Saturday

How to Hit on Arab Girls تلطيش


Here are a few phrases you can try out on Arab girls. All but the last one are Lebanese but they will be understood by all Arabs. Don't get mad at me if they don't have the desired effect, but in most cases the girl will think it's cute and smile or laugh since you're a foreigner. However, if it's an Arab guy saying it the result won't be the same. There's a big chance they'll get slapped or at the very least ignored. Use with caution :P. The Arabic word for phrases like this is تلطيش which is "cat calling". The word غزل is "flirting".
The comic says, on the right "Lebanese flirting: You see how big the moon is? That's how much I love you". On the left: "Our flirting (meaning Saudi): I swear I'll punch in the stomach anyone who says your name."



  • انت بتتأكلي بلا ملح (Inti btitakli bila milih) - You could be eaten without salt.
This phrase sounds dumb in English, but it's actually something that's said in Lebanon. It's like, "you're so sweet" or something. The idea is that she tastes so good you don't need to put salt on her to eat her. The connotation isn't sexual as it might be taken in English.

  • حلو جسمك. شو اسمك؟ - (Helu jismik. Shoo ismik?) - Your body is nice. What's your name?
It's cool because it rhymes. Not as cool in English. :)

  • رح جبلك لبن العصفور (Rah jiblik laban al'asfoor) - I will bring you birds' milk
So the idea with this one is that since birds don't have milk you're basically saying "I'll do the impossible for you" or "I'll do anything for you". I think this is used in countries outside the Arabic world as well because I read it on a Russian site. Needless to say it definitely wouldn't be understood in English speaking countries.

  • تقبريني (tu'burini) - Bury me
This one is a phrase of endearment. It's like saying "I'd die for you" or "you're to die for". You can even use it to address someone. You can say to your girlfriend or someone you love يا تقبريني which would be like "oh one who buries me".

  • شو هالجسد يا اسد (Shoo hal jasad ya asad) - What a body you lion!
Another rhyming one. Saying lion here is like calling a girl a fox in English.

  • شو هالنطة يا بطة (Shoo hal nuttah ya battah) - What's this bouncing you duck!
A girl with a big chest and big butt is called a بطة (duck) in Arabic slang. If you look at a picture of a rubber ducky you can see why.

  • شو هالطعجة يا نعجة (Shoo hal ta'je ya na'je) - What a swagger you ewe (female sheep).
This is just like the two above it. It's a cat call. I wouldn't call it a pick up line. It's something some Arab guys will say as a girl is walking by. This one is used in Jordanian and I'm not really sure if it would be understood elsewhere, so if you have a female Jordanian friend try this out and see what she says. :)

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

not really a pickup line, but you can say

انت عمرك

which literally means "you're my age" and is a sweet way of saying "you're everything to me"

Anonymous said...

@Anon1 you mean

inty omry?

on an unrelated note;
I love the Jordanian Abu Mahjoob caricaturist,if you don't find the cartoon amusing, the comments won't disappoint lol.

http://mahjoob.com/en/archives/view.php?cartoonid=3163&Y=2010&M=08

http://mahjoob.com/en/archives/view.php?cartoonid=3120&Y=2010&M=07

http://mahjoob.com/en/archives/view.php?cartoonid=2928&Y=2010&M=01

Anonymous said...

Hey man, amazing blog, keep the great posts coming!

I have an idea for a future post...

First check out this website by a guy who is learning Czech:
http://www.anthonylauder.com/

I think he has some great ideas on fluency, more specifically conversational connectors, which are like fillers and enable you to keep a smooth conversation going in any language. In English, words like "you know" or "I mean" or "well, actually"...

I haven't found a similar list for Arabic, either MSA or dialect. Since you seem to have already reached a very advanced level I figured you might be able to pull it off on your blog. I'm sure it would help all Arabic learners out there.

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

You are pronouncing the first phrase wrong

its inti b-tittakly, the way you are saying it; bttakly, means you eat rather that you are eaten

Dan Stevens said...

Hey!
Great blog man. I love the linguistics and the various dialects.

dana said...

"امشي ع رمشي"
ع = على
walk on my eyelash


if girl wear pink
"زهر بيأهر أهر" as jordanian people saying
or "زهر بيقهر قهر "
what a pink make you feel Oppression

Summar said...

Who is the Saudi comic artist? And do you have any more to recommend?

Moad said...

hey,
a friend posted me a this video on my FB wall...
i dont know how it is in Jordan or Syria, but at my place (Palestine) those phrases will get you slapped, no one will take them serious, people use to take them as jokes :)

but your pronounciation is really good, i hope you havent tried those with any arabic girls :)

Greets
Moad

Anonymous said...

Hello dude,
I am from Syria and the phrases you mentioned here are kinda insulting and they ae more of an inappropriate slang. so the bottom line is: thos wont help you if you're hitting on a girl! you'll get slapped. Try to ask someone about better phrases

Er said...

Hey Arabic Student... i love your blog. Keep it up. I hope you don't mind if I will include it in my BLOG LIST.. thanks and salam to you.

Haitham Seelawi said...

Cool, but it is not "btaklee" but it is "bti-takali"

Unknown said...

Hey!
I am a Lebanese girl, and if somebody says that to me, I would think it is ridiculous!
Those are actually the things not to say to a girl :)

Don't use that!

Nemer said...

ok ive seen your vid on youtube about hitting on arab chicks.. not the way to go dude that shit is bad.
try translating some things from eglish to arabic that works a lot better than what you're saying . maybe arabs used to say those like 20 thousand years ago or so but not anymore. im arab and i know what im talking about.

Anonymous said...

I am an arabic student and I have found your blog super helpful! I am learning Egyptian in my University but I want to learn Levantine dialect and your blog has really helped. KEEP IT UPPP :)

Anonymous said...

Most of your sentences are offensive.. Guys who speak like that dont end up with dates instead they may very well get slapped. Most of these phrases are used by guys who dont respect women.

On another note, you pronunciation is pretty good..

Ameer Adel said...

hey there
My name is Ameer i'm from Iraq, and i m really interested in your blog and youtube channel, glad to see them online :D. but here's a hint about the arabic, we use idioms too, not as much as Americans but we use it in most of our phrases and specially when we flirt or hit on someone, so most of the hit words does not translate literally

Anonymous said...

hello there,
i really liked your youtube video about how to hit on arabic girls since i am arabian , lool trust me it is not that easy .
i saw that you are determined to learn about arabic and would love to help you ,so i got few comment to say, the first phrase" انتي بتتاكلي بدون ملح " it is a new phrase that i ve learnt from you , first you have to understand that there are many ways to speak arabic like the original way is the way we call it "fosha" and there is the social or the slang language that we use today , the first one is used in books and arabic lectures and used by ancient Arabs and Moslem's, the slang language is used nowadays and it has many accents if you must call it depending on the geographical spot ( country ) like the way Jordanian (and i am Jordanian by the way ) flirt is way far from the way Lebanese not in the act but in the phrases , most of what you used are Lebanese and also can be used in Syria , back to the phrase you pronounced it btakli ( you eat ) the correct way btetakli 2 t (it means that you are a good meal if we must say that dosent need any salt to make t better ) .
as for the Jordanian one , i really loved it , but itis not a good word for such purpose mostly will google about it and would walk away

i would love to help you anytime
my email: m.siyam@hotmail.com
unitedstatesof_lifta@hotmail.com
and my name is Mahmoud S. have a nice day :P

Unknown said...

I think that when you learn a new language, you should also learn the culture. If you're serious about these "pick-up lines," you really need a new lesson: they are very sexist. And your smug teaching of them for the world to listen and learn is seriously irresponsible and rather frustrating to women of the Middle East, like myself, who work on a daily basis to dispel this garbage from the mainstream. Seriously, you really should think before "teaching" the world how to speak to women bc what you've done is chosen the most pathetic men to mimic.

Mr.shadi M said...

There is more hitting phrases

اركي ع وركي
كل هل شفايف او خايف
اجا الصيف او طلعت الاسكدنيا
أش يا قطايف

Marwan said...

This one also you may enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNgKxDS-myE&feature=related

Regards

Anonymous said...

Dude, I'm Syrian and if ANYONE used any of these lines on me they'd get laughed at/slapped. No one uses these seriously to hit on girls. They're kind of jokes when guys get together to "teach" each other how to hit on girls. LOL thanks for the good laughs though.

Farah said...

Hi, can a woman say تقبريني (tu'burini) - Bury me
to a man in the same context? If so, does the word have to be conjugated differently? Thanks.

Farah

The Arabic Student said...

Farah, you would say تقبرني to a guy. Pronounced tu'burni. Same as the other one, just with out the first "ee" sound.

Ana said...

Actually these phrases are very used, most of them, of course you won't go on Tripoli s streets and yell to every man or woman you encounter ghazal, but between friends and bf and gf, and joking when there are more couples sitting together they re very very common to hear. Yes of course no one will take you too serious , it s mostly for joking

Hassan M said...

Hello my friend , my name is Hassan

well , actually its a great job what you did there , you got most of the phrases correctly , and you explained them in a nice way .

how ever , saying these stuff in ( Jordan ) will make you sound like a scumbag , they are not really a nice way to pickup girls , as the girls will be offended and will hate you !

but any way , you did a great job there , and hope the best for you , if you need any help please contact me : h.m.1992@hotmail.com \ facebook.com/h.m.1992 .

Martin said...

What is all this talk of getting slapped about ? Are Arabic women really that quick to hit you ?

Also, the question really is, in which Arabic country should a foreigner flirt with women and in which shouldn't he. I have seen a lot of pretty Arabic girls but it seems like flirting with them is next to impossible in most Arabic countries, maybe apart from Lebanon. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

mimis said...

you are very good in arabic

love from kuwait

Captain said...

Arabic:
لو عرف النحل طعم شفتيكي لترك الورد وأتى إليكي

English Transliteration:
Law aarafa elna7lu taama shafatayki, lataraka elwardu wa ata ilayki

English Translation:
If the bee knew the taste of your lips, it would leave the flower and come to you

Anonymous said...

This post is hilarious. Also, your blog is awesome. I'm going to Jordan in a couple months and have been scrambling to find good resources for learning some dialect, this is probably the best one I've found. Keep it up man.

Anonymous said...

I get why the Arab posters are so angry here, but this is very valuable info for me as a female student of Arabic. I agree with the Arab women who commented that these phrases won't get a foreign guy far but for a foreign gal like me, knowing what guys in the streets yell behind my back is really helpful. Same goes for the curse words lesson. I knew most of them but getting people to explain to you taboo vocabulary is a real pain if you're a female. So - thanks!

شيناس said...

الله يسامحك هيك بتحكي مع البنات

Anonymous said...

No wonder I got such an enthusiastic response when I offered my Syrian friend duck. !

Unknown said...

بطة means hot girl and chick in arabic?
I was told it meant "fat".
Does it also mean fat?
How do you call a girl fat in arabic?

Amr said...

Very little here is actual hit on lines. Even though all Arabs do hit on girls (same way like men anywhere) However the hit on lines you can consider popular are those used by Egyptians and Lebanese (many reasons for that other than the smoother and more successful attitude of both ppl. (talk media and art for example)

Anonymous said...

My bf called me بطة. Im not an arab girl. But he said it means cute or beautiful. Cuz it is white colour for the fur.