלא מצאה חן בעיניך…
על מה את מדברת? דווקא שחור הוא הצבע האהוב עלי!
Note the use of למצוא חן בעיני – a very common context for that one here!
If we take a look at the dialogue, the first line is easy to translate. It says, “You bought the black dress? I thought you didn’t like it so much (it didn’t find charm in your eyes).”
Then, the second line is something like, “What are you talking about? Precisely black (as in, especially black, none other than black) is my favorite color!”
You can see how דווקא is used to lend some kind of extra intensity to the statement. If you say that דווקא זה is so-and-so, the implication is: Of course that one! Why would you think otherwise?
This can also be used to justify a person’s actions.
Why did you do X? Surely not because of Y? דווקא for that reason, and no other!
7. שטויות במיץ עגבניות
Literal translation: nonsense in tomato juice
When you can’t make sense of what something or someone is saying or doing in Hebrew, you can call it שטות. If it’s really absolute malarkey, hogwash, poppycock, total nonsense, then you use the plural form – שטויות.
And if you absolutely need a superlative, and one that rhymes to boot, if you really wish to underline just how absolutely silly, nonsensical, and utterly ridiculous whatever it is that is so offending your sensibilities, then that would be שטויות במיץ עגבניות – lots and lots of “nonsenses” in tomato juice!
8. נו?
Literal translation: untranslatable
An import from Yiddish, נו is one of the most versatile words in the Hebrew language, a close second behind דווקא if you ask me. Simply put, it’s used to ask someone to spill the beans, as we would say in English.
If a person is hesitating to say what they want to say, or simply taking too long to answer or do what is asked of them, then an appropriate (and highly common) way to encourage them is to simply ask them: ?נו
Feel free to repeat your נו and add further question marks to intensify the meaning!
9. אחרי החגים
Literal translation: After the festivities / After the holidays
This Hebrew idiom has its roots in Tishrei, one of the months of the Hebrew calendar. Most of Tishrei, especially the first half, is jam-packed full of minor and major holidays, including the Jewish New Year.
Because of that, it became a very common thing over the centuries to say that you are going to commit to your plans and resolutions “after the holidays”.
This stuck, and אחרי החגים became a general phrase to use when you want to… preliminarily postpone something.
10. חבל על הזמן
Literal translation: What a shame about the time
This has got to be one of the notoriously most confusing phrases in the Hebrew language for foreign learners. The literal translation of חבל על הזמן would imply that it communicates disappointment, but actually, it’s more like the opposite.
To say that it was “a shame about the time” is to say you enjoyed yourself to no end in Hebrew!
כמה נהדרת היתה המסיבה אמש! חבל על הזמן!
Translation: “How wonderful last night’s party was! Such a shame about the time!”
11. כרעם ביום בהיר
Literal translation: Like thunder on a bright day
If the sun’s out and the skies are clear, you’re probably not going to expect much rain on a morning walk, right? What about a roaring thunderstorm?
The ensuing shock of witnessing something so unbelievable and unlikely is exactly what כרעם ביום בהיר signifies. In English, we have a grammatically different but logically similar expression: we can say someone was thunderstruck by a surprising revelation or event!
12. מה, מי מת? למה, מי מת?
Literal translation: What, who died? Alternatively: Why, who died?
This Hebrew expression is a bit macabre, but it remains extremely widespread and is worth knowing for learners. Basically, to ask “who died” is to tell someone they are overreacting.
Whether it’s just a long face and you don’t know why, or whether your friend has been telling you for the past 15 minutes about how this one interview is going to be the death of them, it may be the point to ask: what is it, who died?
That is, if you’re speaking in Hebrew at least.
13. ציפור הנפש
Literal translation: Bird of the soul
This is one of my personal favorites. To say that something is “the bird of the soul” of somebody or someone is to say that this particular detail is the most important, the most valuable, or the most precious.
Usually, the idiom is used in reference to a person and their individual ציפור הנפש, the thing that matters to them most.
As for the origins of the phrase, it remains a bit of a mystery. Rabbinical literature already wrote about ציפורי נשפ in the Babylonian Talmud period, but how exactly the term was coined is not for certain. It must have emerged from the mind of quite a writer, that’s for sure!
14. לשון סגי נהור
Literal translation: A tongue with much light
This is not a phrase you will hear so often in daily speech (mostly in literature and poetry), but I had to include it just for how cool it is.
To have “a tongue of much light” may be a bit confusing, until you realize that the Aramaic term סגי נהור can mean “blind” and that the Hebrew לשון can mean “language” (also in the abstract sense, as in “formal language”).
Hence, לשון סגי נהור refers to “blind language”:
Something that means the opposite of what it seems to communicate at first glance.
To understand something someone is saying in לשון סגי נהור, you need to be “blind” yourself and judge the words by their inner meaning instead of their outer appearance.
Such expressions can crop up in many contexts, but the most common ones that you will hear described as לשון סגי נהור are sarcasm and euphemisms.
15. תוהו ובוהו
Literal translation: Untranslatable
This is among the oldest common Hebrew idioms still in use today. Appearing as early as the first page of the Tanakh, תוהו ובוהו is an expression of absolute chaos, of everything being out of order and upside-down.
You might use תוהו ובוהו to describe anything from your neighbor’s messy apartment to the unbelievable traffic you experience during your morning commute – the possibilities are endless!
16. שקר אין לו רגליים
Literal translation: A lie doesn’t have legs
Similar, parallel idioms to this one exist in many languages of the world, so it’s hard tracking down where Hebrew got שקר אין לו רגליים from exactly.
However, the meaning is clear: a lie “can’t run far” without legs, i.e. soon enough it will be found out and the truth will win over the lie. This is a common Hebrew idiom to use when suspecting someone is being less than honest.
17. איזה קטע!
Literal translation: Untranslatable
This is another phrase that often gives foreign learners a bit of a headache in trying to understand it. איזה קטע can be heard in almost every register of spoken Hebrew and in just about any context imaginable, so it can be very hard to narrow down what it means exactly.
Furthermore, literal translation is very difficult as קטע can mean a bunch of different things – including “thing”, literally! In practical usage, however, the phrase most often signifies a meaning similar to, “Oh wow, really?” or “Who would have thought?”
This idiom can also be used in other ways (told you this one can give people headaches), but most contexts of איזה קטע do express some kind of amazement, surprise, or lucky turn of events.
18. סיפורי סבתא
Literal translation: Grandma’s tales
In less-than-polite English, you might still hear people calling far-flung, exaggerated stories “old wives’ tales”. In Hebrew, the equivalent is סיפורי סבתא, grandma’s tales!
For what it’s worth, at least the Hebrew version is considered much less offensive and more of a harmless phrase nowadays. Whether that’s a testament to the thick skin of Jewish grandmothers or something else, I’ll let you decide!
19. תתחדש/י!
Literal translation: Rejuvenate! Renew yourself!
In Hebrew, להתחדש means to renew oneself. The word is used in that literal context sometimes, such as in the term מהדורה מחודשת, “revised (renewed) edition” of a book or such.
However, telling someone תתחדש or תתחדשי (masculine and feminine singular imperative, respectively) doesn’t ask them to throw away their belongings, change their name, and assume a new identity.
Quite the opposite – this Hebrew idiom is used when congratulating someone on a new purchase, most commonly things like nice clothes, a new car, or jewelry and accessories.
The origins of the idiom are disputed, but there are some clues.
Some say that the phrase originally was not meant to be put in the second, but in the third person. In other words, תתחדש would have referred to the item that the person in question received – wishing it to “renew itself” would have been equivalent to “may it last you forever!”.
20. לעזאזל עם זה!
Literal translation: To Azazel with this!
If you’re getting really frustrated with an annoying task, you might blurt out in frustration, “to Hell with this!”.
The Hebrew phrase לעזאזל works very similarly – but where and what is Azazel?
Like תוהו ובוהו, the origins of this idiom lie in the Tanakh.
In one story, the Hebrews are instructed to send a young goat “to Azazel” as part of the ritual for Yom Kippur. Yes, that is the aforementioned origin of the term “scapegoat” in English and many other languages!
However, because of the passage’s wording, it is very unclear just what that means.
Some think Azazel is some kind of spirit – a שד in Jewish mythology – and the goat was meant as a sacrificial offering. Others believe Azazel was an actual, geographic place, whereas yet others interpret it as some kind of spirit realm beyond the material world.
In any case, the goat sent to Azazel would never return. Hence, the general meaning of calling for something to “go to Azazel” became something like “to Hell with it” or “damn it”.
Conclusion
I hope you had some fun reading through the widespread Hebrew idioms! Which ones were your favorites, and which ones were you already familiar with? Let us know in the comments down below!
If you feel like it, you may also explore our equally fascinating lists of classic Hebrew proverbs.
What is the Hebrew idiom for our English word ‘stingy’ and how would you pronounce that word in English?