What does “عايز” (ʕāyez) mean in Egyptian Arabic?

Egyptians rarely use the textbook أريد (urīd). To want something, they say عايز (ʕāyez), or عايزة (ʕāyza) if the speaker is a woman: أنا عايزة عصير, “I want juice.” It agrees like an adjective, for gender and number: a man says عايز, a woman عايزة, a group عايزين (ʕayzīn). Tense is added separately: كنت عايز is “I wanted.”

Put a verb straight after it and you can ask for anything. The customer here says عايزة أطلب عصير (“I’d like to order a juice”) and then عايزة أشرب عصير مانجا (“I’d like a mango juice”). Grammarians call it an active participle of عاز (“to need”), and you’ll also see it spelled عاوز (ʕāwez): same word. The waiter’s تحبي تطلبي إيه؟ (“what would you like to order?”) is the politer way to ask.