By means of providing you with a bit of Yemeni cultural immersion in whatever country you currently find yourself in, here are a few words or phrases that you hear all the time, every day fii al-Yemen. Feel free to incorporate these into your everyday language if you feel like having a little fun.
"Ma-Sha-Allah" (pronounced "mashallah) - most typically used as an exclamation over something beautiful or impressive. Also the closest thing to a "pick up line" used by men on the street, lol.
"Ham-Dil-Allah" (pronounced all together - hamdilallah) - literal meaning, Praise God. Used in greetings, passing by someone, when someone asks how you are doing, and then wherever else appropriate. "How is the food?" "Edible." "Hamdilallah!"
"In-Sha-Allah" (pronounced inshallah) - literal meaning, "If God Wills." Used as both a way of acknowledging that things will only happen in accordance to God's will and as a perfectly acceptable excuse to everything. "You said my clothes would be done today." "They shall be done tomorrow inshallah." Tomorrow, nafs-a-shay
"Nafs-a-shay" - the same thing.
"Mumtez!" - excellent/good.
"Laissa Jay-id" - not good.
"Yalla!" - let's go
"Al-An" - now
And perhaps the most overused word ever in human history:
"Mumkin" - literal translation, "It is possible." Used more in the American way of using the word "maybe," you hear this word multiple times in every conversation. It can also be used as a question, "Mumkin...?" = "Is it possible...?" Or as a filler when you are searching for the right word: "I want, mumkin, this, and mumkin that, and mumkin..." you get the idea. Very useful and totally overused. We wholeheartedly embrace all possible meanings.
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