Mamnou3!

I stumbled across Mamnou3! (ممنوع) a few years back and have watched and rewatched it since. It still makes me laugh. The show is a Lebanese mockumentary miniseries about the Censorship Bureau. The boss of the bureau has invited a film crew to record a few days in the life of the department. Things do not go as planned. Hilarity ensues. Some content matter may not be suitable for delicate audiences.

The episodes are each around ten minutes. All are primarily in the Lebanese dialect and have English subtitles. The short format and somewhat narrow focus of the show make Mamnou3! especially compatible for independent or self-directed Arabic study. I’d recommend watching each episode twice. On the first watch, focus on listening and don’t read the subtitles. On the second watch, read the subtitles to fill in any comprehension gaps and new vocabulary.

All episodes are embedded below and available on the Mamnou3! website.

Episode 1: Introductions / استقبال

سيدنا/سيدتنا (سيد)
Our boss; Sir

متعجب/ة
Surprised

تدوق / دق
She knocks/he knocked

بتطهير / تطهير
I cleanse or I purify / to purify or cleanse
Used by Lamia in this episode to mean she's going to censor - or clean up - the foreign films

عاهرة
Prostitute or whore

ما بصير
It’s not going to happen or we can’t let this happen

سُمعة
Reputation

!ولو؟
Really?!

حاوية
ID

النسخ / نسخ
The copies / To copy; he copied

غلطاً
Mistaken or wrong

Episode 3: The Internet Connexion / وصلة الإنترنت

احتشام
Decency or modesty

ريحة
A smell

40:25
مزح
To joke/he joked (verb) or a joke (noun)

علمك
Your knowledge

اليوم اجى دورك
It's your time to shine
Literal translation: “today your turn has come”

بلا إفادة
Useless

واسطة
Nepotism or connections
There’s a cultural significance to this word that doesn’t translate fully into English

ما بدي حدا يزعاجني
I don't want anyone bothering me
The boss says this to Joyce at 4:25 when he and Sleiman are chatting and he doesn’t want to be interrupted

Episode 4: The Live Problem / قصّة المباشر

من عقلك؟
Are you out of your mind?
Literal translation: “from your mind”

شو بدي وجع راسي؟
Why give myself a headache about it? or why stress about it?

مباشر
Direct or immediate
When talking about TV or media, it means live, as in a live show

ما في منو
He's one of a kind or there's no one like him

شباب
Young folks or young men
If you’re talking about a group of all young women, you’d use صبايا

فترة
An interval or short period of time

طبعاً
Sure or of course

ما فينا
We can’t
في + ني/ك/ها/ه/هم/كم/نا
Can
For example: “I can’t go out today but I can go out tomorrow”
"ما فيني اطلع اليوم بس فيني اطلع بكرة"

Episode 5: Covering Covers / تغليف الغلاف

Pay attention to the conversations between Joyce and Lamia at 2:50 and 6:20. These two sections are good examples of the sometimes stark differences between words in فصحى and words in عامية.

الودع
The farewell
At 1:45, Najem asks Sleiman, “كيف الودع؟". Sleiman is trying to get transferred to another job so Najem is essentially asking how Sleiman’s exit plan is going

عم بزهق (زهق)
I’m getting bored

بىتتغط / تغط
She covers / To cover; he covered

طيز / طيزين
Butt/s or ass/es
At 2:50, Joyce uses طياز as the plural of طيز. Technically, the plural should be طيزين but, depending on the situation, طياز can mean the same thing

توتريني (توتر)
[Someone or something] stresses me out

نحافظ / حافظ
We protect or preserve / To protect or preserve; he protected or preserved

ناخذ وقتنا
We take our time

عنصري/ة
Racist

فجور
Immorality or lust

Episode 6: The Music Video / الفيديو كليب

طعل/ي عندي
Come here or come over (command)

شغلة / ات
Thing/s
This word also means “work”

دبّر راسك
Figure it out (command)
Literal translation: manage or organize your head

كلو بيمشي
Everything goes or, in this case, everything is approved
Literal translation: everything walks

أخلاق
Morals

بترتعش / ارتعش
She shivers / To shiver; he shivered

آخر مهلة
The deadline

بتنهد / تنهد
I sigh / To sigh; he sighed

Episode 7: The Artists / الفنّانين

ناطر/ة (نطر)
Waiting

معروف/ة
Well-known

دروري
Urgent or necessary

مسرح
Theater

طعم التم، تستحي العين
Feed the mouth and the eye becomes shy

بيعتبونا (عتب)
They blame us

عم تمزح؟ (مزح)
Are you joking? Or are you trying to be funny?

مسيحي/ة
Christian

Episode 8: The Play / المسرحية

مش عجبني (عجب)
I don’t like
You conjugate this word by changing the ending (عجبك، عجبو، عجبنا…)instead of the beginning - it pleases you

قبل ما احكي
Before I speak

شبه
To resemble or to liken someone or something to someone or something else
شو بو نجم اليوم عم يشبه جويس؟
“What’s up with Najem today? He’s acting like Joyce” (4:08)

!حل عني
Go away! Or leave me alone!
حل also means to solve

تناوب
Rotation

Episode 9: Civil Peace / السلم الأهلي

ابدا
Never or ever

من امتى تجي عالوقت؟
Since when does she arrive on time?

ملفة / ملفات
File / files

كاس
A drink, in this case, a drink with alcohol
Literal translation: a cup

نشيط/ة
Energetic or hyper

الحرب
The war

Episode 10: The Review / الامتحان

اجيب / جيب
I bring / To bring; he brought

سنين
Years
Could also say سنوات

كهربة
Electricity

الفنون
The arts

بيغلط / غلط
He makes a mistake(s) / To make a mistake(s); he made a mistake(s)
غلطة
A mistake