Social Greetings in Malta

                   

                    Not Bad, and You?

 

Don’t expect responses like “Great!” or “Fantastic” or even “Very Good” in response to the question How are you?  in Malta.

That’s more like the US where people will say the best when they may be feeling their worst.

The Maltese are more honest when they say how they are.  They’re more likely to say “OK,” or “So-So.”  Sometimes, if they’re really brave, they’ll say “good.”  But the most common answer is “Not Bad.”

And here’s why:

The Maltese, like many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern people—Italians, Greeks, Egyptians, Jews, the Maltese—and me--are very superstitious.  They’re often afraid to say great, very good or fine because they fear that misfortune will strike as soon as they say it.  So they play it safe and say not bad.  (Jews even call this process the kinehurra—so it’s not just me or the Maltese).

But, of course, sometimes you do say things are going well and with that you must—if you’re of this nature—(as I am) say something to pacify the “forces,” or “ward off the evil eye.”  And the something the Maltese say is jekk Alla jrid—which means if it pleases G-d.

So you will hear the Maltese say something like:

How is your new grandson?

Fine, thanks, jekk Alla jrid.

 Most people learn all the bad words first in a new language. I learned this phrase—and I use it a lot.

Everyone has told me to stop it—Mr. S., my kids especially and even my Maltese friends who are sick of hearing me say it.  There’s another phrase I use a lot—and I will use it here because it’s a lot easier to write and say than jekk Alla jrid.  And that’s inshallah—which means G-d Willing.

I’ve tried to limit it now to maybe six or seven times a day. Sometimes I will say a big umbrella inshallah, and when I start saying the individual inshallah’s too much, my family will ask, “Can’t you say a big umbrella inshallah today?”  And, yes, I can, but you can’t trick the evil eye.  How do I know it’s enough?

Got some things on my mind—and hope they all go OK.  Inshallah.

 

 

Comments

[Sennuwy (an ancient Egyptian name)]

Hi Eleonora, I cant remember mentioning the site, but I hope you enjoy it.  Its a bit different than class!  :-)  How are you doing back in Italy? Ilene

[eleonora]

you spoke of this site to class and I was curious. I had to write :)

[Ilene]

Hey there Eleonora, What are you doing here? Thanks for your comment--Ilene :-)

[eleonora]

good lesson, teacher ;) i remember it..only few days ago

[Sennuwy (an ancient Egyptian name)]

Hi Jessica, are you a nut like me about all this?  This drives B crazy when I do it all the time, but I cant help it xxx Ilene

[Sennuwy (an ancient Egyptian name)]

Hi Wendy, I wouldnt try throwing anything at the French when it comes to language--know what I mean?  Ilene

[April Wendy Hollands]

Hah! Customs and their reasonings are something I find fascinating. I might start saying it here in France just to throw the Frenchies a bit more just when they get used to my accent.

[Jessica Butler]

In Spanish you can use the word "ojala" in a similar way. The word is Arabic in origin from the time that the Moors emigrated to Spain. It roughly means "If God [Allah] is willing". My little contribution to this fun discussion- I liked this post!

[Sennuwy (an ancient Egyptian name)]

Hi Mib--Being Italian is not bad. Believe me, the Americans are very bad in English, too, especially in America--Ilene

[Mib]

:)!The Bad thing is that I'm Italian and , you should know, Italians are very bad in English....
Moreover in Malta everybody speak Italian, so we don't need to do efforts to improve our english... O_o

I apologise for all the mistakes I did and I'll do .

[Sennuwy (an ancient Egyptian name)]

Thanks, Mib, for confirming some of what I said--and teaching us a few more words.  (But you left out a few :-)   Ilene

[Mib]

I always used to answer to the question ! "khif int?" ( how are you?) either with "Tajeb (tajba in my case) grażżi" (good, thank you) or , more often with "Mhux ħażin" wich is, in fact , "not bad" :).
Maltese people always smile when a foreigner uses Maltese phrases, but they're very pleased of it :D

P.s. I have to confess, I did learn first bad words than ordinary conversational ones :).