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LANGUAGE CORNER
Against the Negda
As the flames of accusation and the
misdeeds discovered in the Israel Tax Authority and the Ministry of
Finance begin to singe the Prime Minister’s Office, it is time to
prepare for another election by looking at the words created to replace
some of the terms heard during election seasons, such as coalition and
opposition, as well as consider some other recent offerings of the
Academy of the Hebrew Language. Why – as these new words demonstrate –
the academy is obsessed with replacing easily understood words adopted
from English with strange combinations of Hebrew letters is not exactly
clear. Xenophobia might be a reasonable explanation. In any case, here
is a new bunch of impossibilities to ponder.
The opposition is no longer the oppositzia,
but the negda (stemming from neged, which means against).
This means that a member of the opposition is no longer an
oppositzioner, but a negdan and that the adjective for
describing all things related to the opposition is now negdani.
The coalition, on the other hand, is no longer the coalitzia, but
the yahda (from yahad, which means together). A member of
the coalition should no longer be referred to as a coalitzioner,
but as a yahadan, while the adjective is yahadani.
If, as Israeli politicians are inclined to do, a
negdan or a yahadan makes a sensational move, his actions
have ceased to be sensatzioni. Instead, the actions are
mira’ash (from ra’ash, which means noise). And, if we are
talking about noise, then it is worth mentioning that a ringtone, which
used to be a ringtone in everyday Hebrew usage, is now a
ne’imon. In a similar vein, an allergy will not remain an alergia
– it has become a rageshet. Deodorant, which used to be called
deodorant in Hebrew, will now be takhshir al reikh. Though
this might sound like the name of a long-forgotten Arabian sultan, it
literally means “anti-smell implement.” Finally, the word for internet –
which used to be internet in Hebrew – is now mirshetet.
So if you hear that a negdan caused a
mira’ash on the mirshetet, I hope that this will help you
figure out what was said. If the stress from deciphering all these new
words leads you to develop a rageshet, don’t worry – for now
Israelis can still continue using the English word for spa.
Yadin Roman
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