Glossary entry

أنجليزي term or phrase:

say what?

عربي translation:

Na'am

Added to glossary by ProZ.com Staff
Feb 12, 2001 16:35
23 yrs ago
أنجليزي term

say what?

Non-PRO أنجليزي إلى عربي الفن/الأدب
What would be an informal (but not rude) way to say, "say what?!" or "what did you say?"

Proposed translations

50 دقائق
Selected

na'am? نعم؟

Little explanation is needed. Na'am نعم is the obvious polite choice.

mish fahim مش فاهم: is more wordy but is also a correct alternative. It is an Egyptian Arabic expression though.

Eh? إيه؟: is common and less courteous but not obscene. It is also universal.
Peer comment(s):

Fuad Yahya
AhmedAMS
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you very much for the speedy answer. Troy"
7 ساعات

"Afandem" NOT "Na'am

Afandem is more polite and also gives
the meaning. Na'am also gives the meaning, but it's not that polite,
as it could be used in a rude way too.
Like when we are astonished we can say
Na'am!!!!!!. But Afandem, never has
a doubt for saying it in a "polite way only"
Peer comment(s):

AhmedAMS
Alaa Zeineldine
Something went wrong...
17 ساعات

Re: afandem

Afandem is a good choice as long as the language is Egyptian Arabic.

Shiny is also right that na'am can be negative if spoken with a negative tone while stretching the second syllable, but I think this is part of TV depiction of street slang more than it is part of real life colloquial Egyptian.
Peer comment(s):

Fuad Yahya
Something went wrong...
2 أيام 17 ساعات

Saudi (Nejdi) expressiona

Greetings

In the Saudi (Nejd central region) dialect:

Present tense: Waish taqool?

Past tense: Waish qult?

More polite: law samaHt _or_ 3fwaan?... (with rising tone to indicate a question)

HTH.

Khair, innsha' Allah.

Regards from Los Angeles,

Stephen H. Franke
Peer comment(s):

Fuad Yahya
Something went wrong...
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