Sometimes things don’t go as planned. Plans change, something goes wrong or a situation doesn’t turn out the way you expected. In moments like these, people in the Arab world often use simple expressions that help them accept what happened and move on.
In Levantine Arabic, specially in Jordanian Arabic and Palestinian Arabic, below are a few very common phrases people use in these situations:
“Elli faat maat - إلّي فات مات”
It literally means “What’s past is dead”, and people use it to say that what happened is over and there is no point in thinking about it anymore.
“7aSal khayr - حَصَل خير”
It means “What happened is good” and people use it to calm the situation and move forward without overthinking what happened
“Khayrha bi-ghayrha - خيرها بغيرها”
This expression literally means “There’s good in something else”, it’s used when something didn’t work out, like missing an opportunity.
“Elli Saar, Saar - إلّي صار، صار”
People say this expression in Levantine Arabic when something already happened and cannot be changed, in a simple way to accept the situation and move on, it literally means “What happened, happened”.
These kinds of expressions are used all the time in Jordanian Arabic and Palestinian Arabic conversations, instead of focusing on what went wrong, they help people let go and keep things simple.
In many ways, this reflects an important part of Arab culture. Language is often used to make situations lighter and to help people move on quickly, rather than staying stuck on small problems.
For learners of Levantine Arabic, understanding these expressions can make conversations feel much more natural. They are short, simple and used in everyday life much more than you might expect.
