mashaakil

Who doesn't have mashaakil in some shape or form?

My English granny was pretty rigid on this subject. She'd say if you were physically fit, had food to eat and a roof over your head, you shouldn't have any shakwaat. And you certainly shouldn't claim to have mashaakil.

"But mashaakil-ii chaaydah," she would mutter. "I've only got one leg!" 

Following granny's logic, it would be difficult for most families living in Kuwait to say they had mashaakil. That is, until the national grid went haywire last week and left almost every household in the country without electricity for at least an hour.

When granny saw on BBC news that almost the entire state of Kuwait didn't have electricity, she chuckled: "I may be over 90 and only have one leg, but still, mashaakil-ii muu nafs mashaakil a7ad bi l-kuwayt!"

Arabic	Pronounced?	English
مشكلة	mushkillah	a problem
مشاكل	mashaakil	problems
شكوة	shakwah	a complaint
شكوات	shakwaat	complaints
مشاكلي چايدة	mashaakil-ii chaaydah	my problems are serious
مشاكلي مو نفس مشاكل احد بالكويت	mashaakil-ii muu nafs mashaakil a7ad bi l-kuwayt	my problems are not the same as those of someone in Kuwait