One of the most interesting parts of learning Levantine Arabic is discovering expressions that make perfect sense to native speakers but sound completely confusing when translated into English. Two examples commonly heard in Jordanian Arabic and Palestinian Arabic are “Sifir 3al-shmaal \ صِفِر عَالشمال” and “Maa biglee beiDah \ ما بِقلي بيضة”
“Sifir 3l-shmaal صِفِر عَالشمال”
This expression literally means “A zero on the left”. Think about the number 5, if you put a zero on its left, it becomes 05, which is still just 5. The zero adds no value to the number.
Because of this, the expression “Sifir 3l-shmaal” is used to describe someone who has no influence, importance or role in a particular situation. In English, it is similar to saying that someone is irrelevant or that their opinion does not carry much weight.
You might hear it used jokingly among friends or during discussions when someone wants to emphasize that a person has no real say in what is happening.
“Maa biglee beiDah ما بِقلي بيضة”
This expression literally means “He can’t fry an egg”. Of course, it has nothing to do with cooking. In Jordanian Arabic and Palestinian Arabic, people use this phrase to describe someone who is not useful, capable or dependable.
If someone says “Maa biglee beiDah”, they mean that the person cannot be relied on, even for a very simple task. Since frying an egg is considered one of the easiest things to do, the expression suggests that the person is not particularly helpful or competent.
Like many expressions in Levantine Arabic, it is often used humorously rather than seriously.
More Than Just Words: Expressions like “Sifir 3l-shmaal” and “Maa biglee beiDah” show how creative and colorful Jordanian Arabic and Palestinian Arabic can be. Their meanings are not found in the individual words themselves but in the cultural ideas behind them.
For learners of Levantine Arabic, understanding expressions like these is a great way to sound more natural and better understand everyday conversations. After all, some of the most interesting parts of a language are the phrases that cannot be translated literally.
