They pop up in our minds here and there, these thoughts born from the influence of our upbringing or our society, or both. We might mean them or not, most probably we do, but hey! Who is judging us? They are just in our minds…
#1. Khalas, this is it, meder shou bini!
When that internal bang bang reiterates in our stomach for a day or two and we can’t explain it, or that skin rash we can’t figure out, here we go thinking something is very very wrong with us, and we might be dying.
#2. A3mel kil ehsebete: I’ve done all my calculations
When the time comes to make a decision and we are still hesitating under peer pressure or our family’s attempts to dissuade us, and we try to convince ourselves that we have it all covered and we know what we’re doing… even if we really don’t.
#3. Shou ken baddeh min hal shaghle! Why did I go into that!
Ah, the moment of self-beating regret when we messed up and we don’t know how to get out of it!
#4. Ma ken lezem eftah temmeh – I shouldn’t have opened my mouth!
Remember that time when you stepped into a discussion or cared enough to advise a friend, and it fired back at you? Of course you do! And you went spending the night tormented by the thought: ma ken lezem eftah temmeh… shou ken baddeh bil hal shaghle!
#5. Lezem wafer shouay: I should be saving some money
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This is probably the serenade we Lebanese most tell ourselves, all the times, and at every Lira or dollar we spend. Small or big, needed or avoidable, what we are paying for is not the issue. It’s that culturally infused drive that we must become rich, or at least have more than enough in our bank account to buy a house (or two), and a car (or three), just to name the top of the list!
#6. Walla ma ken asdeh… It wasn’t my intention
Of course, that wasn’t your intention but you said it anyway…. because it was just there poking in your head, even if you go on telling your mind otherwise after you hurt your friend’s feeling, or made a social blunder…
#7. Iza ba3d biyftah temmo, baddi eksof e3mro: If he opens his mouth one more time…
Ah, these moments of anger we have when someone has offended us! And all that we can think of is that if he or she will say it again we will “shoot” his/her life (Sorry, the accurate term was censured by the editor). It’s just a thought, anyway. The worst we do is to get even angrier.
#8. Heydah el-moudir a3na satleh bil marra: That boss we have is a total idiot
Okay, no need to deny it. We had had these occasions at work to think that our boss is totally stupid, even if we are just at the entry-level and still think we know better…
#9. Leish houeh min emfakar halo? Who does he think he is?
Moment of truth! We’ve been snubbed and our Lebanese ego can’t possibly swallow it and goes on poking our thoughts to lower the other in return… and we do, suddenly deeming him or her a nobody, even if just moments before we were on a “like” spree on all his or her social media pics.
#10. Shou esto heydah a3m b-a3rtesh? What’s wrong with this guy lashing out nonsense
When our ears feel like bursting at a heated lecture or a one-sided intense discourse, and we can’t take it anymore…
#11. Khalineh erja3 shayek: Let me double-check again
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Ah, when we still can’t be sure of ourselves that we’ve done things to perfection… Caution, caution, and extra caution…
#12. Mich a3m shouf… ta watti el sot: I can’t see, let me lower the radio
Just don’t argue. You know what I am saying. You’re driving the car at night under the rain, your thoughts are driving your mind, and the radio is driving your hearing. You suddenly realize that your vision is not so clear anymore, and you instantly think the problem is your loud radio. We’ve been all there…
#13. Ana ba3ref haleh: I know myself
When we dwell in the “injustice” of having been misunderstood in our capability to do a certain thing….
#14. Hal estez(e) mish fehmen(e) shi min shi: That professor doesn’t know a thing from another
Sure, we got at times to think that the professor is making no sense in class. What’s wrong with that? After all, it was true. He or she was not really making any sense!
#15. Ana shou 3ameltello(a)? What did I do to?
When you find out that all your friends were invited to an outing except you…. And here you go, dwelling in total confusion, and can’t seem to figure out what, for the love of heavens and earth, did you do wrong…
#16. Mish moumken etssawaro/a: I can’t even envision him/her
Not that we are asked to put a certain person on our vision board… But yeah, when we get to feel a strong antipathy towards someone who offended us, we don’t even stand seeing him or her in our imagination…
#17. Welek, ma ana befham aktar menno/a: I know better
When the doctor prescribes us with antibiotics and we insist grandma’s yansoun is better… And when the handyman wants to change the sink and we stubbornly want to keep it… And when a solution to a problem is proposed and we don’t want to take it… Got to say, instances don’t lack.
#18. Maba’ na3ref enkhales men hal essa: We don’t know how to end it
When your friend keeps complaining over and over about his or her problem… and you just want it to stop…
#19. Akeed a3m biehko a3layeh: For sure they are talking about me
Somehow, we Lebanese tend to be a little paranoid socially, assuming that others are talking about us, and not always in such good ways, when we weren’t invited to a gathering…
#20. Wlo shou hal emsibeh! What a disaster!
Mind you, this is not about a natural disaster, mostly about the sauce on our new shirt, or a test we didn’t nail perfectly, or a dress we want for a party but can’t find it in the market…
#21. Absar shou fakar/fakarit a2ne: God knows what she/he thought of me.
Ah, our socially-oriented socially-pleaser stance, worrying what others could have thought of us after we left the gathering…
#22. Ma el-balad kherben w laykou bi shou behlon: The country is a mess and look where their minds are at.
When positive news and actions irritate us, even while our own minds are at planning to enjoy the best of what’s around us in town: a social gathering, a party night, a road trip, a day at the beach…
And last but least, in more recent times, and joining the global trendy thought:
#23. Lezem ekhod selfie: I must take a selfie
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