How to say "'as you please' (Arabic) → terrific, tip-top (Israeli slang על הכיפאק)" in Arabic
LoanwordMeaning'as you please' (Arabic) → terrific, tip-top (Israeli slang על הכיפאק)
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
ʿalā kayfikaעלא כיפך
على كيفك
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
al hakefakأَل هَاكِفَاك
How the two words are related
Borrowed between the languages (or by both from a third).
Arabic root
ك-ي-فLiterally 'at your pleasure' — kayf again. Hebrew heard the spoken ʿala kēfak and re-cut it as על הכיפאק, smuggling the Hebrew article ה into the middle of an Arabic phrase; the hybrid now means 'splendid'.
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Levantine · Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria
The spoken form Hebrew reworked; kēfik to a woman.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
Same in Cairo: ʿala kēfak, 'as you please' (kēfik to a woman).
In a phrase
sit however you like
More words from this root
More in Arabic You Already Speak
- oh my darling (Arabic) → buddy!, wow! (Israeli slang exclamation)yā ḥabībīيَا حَبِيبِيיא חביבי
- fool, dimwit (Arabic and Israeli slang)ahbalأَهْبَلאהבל
- five (Arabic) → the hand-shaped amulet (Israeli usage)khamsaخَمْسَةחמסה
- failure (Arabic) → screw-up, botch (Israeli slang)fashalفَشَلפשלה
- broke, penniless (colloquial Arabic and Israeli slang)ṭafrānطَفْرَانתפרן
- bad luck, ill omen (Arabic) → rotten luck, a jinx (Israeli slang)naḥsنَحْسנאחס
All Arabic You Already Speak words Explore all root families