How to Talk About the Egyptian Revolution in Egyptian Arabic

Introduction

Most of the things that we write here are very non-controversial.

Well, not today.

Today, we’re going right to the source of countless political conversations, protests, and Egyptian daydreams about what the future might hold.

Hold on to your seats.

Today, Cleo Lingo will be explaining….how to talk about the Egyptian Revolution in Egyptian Arabic.

Vocabulary

The most important words and phrases before we provide some background information:

Revolution. : “el SOWruh”

.الثورة

Starting with the most important thing. This word itself has so many implications that when you say it, every single Egyptian will know exactly what you are talking about.

Notice that it starts with a “s” instead of “th.” One of the many ways Egyptian Arabic is pronounced differently than Standard.

Tahrir Square: “meeDAWN lltawh-REER”

.ميدان التحرير

Fun fact: the Tahrir Square of today is far smaller than the square Egyptians used to centralize their protests eight years ago.

The government installed blockades and a central concrete hub to cut down the overall land area.

Politics. : “elseeEHsuh”

.السياسة

The president. : “elrawEES”

.الرئيس

The Arab Spring. : “elrawBEEuh elAWEruhbee”

.الربيع العربي

This sounds way cooler in Arabic.

Crazy you never knew how to say this all-important phrase, right?

The Middle East. : “elSHAREuck llOWsawt”

.الشرق الاوسط

Protestors. : “elMOOtuhZAWhuhREEN”

.المتظاهرين

Police – (sometimes people call the police “internal”; this refers to the “Ministry of Internal Affairs”). : “elbohLEES / elDAWHuhLEEuh”

.البوليس- الداخلية

Good Citizens 😉 . : “elmooAWtuhNEEN ehlshareFAWuh”

المواطنين الشرفاء

A  term that was excessively used by the government’s media during the revolution.

We will leave it to you to understand what they meant by that!

The Facts:

Here is your need-to-know summary of the Egyptian Revolution (if you don’t already understand what happened):

A Tunisian stall owner set himself on fire in 2010 in protest of local authorities abusing their power. This sparked outrage throughout the Middle East, and by early 2011 Arabs in multiple countries were staging massive protests.

In Egypt, Tahrir Square of Cairo (directly downtown) became one of the hotbeds of the Arab Spring. On 25 Jan 2011 (the National Police Holiday in Egypt), a few million Egyptians took to the Egyptian streets. This was to (peacefully or not so much) demand to be treated equally and with dignity. As a result, the long-standing president Hosni Mubarak, who ruled for 30 years, was overthrown in exactly 18 days.

If you wonder how the protesters coordinated together, the answer is: Facebook.

This resulted in the country’s first free elections in years. The military, meanwhile, ruled the country for a transitional period between February 2011 and the end of 2011.

Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi  (who recently passed away in prison) took power through elections (out of 13 candidates). Soon enough, he too was kicked out by the military on 30 June, 2013 (in what some Egyptians consider the “real revolution”, and some consider the “made up revolution; surprise).

Military General Mohammed AbdelFath el Sissi (who was chosen by Mohamed Morsi as a Minister of Defence) took power, and has been there ever since.

That’s where we stand today.

…

Was the Egyptian Revolution good or bad?

Which revolution is the real Revolution?

Depends on who you ask.

Either way, here are some open-ended questions that you could ask to Egyptians.

We won’t give any answers, because, well…we don’t really have any.

What does the future hold?. : “yawTAWruh elmooSTAW’bill SHAYill AY?”

يا ترى المستقبل شايل ايه؟

Did you participate in the revolution? : “Entaw SHAREuhKEHT feelSOWruh?”

انت شاركت في الثورة؟

Was the revolution a good idea? : “ENtaw SHAYiff elSOWruh KEHnit FICKruh HEHloouh”

انت شايف الثورة كانت فكرة حلوة؟

What has changed after the revolution?: “ENtaw SHAYiff AY ehlee UHtuhGHEYEurr BAW’dd elSOWruh?”

انت شايف ايه اللي اتغير بعد الثورة؟

What was the real reason of the revolution? : “AY elSEHBT elhawEEee elSOWruh?”

ايه السبب الحقيقي للثورة؟

What is your opinion about it? : “ay RAWeek FEEhaw?”

ايه رايك فيها؟

Is life better or worse? : “ENtaw SHAYif elHEYEuht AWHsun wawluh OWhehsh BAW’dd elSOWruh?”

انت شايف الحياة احسن ولا اوحش بعد الثورة؟

Do you think Egypt could be ruled by a non-military background person? : “ENtaw SHAYiff en MUHsrr moomkin YAWhuhKEHMhaw HUhd mish AWskuREEuh?”

انت شايف ان مصر ممكن يحكمها حد مش عسكري؟

When I say Revolution, which one do you think am talking about? : “LAWmuh bawOOL SOWruh, bitFUCkrr fee ENhee SOWruh?”

لما بقول “الثورة”  بتفكر في انهي ثورة؟

Notice that we used the term” Enta Shayef” (انت شايف؟ ) many times while asking about someone’s opinion.

This literally means “do you see?” and is used as “in your opinion”  or “do you think?”

These are all things that might get extremely different responses depending on who you are asking, even though the history itself (2011 till today) we are talking about is quite recent.

Almost everyone lived these experiences, but you will still get so much contradicting information and opinions that people consider as “facts.”

A word of caution about this can be found in today’s “cultural insight.”

For simpler phrases, here are some applicable things you could say in other situations, as well:

I don’t agree with this. : “ANa mish mooEHfuh”

.انا مش موافق

Exactly / I agree with this / I think that too. : “bihZUHbt Ana mooEHfuh AN SHAYiff KEHduh BARdoo”

.بالضبط – انا موافق – انا شايف كدة برضو

I think this was a good idea. : “Ana SHAYiff en DEE KEHnit FICKruh HEHLwuh”

.انا شايف ان دي كانت فكرة حلوة

I think this was a bad idea. : “Ana SHAYiff en DEE KEHnit FICKruh WEHshuh”

.انا شايف ان دي كانت فكرة وحشة

I am interested in politics. : “Ana mooHEHtim behlSEEawSEEuh”

.انا مهتم بالسياسة

I used to be interested in politics, but I don’t care anymore. : “Ana KOONT LEEuh fee elSEEawSEEuh, bess mish mehTEHM dellWAWuhtee”

.انا كنت ليا في السياسة. بس مش مهتم دلوقتي

I’m not into politics. : “Ana mawLEESH feel SEEuhSEEuh”

.انا مليش في السياسة

You can use that term too in different things, “I’m not into football, i’m not into clubbing, …”

The situation is difficult to understand. : “ElmohTHDOOuh SAW’bb bitfuHEHMhaw”

.الموضوع صعب يتفهم

The word “mohTHDOOuh” can be used in a bunch of different ways.

This is an essential and often-used word in Egyptian Arabic.

Who knows what will happen in the future. : “MEEN AW’ruff heyeYAWHsll AY ooDEHM / feel mooSTAWuhbill?”

.مين عارف هيحصل ايه قدام/ في المستقبل

Right now is better than the past. : “dellWAWuhtee AWHsun men zuhMEHN.”

.دلوقتي احسن من زمان

So was the revolution a good thing that was badly-needed in a region with a history of abusive leadership, or would things be better today if 2011 and 2013 had never happened?

That’s your question to answer after discussing it with your friends. #HomeworkAssignment

We are only teaching you the language, after all.

Cultural Insight

Because we cater to foreigners learning Egyptian Arabic (and although we could say a million things about the Egyptian Revolution from the perspective of Egyptians), today’s “cultural insight” takes a very simplistic view: be careful what you say.

Regardless of your opinion, speaking about politics (and especially the revolution) is inherently riskier than the same conversations in more liberal countries, so take care who are you speaking with.

Egypt’s recent history is bloody, tragic, and highly debated. If you are going to dive into that conversation, it pays to be careful.

It’s best to discuss these things (remember, we aren’t just talking koshary here) with somebody you know. Your taxi driver probably isn’t the best option.

On that note, we hope you learned something today, and good luck talking about all that controversy. 🙂

…

Happy learning,

Cleo Lingo