Fazlaka Arabia: Syrian Comedy Show

I finished watching all the episodes of بقعة ضو (Spotlight) that were available at Shahid MBC and so I've moved on to another Syrian comedy. It's called فزلكة عربية (Fazlaka Arabia). I don't know the best way to translate that. فزلكة is like "joking around". Anyway, this show is difficult to understand just like بقعة ضو is. The shows are made for Syrians and has a lot of local terminology. To me this is a good thing as the dialogue isn't simplified. It's very authentic speech.

I've taken one of the sketches from the show and given a transcript. This is one of the few sketches where I understood all of what was being said. In most of them I get the idea and the joke, but there are individual words that I'm not sure of so I don't feel comfortable writing out the dialogue.




هلق رح يشرّفنا يا مفتّش و بتمنى, بتمنى من كل قلبي أنو ما تسوّدو وشي - Now we're going to be honored with an inspection and I hope with all of my heart that you don't embarrass me.

(ما تسوّدو وشي literally means "don't blacken my face". وش is وجه in MSA.)

حاضر آنسة - Yes, miss.

(حاضر is used as "right away", "yes", "I'll do it", things like that. Mainly subordinates say it to the people over them when they are told to do something)

لنشوف... اهلا وسهلا - We'll see. Hello and welcome!

يعطيكي العافية. جلوس. كيف المستوى؟ ان شاء الله عم بيتحسّن بالنطق عندهن - God give you health. Sit. How is the level? Hopefully their pronunciation is improving.

تمام التمام و النطق عندهن سليم - It's great, their pronunciation is correct.

(تمام التمام is a way of saying that something is really good. It's the same idea as عال العال which also means "really good"; literally "highest of the high".)

طيب. رح اختبر انا بنفسي شوف. وقف حبيبي لشوف. انت اي انت. شو اسم الكلب الصغير؟ - Ok. I'm going to test it myself to see. Stand, my dear, let's see. You, yes, you. What do you call a young dog?

(صغير is "small" but can mean young too. I didn't put "small dog" because جرو is a puppy and a "small dog" could be any age of small dog, but you wouldn't use جرو for an old chihuahua since it isn't a puppy.)

درو - "Daru".

(The kid is pronouncing the word with a "d" instead of a "j")

جرو حبيبي بالجيم. جرو - "Jaru" with a jeem. "Jaru".

اي بالديم درو - Yeah, with a "deem". "Daru".

قلي جرجير حبيبي - Say "jarjeer" for me, my dear.

(Jarjeer is the vegetable "arugula"; "rocket" in Britain)

دردير - "dardeer"

بالجيم. جرجير - With a "jeem". "jarjeer"

دردير - "dardeer"

معنتها لازم تبذلي جهد اكبر معهم. يا آنسة هذا مو معقول - This means you have to exert more effort with them. Miss, this is unbelievable.

(The word بذل is pretty much always used with جهد or جهود "effort/s". بذل جهود "to exert effort".)

بصراحة يا أستاذ عم ببذل معهم أقصى طاقة ممكنة بس هالولد بالذات غبي و رح يدنني - Frankly, sir, I'm exerting the maximum effort possible but this boy specifically is stupid and he's going to drive me crazy!

(The word طاقة is power, energy, effort, things like that.)

The joke was that the teacher wasn't pronouncing the "j" correctly which is why the student was getting it wrong. What she meant to say was رح يجنني "he's going to drive me crazy".