shala3t gulb-ii!

When someone talks and talks and talks, sometimes a teasing phrase is needed to get them to stop, or at least slow down a little. Today we have that very phrase. You can say:

shala3t gulb-ii (if your sweet-natured chatterbox happens to be male)

or 

shala3tay guub-ii (if female).

It roughly translates to: "You've worn me out!"

"Oh you want to get a dog, do you?" my mother-in-law says. "You better ask zahrah's advice then - btashla3 gulb-ich!"

Here, bee-tash-lah gulb-itch refers to my lovely niece and resident animal expert, who upon being asked about animals won't stop talking about them. Not until you say "shala3tay guub-ii!" anyway.

The image that shala3t gulb-ii conjures up is rather lovely. Literally, it means "you've plucked out my heart."

In Western poetry, Sylvia Plath is just one of many who have used the heart-plucking metaphor, in much the same way as the Kuwaiti:

“If you pluck out my heart

To find what makes it move,

You’ll halt the clock

That syncopates our love.”

― Sylvia Plath, Admonition

So by "plucking out someone's heart," you have literally drained them of their life blood. 

To kickstart the recovery process, other than being armed with today's phrase, a revitalising glass of Tang or a KDD ice cream sandwich may also interesting options, especially when in Kuwait.