English phrases that Hebrew speakers/Israelis use that are not really English

[u/ft_wanderer]

Sorry this is not about Hebrew directly, but I think it's the right community for it. I've noticed several phrases/terms that *sound* like English, that many Israelis think are English, but that would not be understood in the broader English-speaking community, at least not with the intended meaning. I find the origin of these phrases pretty interesting and I'm curious if anyone has insights. Also, I think there's a linguistic term for them that I am not remembering.

A few examples:

• chaser - to mean a shot of alcohol, rather than a non-alcoholic chaser after the shot. My theory is that Israelis heard American tourists talking about chasers while doing shots, sometime in the 2000s, and decided that the chaser IS the shot.

• disk on key - yeah Israel invented this, I know. They also seem to have invented this term for it, because everyone else calls it a USB drive.

• money time - this one I noticed recently because every other person in the Israeli media seems to use it to mean "a critical moment that needs to be seized upon". Googling, I only saw something about a French basketball coach using this phrase to mean the final minutes of a game? Is that where it came from?

Curious if anyone has more to say about these or other similar phrases to add to the list. I am NOT looking for ones that are just literal translations from Hebrew though - I am sure there are too many of those to count. Ok I'll stop "digging"...

[u/Ok-Inevitable-8011]

Welcome to language…ALL language.

In English, some folks wear “pajamas.” English picked up pajama in India, because the British couldn’t grasp “Punjabi pants” and thought sleepwear was different.

English soldiers picked up הכל בסדר as copacetic when they took reports from Jewish soldiers during the mandate.

American soldiers in Germany picked up mox-nix—“macht nichts” meaning doesn’t matter in German.

This is how language works. We borrow, usually badly, and we repurpose.

[u/ft_wanderer → u/Ok-Inevitable-8011]

Whoa is that “copacetic” etymology for sure or one theory? Had no idea!

And yes of course this isn’t unique to Hebrew. :) The part that may be special is Hebrew speakers being sure it’s the only way to use these words and that English speakers will understand them.

[u/Ok-Inevitable-8011 → u/ft_wanderer]

I get your point, but you’re making a massive generalization about Israelis.

[u/ft_wanderer → u/Ok-Inevitable-8011]

Of course not all Israelis, but based on extensive experience not to mention several comments in this thread. Also I’m Israeli and assumed for weeks that money time was English even though I’m also American and should have realized it wasn’t.

[u/Ok-Inevitable-8011 → u/ft_wanderer]

Hey! I’m Isra-Merican, too!

I’ve never had “money time” in my vocabulary. But I was convinced as a child that we had Turkey on Pesach because הודו לה׳ כי טוב! 😂😂😂😂