טועמים גלידת רולאפס קראנצ׳ית בבית
A2 Hebrew listening practice · Standard Hebrew · Curated for beginners
What does “imale” mean in Hebrew?
אימאל'ה (imale) is one of the most-used everyday exclamations in Israeli Hebrew. It comes from ima (“mom”) plus the Yiddish-style ending -le (“little”), so it literally translates as “little mom!” Israelis use it the way English speakers say “oh my!” or “geez!”, at moments of awe, dismay, surprise, or sheer cuteness. The Yiddish -le ending survived into modern Hebrew, and imale is one of its clearest traces.
In this clip, a family at home tries a tube of Rolaps crunchy ice cream and someone gets to the surprise core. “אימאל'ה!” drops out as pure delight. The exclamation bypasses the more formal הו אלוהים (“oh God”) that Hebrew sometimes uses for the same feeling.
Vocabulary frequency
How common is the vocabulary in this A2 Hebrew listening practice listening practice?
General Hebrew frequency
Spoken Hebrew frequency
Words above this video’s level
Quick glosses for vocabulary that goes beyond this video’s A2 level.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · OpenSubtitles 2018 (HermitDave) (spoken). Buckets approximate; exact ranks not stored.
- ▸In Israeli sitcoms and family dramas (Shtisel, Shababnikim)
- ▸In Israeli YouTube reaction videos
- ▸In Israeli reality TV (HaAh HaGadol, the Israeli Big Brother)
- ▸In Israeli stand-up comedy (Shalom Asayag, Adir Miller)
- ▸In Israeli grandmother-grandchild conversations