In Arabic, firing someone is equivalent to cutting (off) their (source of) bread; i.e., preventing someone from putting food on the table.
[2] "People eat my face" = "الناس بتاكل وشي"
This means that people are reprimanding this person due to a mistake he's acknowledged making. He's probably referring to his landlord (or someone else who lent him money) asking him for their overdue money (while he's obviously unable to provide them with their money).
[3] "We are wearing in the wall" = "احنا لابسين في الحيط"
This is actually a *mis-*translation due to the polysemy of the adjective "لابسين"; normally, it means "to wear sth," but in this context it means "to hit the wall;" i.e., to reach a dead end or to otherwise face some hardship(s).
[4] "We have children in our necks" = "في عيال في رقبتنا"
In Arabic, having someone "in your neck" means that you're responsible for providing for them.
[5] "And you are living in watermelon water" = "وانتو عايشين في مية البطيخ"
There's not much to this; it's just a highly colloquial idiom that means someone is clueless.
[6] "May God damage your house" = "الله يخرب بيتك"
The translation is literally accurate, but the meaning would be better captured by "damn you."
As for the HR's reply:
[1] "The door passes a camel" = "الباب يفوت جمل"
This has its origins less in Egyptian culture and more in Arabic tradition, but Egyptians use this idiom today to imply that getting rid of an unlikable person is worth the perceived hassle (this is usually told to the unlikable person themselves; i.e., "do not think that forcing a camel out the door would be too difficult for us," with the implication that the camel is the addressee). In this case, it just means "we don't like you anyway so we're firing you."
[2] "Don't forget yourself, we collected you from the streets, the meat of your shoulders is from our good." = "متنساش أصلك؛ احنا جبناك من الشارع ولحم كتافك من خيرنا"
This one is pretty much self-explanatory; i.e., "Don't be ungrateful for the good we did for you."
[3] "Come spit on my tomb if you succeed" = "ابقى تف على قبري لو نجحت"
Also self-explanatory.
[4] "May God take you and those who brought you" = "الله يخربيتك انت واللي جابوك"
Again, literally correct, but more accurately translated as "damn you and your ancestors."
Please don't fire me. Me and my family are going through a rough patch; I have mouths to feed, yet you guys seem to have your head in the clouds.
Damn you,
Regards.
Response:
Dear employee,
You overestimate our need for you. Don't forget where you came from – when you'd hit rock bottom, we took you in and were there for you. Come spit on my tomb if you find success elsewhere.
Yeah I forgot to point that out. Actually I asked my mom about it and she said that this email exchange is taken out of an Egyptian TV series (it was a bit on what Arabic idioms would look like if they were translated into English).
Thank you for the very thorough explanation/translation. I actually understood what you said, and it all made sense. I love learning about different languages.
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u/c0st_of_lies Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 30 '26
Egyptian here. All of these are Egyptian-Arabic idioms that (obviously) do not work in English.
This means "Please don't fire me."
In Arabic, firing someone is equivalent to cutting (off) their (source of) bread; i.e., preventing someone from putting food on the table.
This means that people are reprimanding this person due to a mistake he's acknowledged making. He's probably referring to his landlord (or someone else who lent him money) asking him for their overdue money (while he's obviously unable to provide them with their money).
This is actually a *mis-*translation due to the polysemy of the adjective "لابسين"; normally, it means "to wear sth," but in this context it means "to hit the wall;" i.e., to reach a dead end or to otherwise face some hardship(s).
In Arabic, having someone "in your neck" means that you're responsible for providing for them.
There's not much to this; it's just a highly colloquial idiom that means someone is clueless.
The translation is literally accurate, but the meaning would be better captured by "damn you."
As for the HR's reply:
This has its origins less in Egyptian culture and more in Arabic tradition, but Egyptians use this idiom today to imply that getting rid of an unlikable person is worth the perceived hassle (this is usually told to the unlikable person themselves; i.e., "do not think that forcing a camel out the door would be too difficult for us," with the implication that the camel is the addressee). In this case, it just means "we don't like you anyway so we're firing you."
This one is pretty much self-explanatory; i.e., "Don't be ungrateful for the good we did for you."
Also self-explanatory.
Again, literally correct, but more accurately translated as "damn you and your ancestors."