Lee Kuan Yew on Malta

Re:Lee Kuan Yew on Malta by sumedh on Sunday January 21, 2024 @05:20AM (#39077213)

I know an older gentleman who moved out of Malta 40 years back. Is there any Maltese phrase I can tell him which will make him scratch his head wondering how do I know that.

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Re:Lee Kuan Yew on Malta by purrcat259 on Sunday January 21, 2024 @07:07AM (#39077732)

"kif ahna xbin? Kollox sew?"

Its an informal greeting, usually to someone with whom you're already acquianted with. It translates loosely to: "how are you my friend? Is everything ok?"

The x is pronounced the same way you would pronounce "sh" in "shell" in english (so KOLLOSH not KOLLOKS).

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Re:Lee Kuan Yew on Malta by sumedh on Sunday January 21, 2024 @07:28AM (#39077844)

Thank you so much. I am sure he will love it. He likes it when I say Bonswa.

I asked ChatGpt to help with the pronounciations. This is what it said.

So, the phrase "Kif aħna xbin? Kollox sew" would be pronounced as "keef ah-na shbin? kol-losh sew".

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Re:Lee Kuan Yew on Malta by purrcat259 on Sunday January 21, 2024 @05:44PM (#39083857)

Yep that pronunciation would be spot on.

Bonswa is very much an older generation term so I'm not surprised they enjoy it

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