Egyptian Arabic has perfectly good words for now, later and tomorrow. Some of them promise less than they seem to.
Tomorrow, sort of
bokra is tomorrow. Between friends it means it:
- Bye! See you tomorrow.
- I'm not free, I'm travelling tomorrow.
From a plumber, bokra is softer. It means soon, probably. Nobody's lying. In that mouth bokra is a direction, and you shouldn't wait in for it.
ba3d bokra is the day after tomorrow, and it's the one that tends to be fixed. If someone gives you ba3d bokra they've thought about it.
Right now
is now. It's "this time" squashed into one word, and the ' in the middle is the Cairo q, said as a catch in the throat.
- No, he isn't in right now.
- Come in now.
7aalan is right away. It's the strong now, for when the taxi has to leave this minute.
Later, maybe
ba3deen is later. It can be an hour or a month, and the word itself won't tell you which. 'ashoofak ba3deen is see you later, and as a goodbye it's fine. As a delivery time it's a question you should ask again.
is God willing. Attached to any plan in the future it often means we'll see. It's polite and it isn't a yes.
- God willing. Bye.
Reading the scale
From most to least fixed: 7aalan, delwa'ti, ba3d bokra, bokra, ba3deen, 'en sha allah. If you need a time, say the time. bokra 'en sha allah is a warm answer with no date in it.