بنت تشيل الميك اب في المواصلات وتصير صداقة

What does “المواصلات” mean in Egyptian Arabic?

المواصلات (al-mawāṣalāt) is the everyday Egyptian word for public transport — the bus, the microbus, the metro, all of it. It comes from the root وصل (w-s-l), “to connect,” so المواصلات are literally the things that link you from A to B. Egyptians use it constantly: “ركبت المواصلات” means “I took public transport” — no further specification needed.

The clip earns the word memorably: one girl sits on المواصلات and runs a full, elaborate makeup transformation — moisturiser, giant powder brush, face paint in wild colours, a plastic bag over her head, false lashes — right there in her seat. Her neighbour goes from bewildered to charmed, and they end up friends by the last stop. It is a vivid reminder that Cairo’s مواصلات are a world unto themselves. The root وصل also gives you وصول (arrival), يوصل (he delivers/connects), and the greeting وصّلك بالسلامة (may you arrive safely) — a whole family of “getting there” words from one root.