Playing with Fire and Other Egyptian Expressions: ILLI in Fifty Idioms

A lively and informative collection of fifty common Egyptian colloquial expressions and proverbs, this book is must for learners of Arabic, language enthusiasts, and lovers of the country and its culture

The idioms in this small, yet mighty, linguistic treasure trove have been put together to showcase the use of the Egyptian word illi, in itself a fascinating anomaly of the language as the only relative pronoun that exists in this dialect. Organized around their day-to-day linguistic function, each expression includes the original Arabic, a translation, an English equivalent or explanation, as well as whimsical illustrations.

This book covers a wide array of meanings and contexts-packed full of expressions that will console, threaten, encourage, and much more--and is sure to entertain and inform both lovers of language and Egypt enthusiasts.

Mona Kamel Hassan (Author) is currently a senior Arabic language instructor in the Department of Arabic Language Instruction (ALI) at the American University in Cairo, where she has taught Arabic as a Foreign Language (AFL) since 1994. She has been teaching AFL since 1990. She is the author of Keda Mazbuut: A Grammar Book of Egyptian Arabic with Exercises, (AUC Press, 2020) and co-author of Roving Eye: Head to Toe in Egyptian Arabic Expressions (AUC Press, 2014).

Nagwa Kassabgy (Author) is a senior English language Instructor in the Department of English Language Instruction (ELI) at the American University in Cairo, where she has taught since 1993.