Learn what the expression ראש קטן (rosh katan) means
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| Hi everybody! Idit here. Welcome to Ask a Teacher, where I’ll answer some of your most common Hebrew questions. |
| The question for this lesson is… |
| What does the Hebrew expression ראש קטן (rosh katan) mean? |
| The expression ראש קטן (rosh katan) literally means "small head," and is used to describe a person who only does the bare minimum or doesn’t think outside the box. It's mostly a negative expression, but you can also use it to describe yourself, like this-- |
| אני מעדיף להיות ראש קטן (ani ma’adif li’hyot rosh katan) - Literally, “I prefer to be a ‘small head.’” |
| The opposite expression is ראש גדול (rosh gadol), meaning "big head." This describes a person who makes an effort to go above and beyond what is expected of them. It’s a positive attribute, and is often seen in job advertisements as something companies are looking for in a candidate. |
| This expression can also appear in a different form, as a verb-- |
| להגדיל ראש (le’hagdil rosh), "to make one's head larger" or "to expand one's head." You can use this expression if you want to say that a certain person is very responsible and will go out of their way to think outside the box and find creative solutions. Here are a few examples-- |
| ענת היא מנהלת מצוינת, היא תמיד מגדילה ראש (Anat hi mena’helet metzuyenet, hi tamid magdila rosh) |
| Literally, “Anat is an excellent manager, she always ‘expands her head.’” |
| Here’s another example-- |
| איתי, אם אתה רוצה להתקדם בחברה אתה חייב להתחיל להגדיל ראש (Itai, im ata rotze le’hitkadem ba’ħevra ata ħayav le’hatħil le’hagdil rosh) |
| Literally, “Itay, if you want to rise in the company ranks, you have to start ‘expanding your head.’” |
| Do you know any other Hebrew idioms? Tell us in the comments! |
| How was this lesson? Pretty interesting right? |
| Do you have any more questions? Leave them in the comments below and I’ll try to answer them! |
| להתראות! |
| (lehitra’ot!) |
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