#colloquial arabic
When Masry Sayed El-Araby, the protagonist of the 2010 film ‘Asal Eswed (‘Bittersweet’), gets on a plane to finally visit his native Egypt after decades in the United States, he is immediately met with one the conversational courtesies common in Egypt: When he sneezes, the man sitting beside him responds with a “Yarhamukum Allah” (God bless you). Masry, portrayed by Egyptian comedian Ahmed Helmy, knows what to do of course; returning the courtesy is simple enough. “Allah yerhamak,” he responds.…
