One for the Mlatasatr crowd
All together now - inkantaw ma' Trevor Zahra
L-ghalliem jghidilna dejjem
Li l-Malti hu hafif,
‘Mma jien nipprova niktbu
U lanqas biss naf kif.
Jista’jkun illi mohhi
Ikun mitluf, kultant,
Jew forsi, kif tghid ommi,
Jien hrigt ftit injorant.
Ghax l-aktar li nithawwad,
U naghmel salt caflis,
Hu meta nkun se nikteb
Xi kliem gej mil-Ingliz.
L-ghalliem qalilna niktbu
Dal-kliem, kif inhossuh,
isda…mhux in-nies kollha
L-istess preciz jghiduh!
Missieri jghidlu telefon
In-nannu: teleforn
Il-Mummy (jew Mami): telefown
L-ghalliem jghidilna blekbord
Iz-zija tghidlu blakbord
Mark Xuereb jghidlu blekbort.
Jien tghidx kemm ili nara :
Jeans u mobile miktubin,
Narahom fuq it-television (Sorry: televixin…) (Sori: sori)
Imm’issa suppost nikteb:
gins, mowbajl, tenkju, plis,
guddej, gudnajt u hendawt,
“Gej fowtow, ghidu cis!”
L-ghalliem jibqa’ jghidilna
Li l-Malti hu hafif,
‘Mma n-nannu l-bierah qalli:
“Dan Malti tat-teftif!”
Tu rajt diss moltis properli
Jess, ju mast hev samm gazz,
Plis, gimi e brejk, ticers:
Jur gona drajv mi nazz!
– Trevor Zahra
14 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
Insejtu l-majtezwel.
We must be the only people who can write a poem in two different languanges
Once upon gurnata sbejha
I was walking in a gnien
U r-riha of pretty flowers
Filled the air ma’ kullimkien
I love this – brilliant!
Thanks for the good laugh!
These people persist on having Maltese as our primary language but it’s a mixture of Maltese and English, albeit mispelt, mispronounced, often misplaced and always used out of context.
misspelt
If anything, misspelled. Misspelt would be the adjective rather than the verb.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100416/local/foreign-guests-at-labour-song-contest
no comment
@ il-Ginger
And my 12 points go to, hold on, hold on, here it comes, FEMINEM. Oh my God I’m getting too old for this stuff but thanks anyway ginger.
Great – a good laugh, except that it is too close to the truth.
I tried to read my son’s homework notes: “Malti hendawt Pg 3” and gave him a telling off for incorrect spelling, until I realised that he had copied what the teacher had written on the white-board.
And we pay good money for his education.
@ g – the same happened to me when I was helping my then 8 year son to read in Maltese – “Gianni libes il-buts. Yes you were meant to read it as “boots”, but it took me a good 5 minutes to understand as I read it as the plural of ‘but’.
Rita
You’ve got it all wrong.
In all probability the text read “Ġanni libes il-buz”. “Buz” is the pair of boots, whilst one boot is “buza” and many pairs of boots are “bwiez” or “buzijiet”.
At the Labour Party club in Floriana they have put up a board announcing that “Il-Fuwil rega’ ghola”.
I used to live in Floriana, and even as a child I used to note the grammatical mistakes of the club’s slogans. What can I say, other than the boards used to make my day!
A sweet poem from Trevor Zahra, which I never read. Thanks, Daphne.