lo aleynu

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Pronunciations

lo aleynu (LOH ah-LEY-noo) listen
lo aleynu (loh ah-LEY-noo) listen

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Definitions

  • interj. 'May it not happen to us'; an expression of the desire that something negative not happen to one and one's interlocutor.

Example Sentences

  • "I heard their house was destroyed in a hurricane." "Lo aleynu!"

  • “I heard Rochel Rivka was diagnosed with some kind of terrible disease, lo aleinu, and you know that husband of hers isn’t going to be much help.” (source)

  • "If someone's business burns down, lo alenu, they ought to call in insurance adjusters." (Glinert)

  • "When you mention something bad, you slip in a hasty lo alenu, particularly if it happened to an acquaintance." (Glinert)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • TH לא עלינו > Y לא־עלינו loy-eleynu

      • Who Uses This

      • Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa

      Dictionaries

      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).

      Alternative Spellings

      lo olenu, lo oleynu, loy aleynu, lo alenu, lo aleinu

Notes

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