Colloquial Egyptian Arabic expressions

طخ - يطخ مشوار (Taxx - yiToxx mešwaar)
To cover a long distance, usually on foot.
مسح - يمسح (مسح) (لـ...) جوخ (masaH - yimsaH [masH] (li-s.o.) guux)
To suck up to someone. Lit. to wipe the baize (a kind of fabric).

فضفض - يفضفض (faDfaD - yifaDfaD)
To open up to someone, unburden yourself.

فش - يفش غله في (fašš - yifišš ġillu fi)
To vent one's anger at (someone); to take it out on them.
قفتشك ('afaštak)
Caught you! Said jokingly. For example, if you caught your brother sneaking a piece of cake out of the kitchen, you could tell him, قفتشك!

على سنجة عشرة (3ala singit 3ašara)
Dressed to the nines.

قد البلية ('add il-bilya)
Tiny, very small. (Lit. the size of a marble.)

فات - يفوت (faat - yifuut)
This verb can have multiple meanings. (1) to pass by. It can be used to refer to missing something, like an opportunity, or a bus you didn't catch.
(2) to elapse, go by (in reference to time)
(3) to pay a call or drop by.
فاتك نص عمرك (faatak noSS 3omrak)
You really missed out. Lit. Half your life passed you by.
سلق - يسلق (سلق) بيض (sala' - yislu' [sal'] beiD)
To do a job hastily and carelessly just to get it over with. Lit. to boil eggs (because boiling eggs is very easy and quick).
قرّ - يقرّ على ('arr - yi'urr 3ala)
(1) To jabber on about something, thus risking attracting the evil eye. (2) to nag.

نقّ - ينقّ في (na'' - yinu'' fi)
(1) To talk incessantly and enviously, thus bringing misfortunate on whoever you're talking about. (2) to nag.

اتحسد - يتحسد (itHasad - yitHisid)
To be envied/made a victim of the evil eye
فوّل - يفوّل على (fawwil - yifawwil 3ala)
To jinx someone by mentioning possible misfortune, thus tempting fate.
اسكت \ اخرس (uskut/ixras)
Shut up. اسكت is more polite than اخرس, which is rude.

على بعضـ (3ala ba3D- + pronoun suffix)
Oneself.
اشمتى - يشمتى (išmata - yišmeti)
To take malicious pleasure in someone else's pain — basically, to feel schadenfreude or gloat over their unhappiness. ("Schadenfreude" itself is شماتة šamāta.)
زبيبة (zibiiba)
Literally زبيبة means "raisin," but it can also refer to the dark bump on the forehead that some very pious Muslim men get after lots of praying (since you touch your forehead to the ground repeatedly during prayer). This is what a زبيبة looks like (read more about it here).

فات الاوان (faat il-awaan)
It's too late.

شايف نفسه (šaayif nafsu)
Conceited.
رميو (romyo)
A Romeo. Much like the English idiomatic usage.
آخر زمان (aaxir zamaan)
Used as an adjective to describe current things you don't like — like "oh, the kids these days!"
آخر العنقود (aaxir il-3an'uud)
The youngest child in a family. Lit. the last of the bunch (of grapes).
ربنا نفخ في صورته (rabbina nafax fi Surtu)
He did well this time (unlike usual); he got lucky. Lit. God blew on his picture.
داخ - يدوخ (دوخة) (daax - yiduux [dooxa])
Lit. to get dizzy. More figuratively, it can mean to get tired from being given the run-around; to have difficulty getting something done, going from place to place with no result.
فصّ ملح وداب (faSS malH wa-daab)
To vanish into thin air, completely disappear. A فص ملح is a grain of salt; if you put a grain of salt into some water, it'll dissolve and vanish, so this is where the expression comes from.
بعيد عنك (ba3iid 3annak)
Used to refer to something undesirable, saying, "May such a thing be far from you."
لا حول ولا قوة الا بالله (la Hawla wala qowwa illa billaah)
There is no power or strength but with God. Used, generally by religious Muslims, on hearing that something bad happened to someone. Or it can express resignation or helplessness.

اعمل معروف (i3mel ma3ruuf)
Please, do something nice; do me a favor.
تقيل (ج) تقايل (ti'iil [pl.] ta'aayil)
Someone who keeps his cool.

ايده طايلة (iidu Tayla)
Describes someone strong who can do anything.
ناجح بتلاتة (naagiH bi-talaata)
Completely successful.

ايده تتلفّ في حرير (iidu titlaff fi Hriir)
He's a great craftsman, skillful at his job. Lit. His hand (deserves to be) wrapped in silk.

شيش بيش (šeiš beiš)
Half blind.

استرجل (istargil)
Be a man.

طار - يطير من الفرحة (Taar - yiTiir min il-farHa)
To jump for joy. Lit. to fly out of joy.

يا ساتر (ya saatir)
An expression of dismay, like "Oh no!", meaning "May God protect us!"

على لحم بطنه (3ala laHm baTnu)
On an empty stomach. Lit. on the meat of his stomach.

سرّك في بير (sirrak fi biir)
Your secret is safe with me. Lit. Your secret is in a well.

ماتتبلش في بقه فولة (matitballaš fi bo''u fuula)
He has a big mouth; he can't keep his mouth shut about anything. Lit. A bean wouldn't get wet in his mouth.

معذور في الفلوس (ma3zuur fil-filuus)
Hard-up for money.

خليك في حالك (xalliik fi Haalak)
Mind your own business.

بلّ - يبلّ (بلّة) ريقه (ball - yibill [balla] rii'u)
To wet one's whistle (i.e. have something to drink). Or, to give someone respite. Lit. to wet/moisten one's saliva.

شحطط - يشحطط (شحططة) (šaHTaT - yišaHTaT [šaHTaTa])
To drag someone around from place to place.

خلّص -يخلّص حق (xallaS - yixallaS Ha'')
To take something someone owes you in trade instead of money.

كفر - يكفر (كفر) في (kafar - yikfar [kufr] fi)
To get fed up with something, sick and tired of it. (On its own, كفر means "to blaspheme or deny God's existence.")
اللهم بلغت، اللهم فاشهد (allaahuma ballaġt, allaahuma fašhad)
I warned you, and you didn't listen to me, so if things turn out badly for you, it's your fault.

قصّر - يقصّر (تقصير) ('aSSar - yi'aSSar [ta'Siir])
To neglect one's duty to others.
شال - يشيل (شئ) من الدماغ (šaal - yišiil s.t. min id-dimaaġ)
To forget about something (lit. to remove it from one's mind).
دخل - يدخل من الباب (daxal - yidxal min il-baab)
To approach the matter of marriage in a legitimate, sanctioned way. Lit. to enter by the door (as opposed to the window) — so instead of a boy going out with a girl secretly, he goes to her parents and asks for her hand.
من الباب للطاق (min il-baab liT-Taa')
For no apparent reason. Lit. from the door to the opening.
في رقبة __ (fi ra'abit s.o.)
Someone's responsibility. Lit. on someone's neck.
علامة مسجلة (3alaama mosaggala)
A trademark; can be used idiomatically, as in English, to refer to something someone does really well.
طلّع فيه القطط الفاطسة (Talla3 fiih il-'oTaT il-faTsa)
To only find bad things to say about something, often in the context of finding reasons to refuse someone. Lit. to claim it has dead cats in it.
ابقى قابلني لو... (ib'a 'abilni law...)
I'll eat my hat if... You can have a laugh at my expense if...
شايل من __ (šaayil min __)
Holding a grudge against someone.
حقد - يحقد (حقد) على (Ha'ad - yiH'id [Hi'd] 3ala s.o.)
To hold a grudge against someone.
نفخ - ينفخ (نفخ) في قربة مقطوعة (nafax - yunfux [nafx] fi 'irba ma'Tuu3a)
To do something pointless or futile. Lit. to blow in (attempt to inflate) a torn balloon.
أدّن - يدّن في مالطا (addan - yiddan fi malTa)
To be talking to a brick wall, or feel like you're wasting your breath on someone who's not listening to you. Literally, to make the azaan (Muslim call to prayer) in Malta, which historically is very Catholic.
لا حياة لمن تنادي (la Hayaah li-man tunaadi)
Said sarcastically to someone who just doesn't get what you're saying. It's kind of mean, so be careful how you use it.

زي القطة المغمضة (zayy il-'oTTa l-miġammaDa)
As innocent as a blind kitten.
خلى رقبته زي السمسمة (xalla ra'abtu zayy is-simsima)
To make someone feel small or humiliate them. Lit. to make someone's neck like a sesame seed.
طوّل - يطوّل رقبته (Tawwil - yiTawwil ra'abtu)
To do yourself proud, do something impressive. Lit. to lengthen one's neck.

راح في شربة مية (raaH fi šarbit mayya)
He died a sudden or pointless death.

يا بختك! (ya baxtak!)
Lucky you!

رجعت - ترجع المياه لمجاريها (rig3it - tirga3 il-mayaah li-magariiha)
To go back to normal. Lit. the water returned to its (regular) courses.
ودن من طين وودن من عجين (widne min Tiin wa-widne min 3agiin)
Describes someone who's turning a deaf ear to what you're saying. Lit. an ear [blocked] by mud and an ear blocked by dough.
على بلاطة (3ala balaaTa)
Bluntly.
برج من عقله\مخه\دماغه\نافوخه طار - يطير (burg min 3a'lu/moxxu/dimaaġu/nafuuxu Taar - yiTiir)
He went out of his mind. Lit. a tower from his mind/brain/head flew. (There are a lot of variants of this expression; any is fine.)

صعبان على __ (Sa3baan 3ala)
An active participle used to talk about: (1) something that's difficult/hard on someone, or (2) feeling sorry for someone.
أتاري (ataari)
This can be used before a noun or attached to a pronoun suffix to indicate the discovery of something. Like "It turns out..."
قد ('add)
(1) size.
(2) extent; amount.
(3) capacity; caliber.
To refer to someone as على قده means that they're not very good when it comes to the matter at hand.
مسك - يمسك العصايا من النص (misik - yimsik il-3aSaaya min in-noSS)
To sit on the fence, or try to avoid taking sides. Lit. to hold the stick from the middle.
نفد بجلده (nafad bi-gildu)
He escaped by the skin of his teeth. Lit. he escaped with his skin.
دبلر - يدبلر (dablar - yidablar)
To repeat a year in school.
عزبة ابوه (3ezbit abuuh)
His personal property to do with as he likes. Lit. his father's estate or farmland.
عمل - يعمل من الحبة قبة (3amal - yi3mel min il-Habba 'obba)
To make a mountain out of a molehill. Lit. to make a dome out of a seed.
ساق - يسوق الهبل على الشيطنة (saa' - yisuu' il-habl 3ala š-šayTana)
To play the fool in order to cover up a trick you're playing on someone else, or anything bad you're doing.
فركة كعب (farkit ka3b)
Just a short distance away.
زي ورقة البوسطة (zayye wara'et il-posTa)
Something guaranteed. Lit. like a stamp.

حفر - يحفر قبره بايديه (Hafar - yiHfur 'abru bi'iideih)
To dig your own grave.
بيزنطي (bizanTi)
Futile, pointless. Lit. Byzantine.

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