bivas kreskas enfloreskas

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Pronunciations

bivas kreskas enfloreskas (BEE-vahs KRES-kahs enflor-EHS-kahs) listen

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Definitions

  • interj. Bless you (sometimes with each word added sequentially after each sneeze).

Example Sentences

  • "Ezra sneezed three times in a row, so his Nona immediately exclaimed, 'Bivas, kreskas, enfloreskas!'"

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Languages of Origin

  • Ladino

Etymology

  • bivas kreskas enfloreskas, lit. 'live, grow, flourish!'

      • Who Uses This

      • Ottoman Sephardim: Jews with ancestry in Spain and, post-expulsion, in Turkey, Greece, and other parts of the Ottoman Empire

      Regions

      • North America

      Dictionaries

      • None

Notes

  • These three subjunctive verbs can be followed by a second phrase, “komo un peshiko en aguas freskas, amen!,” which means “like a little fish in fresh water, amen!”


    See also gesundheit.

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