Lower Intermediate - Crossing the road

Since Arabic is particularly rich in synonyms, it is hardly surprising that another term for "pedestrian crossing" is given in the new online "Arabic Vocabulary Guide": mamarr al-mushaa.

as-salaamu 3alaykum,

Just like to say thanks for all the great lessons.

I'd also like to point out something I noticed in this lesson and actually in a few others, is that someone during the course of the lesson will often claim a certain word doesn't have a precise equivalent in English. In this case it was mushaa, which as mentioned in the comment above mine is "Pedestrians" in English, or you could even say walkers, and there's some other synonyms which might refer to a more specific pace or kind of foot traveler like stroller, ambler, hiker etc.

It is very rare that a word will not exist in other languages, what's more than likely is the level of knowledge of the language might not be enough to know the word. Although I'm sure you guys must know the word Pedestrians, it must've just slipped your minds.

wasalam,
A.R.

Excellent,

انا احب هذا الدرس

Dear friends,
Please have another look at the key vocab in the audio transcript ("we wait"). The English transliteration (Al2af9’al) does not tally with the Arabic word(ننتظر). ;-)

As many will know, we used the term 'zebra crossing' in the UK on account of the black & white stripes marking them. The odd term 'pelican crossing' (from 'PEdestrian LIght CONtrolled') was briefly used to first refer to the, now common, crossings with lights, rather than the old 'belisha beacons'. There are also pedestrian user-friendly intelligent crossings (puffin crossings) and toucan crossings (including bicycles) although I've never heard those terms used.

In some countries, eg USA, pedestrians can actually sometimes be fined for crossing the road in the wrong place or if the signal indicates otherwise.

My experience in Arab countries is that you just have to keep your wits about you and move quickly to avoid the traffic!