"Ani lia, shut up!" A said, putting their face in their hands.
"What did you just call me? Ani lia? What the fuck does that mean?" B crossed their arms.
"Oh. Oh, would you like to know what that means? I'm sure you would! Good luck finding someone to translate it for you!" A threw up their arms. "Fuck you!" They turned on their heel and stormed out.
—
"I think I screwed up my chances with A." B told C over coffee a week later.
"How so? What happened? I really thought they liked you."
"We had a fight. They haven't talked to me since..." B looked down, adding quietly, "They called me ani lia... whatever the hell that means..."
C was silent for a moment. "... They called you ani lia?.. What do you think that means?"
"I don't know... it's probably an insult..."
"B. Ani lia isn't an insult. It's a declaration of love." C laughed. "In English, the closest translation would be something like 'my love'."
"My love..?"
"Yeah. Or maybe, dearest? My heart? Something like that. But it's... not really used in a sarcastic way normally. What exactly did they say to you?"
"Um... they said, 'ani lia, shut up'."
"Yeah, so in that instance, it was probably kind of like a 'please'. It's like when you say to a loved one, 'I love you. Please shut up, I don't want to be angry with you'."
'But they didn't say that! They just told me to shut up!"
C sighed. "It's in the context of the word. I don't know how to explain any better, you're just going to have to trust me. They like you. A lot."