What does “atzlan” mean in Hebrew?

עצלן במשרד מקבל מכתב פיטורים מפתיע

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B2 Hebrew listening practice · Standard Hebrew · Picked for people who know more

💡 Did you know?
עצלן (atzlan)
Hebrew adjective · everyday office insult
“Lazybones,” with the Hebrew -an suffix that turns a trait into a person

Hebrew’s -an suffix is a tiny machine for turning traits into people. Atzel means “lazy”; עצלן (atzlan) is “a lazy person.” The same suffix gives daygan (worrier), kameitzan (penny-pincher), azvani (an abandoner), ravchan (a profiteer). Most of the resulting nouns are mildly insulting because the trait being labelled is rarely flattering. Hebrew speakers feel the -an sting the way English feels the -aholic glow.

In this Nirve Gali office-comedy sketch, every coworker calls Tzachi an עצלן for refusing to refill the watercooler, swap the printer paper, deliver mail. He stays seated. The reveal is in the printout: it’s his own pink slip, and the whole bit lands on one trait label.

How common are the words?

How common are the words in this B2 Hebrew listening practice video?

85.2%
of words are in the top 2,000 most common Hebrew words
Most of the words in this video are common Hebrew words.

How common in written Hebrew

81.4%
Top 1,000
85.2%
Top 2,000
88.7%
Top 5,000

How common in spoken Hebrew

93.1%
Top 1,000
97.7%
Top 2,000
100%
Top 5,000
👄 Words for talking
This video uses words people often say in Hebrew.

Harder words in this video

These words are harder than B2. Here is what they mean.

יואו
4×
Not in top 5,000
hey (interjection)
אסבך
2×
Not in top 5,000
to be confused
אגואיסט
1×
Not in top 5,000
egoist
אחחח
1×
Not in top 5,000
haha (laughter)
בדיו
1×
Not in top 5,000
in the middle
בום לתוך הפרצוף
1×
throw in someone's face

Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · OpenSubtitles 2018 (HermitDave) (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.

★Where you hear this

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