tafasta merube lo tafasta

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Definitions

  • sent. 'Don't bite off more than you can chew'.

Example Sentences

  • "But one thing must be clear. Tafasta merube lo tafasta. It means, from our Sages: If you think you’ve got everything, you haven’t got anything. You can’t have it all." (source)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew

Etymology

  • תָּפַסְתָּ מְרֻבֶּה, לֹא תָּפַסְתָּ, '(if) you grab a lot, you grab nothing (lit. 'do not grab')'

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education

      Regions

      • North America

      Dictionaries

      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).

      Alternative Spellings

      tafasta merube lo tafasta, tafastah merubeh lo tafastah, tofaste merube lo tofaste, tofasteh merubeh lo tofasteh, tafasta merubeh lo tafasta

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