How to Deal With Bad Flatmates in Egyptian Arabic

Introduction

It’s quite common to live with flatmates in Egypt.

It brings down the cost of monthly rent, and can even become the beginning of a great friendship if you are lucky.

However, sometimes your roommates just suck.

They steal your ice cream, don’t clean the bathroom, or let the trash pile up in the kitchen.

At times like this, it helps to know how to deal with the situation.

And it really helps if you are able to do it in a different language!

Today, Cleo Lingo will be explaining….how to deal with bad roommates in Egyptian Arabic.

Vocabulary

The very first thing is starting the conversation.

It helps to be nice and respectful, but sometimes just being a jerk actually works best.

Here are some phrases with both approaches.

Starting the conversation

Can we talk? : “MOOMkin netKEHlum?”

ممكن نتكلم؟

Living here is very difficult. : “elawEESH HEHnuh SAW’buh OWee.”

.العيشة هنا صعبة قوي

And when nice doesn’t work:

We need to talk immediately. : “EHHnuh LEHzim netKEHlum HAYluhn.”

.احنا لازم نتكلم حالا

You are the worst one (flatmate) I’ve lived with in my life! : “ENtaw EHSSwaw SHUkhss / HUHd ANA EYEsht MAWuh fee heyeYEHtee!”

!انت اسوء حد انا عشت معاه في حياتي

This apartment is trash. : “elSHEHuh DEE zuhBEHluh.”

.الشقة دي زبالة

The word “zuhBEHluh” is used to describe anything trashy.

People included!

Use these at your own discretion.

Whichever approach you use, this is the point your roommate knows you have a problem.

Complaints

It’s now time to complain.

We have no idea what your situation is, but here are some problems that seem to happen everywhere:

Can you please stop eating my food? : “MOOMkin tuhBUHtll TEHkoll EHKlee LOW suhMAWHT?”

ممكن تبطل تاكل اكلي لو سمحت؟

Can you please clean up the place of your cat / dog? : “MOOMkin tuhNUHtduff mihKEHN elKEHLB / elUHtuh biTAW’uck LOW suhMAWHT?”

ممكن تنضف مكان الكلب /القطة بتاعتك لو سمحت؟

Can you please turn down the music a little? : “MOOMkin tuhWUHtee elmooZEEkuh SHWAYuh LOW suhMAWHT?”

ممكن توطي المزيكا شوية لو سمحت؟

We saw similar phrases last week:

Can you please take the trash with you? : “MOOMkin TEHkhud elzuhBEHluh MAW’uck LOW suhMAWHT?”

ممكن تاخد الزبالة معاك لو سمحت؟

Can you please pay your rent on time? : “MOOMkin TEDfaw eleeGAWR fee WUH’too LOW suhMAWHT?”

ممكن تدفع الايجار في وقته لو سمحت؟

Literally: “…pay your rent in it’s place.”

This is something you might not actually ever say. Usually one of the Egyptians you live with will take care of the rent, and you will (literally) just hand him a stack of cash at the end of the month.

How’s that for efficiency?

Here are a few more (advanced) problems that are more specific to Egyptian roommates.

You smoke a lot of cigarettes. Can you please decrease it a little?. The whole place smells like cigarettes. : “ENTuh bihTEHshrub sihGAY’urr kiTEER, MOOMkin tuhEHill SHWAYuh? REEhuh elmihKEHN KOLoo sihGAY’urr.”

.انت بتشرب سجاير كتير, ممكن تقلل شويه؟ ريحة المكان كله سجاير

We know you hate cigarettes, but here’s a little bit of background info.

Your flatmate is still a jerk. We promise.

Your parties are crazy. You and your friends are always talking until five in the morning. : “ElKHAWfuhLEHT butTAW’tucj MOOzaw’EHguh. ENtaw w suhHAWbuck bitKEHlehmoo leeHUHD KHUMsuh llFIHgrr.”

.الحفلات بتاعتك مزعجة. انت وصحابك بتتكلمو لحد 5 الفجر

Your tea cups are everywhere. Tea is delicious…but can you please clean up your place (after yourself)? : “KOWbeyeYEHtuck fee KOLE’ HEHtuh. elSHEYE HEHloo… bess MOOMkin tuhNUHtduff mihKEHnuck?”

كوبياتك في كل حتة. الشاي حلو… بس ممكن تنضف مكانك؟

And if you need to cut a little deeper?

Use our three part series of complaints to make it a bit more personal:

And if you are wondering if flatmates can really be that bad….

…the answer is yes.

Every picture used in this post is from my last place before I left Cairo.

They smoked hash every day, piled trash on top of the kitchen counter, and then let four kittens plus the mother poop all over our flat.

Dark, dark times in my life.

Anyway, hopefully at this point they’ve gotten the message and have started to actually address the problem.

Closure

These phrases are for later.

The problem has either been fixed….

Thank you for fixing that. : “SHOkrawn EHnuck suhLAWHHtoo.”

.شكرا انك صلحته

I see that progress has been made. : “Ana SHEYEiff en FEE tuhHHAWsuhn.”

.انا شايف ان في تحسن

I am happy with what you did / do! : “Ana mawbSOOT men EHlee ENtaw awMEHLtoo / bihTAW’MEHLoo. ”

.انا مبسوط من اللي انت عملته

….you are doubtful about your roommates’ intentions….

Did you forget what we talked about last week? : “ENtaw nawSEET EHTkuhLEHMnuh fee AY ehlissBOOuh EHlee FEHT?”

انت نسيت اتكلمنا في ايه الاسبوع اللي فات؟

You still haven’t done anything. : “ENtaw LISSuh MAW’MEHLtish HAWguh.”

.انت لسه معملتش اي حاجة

… or nothing has changed.

I cannot live here anymore. : “Ana mish HAW’ruff awEESH HEHnuh.”

.انا مش هعرف اعيش هنا

In Egyptian Arabic, “ana AW’ruff” (I know) can be combined with actions to say you can do something or (mish) you can’t.

I am moving out (Literally: I am going to leave from here). : “Ana HEHmshee mehn HEHnuh.”

.انا همشي من هنا

Just be careful with this one.

The security deposit is a pretty serious thing in Cairo, and if they “don’t find somebody” before you leave, they might use your security deposit as collateral for the first month after you move out.

You want to try as hard as you can to leave on good terms.

But if you can’t?

Well, then it’s time to leave like a total G.

Fuck you! I have never been so disappointed in my life. I’m out of here.

Scream this in English so the boweb doesn’t arrest you, steal one of your roommate’s pack of cigarettes for all the pain and misery he’s caused you, and slam the door behind you.

Cause you’re just cool like that.

Culture Corner

In Cairo, there’s unfortunately a bit of discrimination against Egyptians when it comes to apartment ads.

Often, you will see “Foreigners only” in the description, or some variation of it.

This makes it pretty easy to get one of the “nicer” apartments (aimed at foreigners) if you aren’t Egyptian…..but much more difficult if you are.

There are a couple theories about this. One is that Egyptians really are a bit “weirder” with money than your average foreigner. We have heard stories of Egyptians not paying and causing problems for their landlords. Still, this sounds slightly racist.

Second, some people say that there are actual laws that prevent Egyptians from living in certain apartments. This may or may not be true, but to us it sounds a bit fishy.

What we think is number three: it’s all about the dolla’ dolla’ bills, yo.

Landlords know they can charge foreigners more than your average Egyptian, simply because they have access to foreign currency.

It’s racism, alright….but towards you, not Egyptians.

Whatever it is….good luck with whatever roommates you have in the future! 🙂

…

Happy learning,

Cleo Lingo