Thursday, November 4, 2010

Shetihiye bari

I'm back at the apartment following a lovely family dinner (humus, tehina, pita, chicken kebab). I stupidly forgot to take photos, sorry, I was too busy listening to my brother's stories about the day he and his friends decided to test out whether it was faster to hop onto their bikes, following the swim, with the shoes already clipped onto the bikes, or not. So they put on their full wetsuits and jumped into the local pool and then practiced racing out of the water onto their bikes while one of them timed the whole thing, over and over again. I just kept thinking of what it would feel like to ride without wearing socks, which I still don't understand. My sister-in-law's brother (a gorgeous New Yorker who arrived this afternoon) then described his latest rock-climbing experiences. I countered with a fully detailed account of my latest power-walk up and down my local beach, wearing my sun-lotion and wide-brimmed hat. They were suitably impressed.

I told my parents about your excitement concerning Yiddish and Hebrew phrases. My father feels it would be remiss of me not to immediately teach you this Hebrew phrase:

Shetihiye bari.

Literal translation: "You should be healthy."

Actual meaning in everyday usage: "You should drop dead."

It's a true classic.

Off to bed, more tomorrow.

P.S. It is definitely faster to hop onto the bike which already has the shoes stuck onto the pedals. You're welcome.

4 comments:

Badger said...

So, "shetihiye bari" is the Hebrew equivalent of the southern US expression "bless your heart"? EXCELLENT!

I don't know much Hebrew, but I am convinced I was a little old Jewish man in another life because I have no other explanation for how much Yiddish now resides in my vocabulary. Sometimes Yiddish is the only language that properly expresses the sentiment.

Suse said...

You should be healthy, but you should actually drop dead?

I do enjoy the Jewish sense of humour.

Paola said...

LOL. Love it.
MORE.

eurolush said...

Aiii!

How did I not realize you were posting *from Israel*?? Somehow I thought you'd do it when you got back...and now I've missed out on telling you how cute your brother is. Which, I suppose, was probably for the best...not mentioning the spandex thing, I mean. Slightly less awkward for everyone.

I'm loving these posts! And loving "Shetihiye bari." Please thank *our* dad for that one.

As always, you and Yana are the most adorable mother/daughter team on the planet.