A good share of the Egyptian you'll hear in a day didn't start out as Arabic. The word for bridge is Turkish and the word for crocodile is older than Arabic itself. Knowing where a word came from makes it stick.
From Turkish
Ottoman rule left the most words. 'ooDa is room, from Turkish oda. kobri is bridge, from köprü; every bridge over the Nile is a kobri. is bag, from çanta.
- This bag is expensive.
is shoes, from çizme, which in Turkish is a boot. Taboor is queue, from tabur, a battalion, which tells you something about how Egyptians picture a queue.
- These shoes are expensive.
From Italian
The Italian layer is from the 1800s, when Alexandria and Cairo had large Italian communities. gambari is shrimp, from gamberi. fatoora is the bill or invoice, from fattura. roshetta is a prescription, from ricetta. gornaal is newspaper, from giornale.
The best one is robabekya, old junk. It's from roba vecchia, old stuff, and it's still the cry of the man who walks the streets with a cart buying what you don't want.
From French
French came with the department stores and the upper class. asanseer is the lift, from ascenseur. kanaba is sofa, from canapé. garaaj is garage. bofeeh is a sideboard, from buffet. is trousers, from pantalon.
- These trousers are long.
From Coptic, older than Arabic
Egyptians spoke Coptic before Arabic arrived, and some words never left. timsaa7 is crocodile, from Coptic emsah. shibshib is slippers, by most accounts Coptic. Tooba is brick, and Spanish adobe comes from the same word through Arabic. waa7a is oasis, from ouahe. biSaara, the fava dish, is Coptic for cooked beans.
The full list
| Egyptian | Means | From |
|---|---|---|
| 'ooDa | room | Turkish oda |
| kobri | bridge | Turkish köprü |
| shanTa | bag | Turkish çanta |
| gazma | shoes | Turkish çizme |
| Taboor | queue | Turkish tabur |
| gambari | shrimp | Italian gamberi |
| fatoora | bill | Italian fattura |
| roshetta | prescription | Italian ricetta |
| gornaal | newspaper | Italian giornale |
| robabekya | old junk | Italian roba vecchia |
| asanseer | lift | French ascenseur |
| kanaba | sofa | French canapé |
| garaaj | garage | French garage |
| bofeeh | sideboard | French buffet |
| banTaloon | trousers | French pantalon |
| timsaa7 | crocodile | Coptic emsah |
| shibshib | slippers | Coptic |
| Tooba | brick | Coptic |
| waa7a | oasis | Coptic ouahe |
| biSaara | fava dish | Coptic |