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קומבינה. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
קומבינה, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
קומבינה in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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קומבינה will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
קומבינה, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Hebrew
Etymology
Most likely from Russian Великий Комбинатор (Velikij Kombinator, “The Great Combinator”) (Hebrew הקומבינטור הגדול (hakombinátor hagadól)), the self-proclaimed title of con man Ostap Bender in the novel The Twelve Chairs, by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeni Petrov. The title itself is possibly a reference to combinatorial mathematics, or a borrowing from French combine. See комбинатор.
Dr. Rubik Rozental claims it's a loanword from Ladino (Judeo-Spanish).
Pronunciation
Noun
קוֹמְבִּינָה • (kombína) f
- (slang) shady business, deal, or arrangement
1996, לימור נחמיאס [Limor Nachmias], צְבוֹטוֹתִי [Zvototi], →ISBN, page 178:"אני רוצָה לעשות אתך איזה קומבינה," אמרתי לו כשהתיישבתי.
"מה הקומבינה, מותק?"- “aní rotsá la'asót 'it'khá 'éize kombína,” 'amárti ló k'shehityashávti.
“má hakombína, moték?” - “I want to do make a kind of deal with you,” I said to him as a sat down.
“What kind of deal, honey?”
2004, ישראל סגל [Israel Segal], וכי נחש ממית? [Does the snake kill?], →ISBN, page 36:המלחמה פטרה אותו מדאגות הפרנסה, הוא קִיים את משפחתו "על חשבונם" ואולי אפילו עשה עסקים קטנים מהצד — מה שהיה מכונה בעגת המשפחה "מ׳כאפּט צאך, מ׳נֶעמט צאך", כלומר: חוטפים, לוקחים. אם אפשר לעשות קומבינה — למה לא?!- hamilkhamá pat'rá 'otó mid'agót haparnasá, hú kiyém 'et mishpakhtó “'ál kheshbonám” v'ulái afílu 'asá 'asakím k'taním meihatsád — má shehayá m'khuné ba'agát hamishpakhá “m’khapt tsakh, m’nemt tsakh”, k'lomár: khot'fím, lok'khím. 'im 'efshár la'asót kombína — láma ló?!
- The war exempted him from worrying about making a living, he supported his family “at their expense” and maybe even did some small jobs on the side — what he called in his family jargon “m’khapt tsakh, m’nemt tsakh”, that is to say: we grab, we take. If it's possible to do shady business — why not?!
- (slang) a clever trick designed to beat the system
- (slang) a quick poor-quality solution to a problem
References