Useful foreign phrases |
Individual languages |
Colours |
Numbers |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs
Useful foreign phrases |
Individual languages |
Colours |
Numbers |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs
These are phrases used to at the beginning or end of meals and mean something like "have a good meal" / "enjoy your meal". There is no exact English equivalent of this, though some people say bon appetit, particularly in restaurants.
Many people say grace, a short prayer recited before or after a meal to invoke a blessing upon the food or to give thanks for it.
| Language | Bon appetit / Enjoy your meal |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Smaaklike ete! Lekker eet! |
| Albanian | T'boftë mire! |
| Amharic | Melkam Megeb |
| Arabic (Egyptian) | (bil hana wish shifa'!) بالهنا و الشفاء! response - (allah yihanneek/i) الله يهنّيك |
| Arabic (Modern Standard) | (bil-hanā' wa ash-shifā')
بالهناء والشفاء /
بالهنا والشفا may you have your meal with gladness and health |
| Armenian (Eastern) | Բարի' ախորժակ: (Bari akh.orzh.ak) |
| Aromanian | Oraxi bunã! S-vã facã ghini! |
| Azerbaijani | Nuş olsun |
| Basque | On egin! |
| Belarusian | Смачна есьці! (Smachna yesci) |
| Bhojpuri | स्वादिष्ट खाना (swadist khana) |
| Breton | Kalon digor! Debrit ervat! Debrit a galon! |
| Bulgarian | Да Ви е вкусно! (Da vi e vkusno!) frm Да ти е вкусно! (Da ti e vkusno!) inf Добър апетит! (Dobãr apetit!) Да Ви е сладко! (Da vi e sladko!) frm Да ти е сладко! (Da ti e sladko!) inf Приятно хапване! (Prijatno hapvane!) Приятно ядене! (Prijatno jadene!) |
| Catalan | Bon profit! Que vagi de gust! |
| Chamorro | Buen prubechu |
| Chinese (Cantonese) |
食飯 (sihk faahn) - eat |
| Chinese (Mandarin) |
慢慢吃！ (mànmàn chī!) - eat slowly 請慢用 [请慢用] (qǐng màn yòng) - please eat slowly 請入席 [请入席] (qǐng rù xí) - please be seated - frm |
| Cornish | Omlowen dha bos! |
| Corsican | Bon Appetitu |
| Croatian | Dobar tek! |
| Czech | Dobrou chuť! |
| Danish | Velbekomme! |
| Dutch | Smakelijk eten! Eet Smakelijk! |
| Efik | Dia! |
| English | Bon appetit! Enjoy your meal! (frm) Enjoy! Tuck in! Get stuck in! Eat already! (inf/slang) Happy eating! Get your laughing gear round this! (inf/slang) |
| Esperanto | Bonan apetiton! |
| Estonian | Jätku leiba! (used when joining the table) Head isu! (used when leaving the table) |
| Faroese | Vælgagnist |
| Fijian | Da kana! |
| Finnish | Hyvää ruokahalua! |
| French | Bon appétit ! |
| Friulian | Bon pitìc |
| Galician | Bo proveito! Que aproveite! |
| Genoese | Bon pro'! |
| Georgian | გაამოთ! (gaamoth) - frm
გაამოს! (gaamos) - inf გემრიელად მიირთვით! (gemrielad miirthvith) - frm გემრიელად მიირთვი! (gemrielad miirthvi) - inf |
| German | Guten Appetit! Mahlzeit! |
| German (Swiss) | En Guete! |
| Greek | Καλή όρεξη! (Kalí óreksi!) |
| Greenlandic | Nerilluarisi |
| Haitian Creole | Bon apeti |
| Hausa | A ci abinci lafiya |
| Hawaiian | E ʻai kāua (dl), E ʻai kākou (pl) - Let's eat! |
| Hebrew | (b'tayavon) בתיאבון |
| Hindi | आप का खाना स्वादिष्ट हो (āp kā khānā svādiṣṭa ho) |
| Hungarian | Jó étvágyat! |
| Icelandic | Verði þér að góðu |
| Indonesian | Selamat makan! |
| Inuktitut | ᐊᑏ ᓂᕆᓕᖅᑕ (Atii niriliqta) |
| Italian | Buon appetito! |
| Japanese | どうぞめしあがれ
(douzo meshiagare) = 'enjoy your meal' - said by the cook/chef いただきます (itadakimasu) - said before a meal by those eating it ご馳走さまでした (gochisōsama deshita) - said after a meal by those who have eaten it |
| Jèrriais | Bouan appétit! |
| Kannada | ಶುಭ ಭೋಜನ ಅಥವಾ ಊಟ ಎಂಜಾಯ್ ಮಾಡಿ (shubha bhojana athavaa oota enjaay maadi) |
| Kazakh | Ас болсын! (As bolsın!) |
| Korean | 잘 먹겠습니다
(jal meokkesseumnida) - before a meal 잘 먹었습니다 (jal meogeosseumnida) - after a meal 맛있게 드세요 (masitkke deuseyo) |
| Klingon | yISop! (sg) peSop! (pl) |
| Latin | Bonum appetitionem! |
| Latvian | Labu apetīti |
| Lithuanian | Gero apetito! Skanaus! |
| Lojban | a'o.e'o lo sanmi cu xamgu ko |
| Luxembourgish | Gudden Appetit! |
| Macedonian | Пријатно јадење (Priyatno yadenye) |
| Malay | Selamat menjamu selera!
(Please treat your appetite) Jemput makan! (Please eat!) Makan makan! (Eat eat!) |
| Malayalam | രുചിയോടെ ഭക്ഷണം ആസ്വദിക്കാന് കഴിയട്ടേ (ruchiyode bhakshanam aaswadikkan kazhiyatte) |
| Maltese | L-ikla t-tajba |
| Māri | Kia mākona |
| Marathi | रूचकर जेवण (ruckar jevaṇ) |
| Mongolian | Сайхан хооллоорой (Saihan hoollooroi) |
| Norwegian | Vær så god! Vel bekomme! |
| Occitan | Bon apetís! |
| Pashto | (kha ishtya walare) ښه اشتیا ولری |
| Persian | (befarma'id) بفرماييد (nooshe jan) نوش جان |
| Polish | Smacznego! |
| Portuguese | Bom apetite! |
| Punjabi | ਮੌਜਨ ਕਰੋ / مجان کرو (maujan karo) |
| Romanian | Poftă bună! |
| Russian | Приятного аппетита! (Prijatnovo appetita) |
| Sabethir | (Endiaré'hysil)
|
| Samoan | Ia manuia le tausamiga |
| Scottish Gaelic | Ith gu leòir! (Eat plenty!) |
| Serbian | Пријатно! (Prijatno!) |
| Slovak | Dobrú chuť! |
| Slovenian | Dober tek! |
| Somali | Ha kuu macaanaato |
| Spanish | ¡Buen provecho! ¡Buen apetito! ¡Que aproveche! |
| Swahili | Ufurahie chakula chako (sg) Furahieni chakula chenu (pl) |
| Swedish | Smaklig måltid! |
| Tagalog | Tayo'y magsikain (frm) Kainan na! (inf) - Let's eat |
| Tamil | மகிழ்ந்து உண்ணுங்கள் (magizhnthu unnungal) |
| Tatar | Tämle bulsın |
| Tetum | Serbida / Han ho gostu |
| Thai | ขอให้เจริญอาหาร! (kŏr hâi jà-rern aa-hăan!) |
| Tigrinya | ብላዕ (blaˋ - lit: eat!) |
| Turkish | Afiyet olsun! |
| Ukrainian | Смачного! (Smačnoho) |
| Üqoi | Kaj'ëëj'ëëvoghjaeti akavigo! U'uz'öghjaeti abzoohä! |
| Urdu | (maze karein) مزےکریں! |
| Uzbek | Yoqimli ishtaha! |
| Venetian | Bon apetito! |
| Vietnamese | Ăn ngon nhé / Chúc ngon miệng |
| Welsh | Mwynhewch eich bwyd! |
| Xhosa | Ukonwabele ukutya kwakho |
| Yiddish | (Es gezunterheyt!) עס געזונטערהײט |
| Yorùbá | Ounjẹ ajẹye o / Yoo gba ibi re |
| Zulu | Thokoleza ukudla! |
People who have contributed to this section
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contact me. If you can provide audio recordings
of any of these phrases, please send them to
http://www.nypl.org/branch/central/dlc/df/expressions/bonappetit.html
http://recipes.chef2chef.net/cool/data/appetit.htm