For the first 10 years of my life, I never set foot in my mother country, Iran. Born in Spokane, Wash., my family was one of the few Iranian ones in an otherwise mostly white city.
During my first trip to Iran, it was clear that my accent was very entertaining to native Iranians. To this day, I have the “lah-jeh” (accent) of an American, and translate English words and phrases into Farsi in a manner that is comedic fodder for many of my fellow Persians.
That isn’t to say I can’t appreciate some of Farsi’s nuances.
In fact, the Farsi language has many phrases and words that make you wish English wasn’t so boring. These are my top five favorite Farsi phrases with no English equivalent:
1. Ghorboon sadageh
This is an endearing phrase that has the tone of “I worship the ground you walk on.” It is the poetry of words you offer a loved one: a gesture of self-sacrifice at the core.
2. Khaak too saret
This is an insult and translates to “throw dirt on your head.” This is not something any English speaker would say to someone in an argument, but very common in Farsi. When I first understood the translation, I was confused, but Iranians use this both as an insult and more recently, as a lighthearted jab.
When I first understood the translation of this phrase, I loved to randomly yell, “Throw dirt on your head!” in English, which threw people in my surroundings who didn’t speak Farsi. It was very comical to me, and was only appreciated by other Iranians who knew what the translation was in reference to.
It can be expressed in many different social situations, from being irked at someone for pouring the wrong tea, to yelling at someone for getting back together with their ex.
3. Roo-hetou kaam-kon
This phrase is translated as “subtract your face/soul.” If you were talking to someone and felt that their ego or attitude was getting out of line, this is the best time to admonish them with a good “roo-hetour kaam-kon!” It’s another way of saying “humble yourself.” Roo is translated as face or soul and kaam-kon is translated as subract or take out.
4. Goheh ziyadi nakhor
This phrase literally translates to “Don’t eat a lot of shit!” Someone can say this to you when you need a good reminder to not overstep your boundaries or get in over your head with life and gossip. It is something that has been said by my mother many times in my lifetime.
5. Rou dar vaasi/ta’arof
There is no direct translation for “rou dar vaasi” or the less formal, more commonly used “rou dar ta’arof,”” but it is best described as a scenario. “Ta’arof” refers to an entire art form of Persian etiquette, and elaborate hospitality is no exception. This phrase caters to the highest form. For example, someone comes over for the first time, and you immediately clean your house top to bottom, bring out the best silverware and plates, and put on something sensible to answer the door in. You need to show your first houseguest the best of everything you have so they can have the utmost enjoyable experience.
That’s my take on Persian expressions!
To hear more entertaining translations from Farsi to English, watch this video:
Editors note: This story has been updated since its original publication. Clarifications were added to the term describing Iranian hospitality, “rou dar vaasi/ta’arof.”
Thank you, enjoyed reading this. I have tried to learn Persian on and off for years. Not very successfully. Beautiful language, beautiful literature.
Very interesting, food job and this is not TAAROF!!! :-)
Sometimes “Kam Goh bokhor” (Eat less shit) is used as well in lieu of “Goheh ziyadi nakhor” “Don’t eat a lot of shit!) lol………
Other than goh or ghee there’s another word to describe shit. Was it pegan or pegah or something start with P
sorry I meant to say GOOD JOB in my previous post….. :-)
To use these 5 phrases in my languish Swedish would be totaly impossible and very unpolite. People with good manner in my country would never use phrases like that.
I was born in Spokane also and being online looking how to spell safe journey in Persian being Safar Bekhaid. Is that right?
Its “safar bekhair” and its usually used for welcoming someone from another city/ country
I am looking for teacher to teach me Farsi .
There’s another interesting thing
The perfect number is 20 not 10
Its because school marks are from 0 to 20 and 20 means full mark .
20 is pronounced like “bist” or “beast”
“Goh makhor!” (Don’t eat shit!”) is the simplest form but eating human or other excreta is not a civil concept or expression. Abusive language may be useful for noting from foreign/unfamiliar tongues for mental preparedness but never to be acquired as vocabulary.
A better expression to discourage a person from fibbing is “Laaf kam mazan!” that translates to “Put on fewer airs!”
Thanks.
I am Iranian , your article is so cute , but about 3. Roo-hetou kaam-kon , first of all that letter h and e is not necessary ,I mean it is 3. Roo-tou kam-kon, that “rou” means face , “rou-tou” means your face , “kam- kon” means reduce , I mean it has nothing to do with “rooh” meaning soul….total translation means “reduce your face ” …It is used when somebody is too bold and brazen , …actually bold and brazen in Farsi is “por-rou” meaning a lot of face or plenty of face …that is why they say “reduce your face” when somebody is “por-rou” having too much face…actually we have it already in English language ,I searched and found this paragraph online : “have the (brass) face to (do something)
To have the will to do something bold, rude, or impudent; to have the nerve to do something.”
Love your article , about # 4. Goheh ziyadi nakhor , we have “sort” of similar to that in English as “don’t talk shit” or “stop talking shit ” but not exactly the same ,I found this online :
“Person 1”: That g is ugly.
“Person 2″: No she ain’t, stop talking shit just ‘cuz you couldn’t get her”.
Sorry , about too many comments …But I couldn’t help not to mention additional phrases only existing in Farsi , one is this , “pedar sukhte” , the closest equivalent in English Is bastard …the translation of “pedar sukhte” is “burnt father”…now I tell the history of this phrase , In Safavid dynasty era in Iran ,one of their kings punished some of bad or criminal people by exhuming the body of that guy’s “father” out of the grave and burning it ! and since then this phrase became popular in Farsi , for whoever was a bad or mean person to be called “pedar sukhte” meaning “burnt father”….the same applies to phrase “pedaram dar aamad”…meaning “my father was pulled out” , when that king ordered his father’s corpse to be pulled out of the grave…Iranians use “pedaram dar aamad” when they suffer in an agonizing situation.