Passing Phrase -
www.learnhebrew.org.il
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Siman She'ailah |
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Literally: Question mark
Idiomatically: (Something) questionable, uncertainty "Siman" is one of the many words Hebrew adapted from Greek ("semeion") and it has many different meanings: In the Talmud it is often used as sign or proof (Baba Metziah, Yevamot 79a) as well as a sign of an animal being kosher (Chulin 27b) etc... It can also be a signal: "Tesamen li" (give me a signal). Even concerning this phrase, it can either be used as a punctuation mark (?) or in the following scenario: My neighbors and I had planned a nice evening of junk food, wine and a good DVD. Suddenly, their dorky cousins (third removed) called to say that they are in town and have invited themselves over for a chat. That placed the entire plan in question: "He'emid et kol hatochit besiman she'ailah." Well in any case, I'm ready and hiding out in my house, but "Tesamen li keshehem ozvim" - signal me when they leave. |
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