The noun "lahm" calls for several remarks:

(1) Europeans will find it easier to memorise this word if they are informed that the place name "Bethlehem" ("Bayt lahm" in Arabic) means "House of Meat".

(2) Although the lexical item under discussion looks like a monosyllabic word, it actually consists of two syllables (la-ham). The first syllable is stressed, and there is an epenthetic vowel between the last two consonants.

(3) Mohamed's remarks about "lahm" clearly demonstrate that there is no one-to-one correspondence between Arab. "lahm" and Engl. "meat". "Meat" includes poultry ("tuyuur" in MSA and "zafar" in Egyptian Arabic), while "lahm" merely denotes red meat, i.e. beef (=lahm al-baqar) and lamb (= lahm al-haruuf). This kind of semantic incongruity has been discussed by F.R. Palmer in "Semantics" (Cambridge, 1979), pp. 71-76.

Since in the English-speaking world pork is often referred to as "the other white meat", and since the Arabic word "lahm" is reserved for red meat, some learners might not be sure how to describe pork in Arabic.

The answer is relatively simple. "The other white meat" is a slogan which was used by the Pork Council in 1987 in order to hoodwink health-conscious consumers into buying pork. Fresh pork admittedly becomes lighter in colour when it is cooked, but it must be classified as a red meat because it contains much more myoglobin than chicken or fish. This is why speakers of Arabic designate pork as "lahm al-khanaziir", thereby assigning pig meat to the same semantic category as beef ("lahm al-baqar")and lamb ("lahm al-kharuuf").

Theologically, of course, pork does not belong to the same category as beef or lamb. The distinction between "haram" and "halal" has nothing to do with myoglobin.

salam
can we use "hawil" instead of "try" ?

sorry i meant "hawil" instead of "jarib"

Thanks Desmond for your informative comments

Usmdrive, very good question. I can understand the confusion as they can both mean try, but with food, you cannot use حاول (Haawel). I’ll try to explain:

حاول can be translated literally to the imperative “Attempt” or “endeavour” and it can be used in similar scenarios. It sounds a bit funny if you say “Attempt to eat this”. Sometimes حاول is used when the speaker thinks the person might not do it for whatever reason e.g.

حاول أن تأتي الليلة – Try to come tonight (Speaker knows there is a possibility that he might not come tonight)

However, جرّب (Jarreb) can be translated literally to “Experiment” or “Experience”, it’s usually used with advices or suggestions e.g. جرّب هذا الطعام (Try this food)

Also,حاول is usually followed by a verb whereas جرّب is usually followed by a noun

Hope this helps

As an exercise, someone translate the following sentences to Arabic and I will let you know whether you used حاول or جرّب in the right places:

Try that restaurant
Try to travel to America
Try to play the game
Try the game

Ok, I'll have a shot

Try that restaurant - جرّب ذلك المطعم - Jarreb d'alik al-ma63am

Try to travel to America -حاول ان تسافر الى امريكا - Haawel an tusafer ila Amreeka

Try to play the game - حاول ان تلعب اللعبة - Hawel an tal3ab al-lu3bah

Try the game - جرّب العبة - Jarreb al-lu3bah

So if I went to a restaurant and wanted to know what was really good on the menu or what the waiter recommends or what is most popular there; what phrase or phrases are commonly used? I want to go to an Arabic restaurant in Tucson, AZ and try out some Arabic!

Best thing is to say (maa howa af9'al 6abaq ladaykum? ما هو أفضل طبق لديكم؟) which means (what is the best dish you have?) .. I hope they give you the best dish they've ever had

thanks for explaining the difference between the two 'tries'. It's clear. Leila you missed a lam in your last sentence

Try travelling to America would be
جرّبْ أن تسافر إلى أمريكا
and maybe also correct is
جرّبْ سفر أمريكا

لا يمكيننا أن نحسّن بلا التجريبات و المحاولات
We can't learn without trying (both kinds)

Shukran Ehab. i will be sure to use that phrase before I order.

mmmm:D that made me hungry

Bethlehem" "Bayt lahm" in Arabic means "House of Meat". but in hebrew "beat lahm" is "house of bread"

The sentence ( هذا الدّجاج ألذ شئ في هذا المطعم ) I hear as ( Haad’a addajaaj alad’u shay2IN fy haad’a alma63am ). I.e. to me 'shay2' sounds like being pronounced with a TANWEEN if the 1st sentence is spoken at normal speed at the begining or end of the podcast. If this is the case, then why is this so? Is "shay2" a genitive in this sentence?

شكراً

If a word in Arabic is not defined with (الـ) nor followed by a defined word, then it normally takes a tanween. That is a very brief explanation on why (شئ) is pronounced with tanween, however, I advice you to go to Lessons page and search for (tanween), we did few lessons on tanween which would be very beneficial for you I believe.

Bethlehem is a hebrew word
ביתלחם
בית - bait - house
לחם - lechem - bread

^ sorry didnt read the other comment

Hahaha, I absolutely loathe goat cheese so, were I to try, it would be try in both senses - an experiment as well as an attempt as it is doubtful that I would actually manage to keep it in my mouth for very long, let alone swallow! By the way, I once saw an amusing restaurant sign in Egypt, advertising 'Goat for Party"!

Regarding Shawrma, is it similar to shish kebab where there are actual pieces of meat, rather than the scary carcrash of doner kebab?

Thanks for another informative and entertaining lesson.

PS Being interested in etymology & culture myself, I always appreciate your additional informative comments, Desmond.