Cairo has turned me into a shameless eavesdropper. In an effort to acquire vocabulary and learn grammar, I listen to Arabic conversations around me all the time. As I learn more Egyptian Colloquial Arabic, or Amiyya, I can actually understand some of these conversations. I’ve learned how to negotiate a lease, buy fabric, and compliment people’s clothes.
A whole new dialect means a whole new set of words and rules. I arrived here confidently speaking Fus’ha (Classic Arabic), only to find that most of the basic words I know simply aren’t used here. I’ve actually heard it argued by some students that “Egyptian Arabic can’t be translated.” I wouldn’t totally agree, as most of the time it can. Occasionally though, as in any language, slang words and phrases refuse to be rendered neatly into anything else. They express ideas and emotions rather than exact words.
“Ma3lesh” is a prime example of this. It is especially useful because it is a one-size-fits-all sort of word. I’ve heard it translated as “it’s okay,” “sorry,” “be patient,” and “hold on a second.” Essentially, it’s what you say when something is going wrong. I mostly use it when I slip up in Arabic. I’ve been told it in a plethora of situations, most recently almost being run over by a bus and a restaurant running out of falafel.
Politeness is stressed in Amiyya and there are multiple way to say please. There’s the everyday “law samaht” or “itfaddel.” My first week here, I used the formal “min fadlik,” only to have the waiter I was addressing ask me if I was a politician. Informal courtesy seems to be the best linguistic attitude to have.