7irrah ma7irrah

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

Go to any Kuwaiti saaHah and aside from the children playing, running about and cracking shwayyat nikkat, you may see kids grinding a fist into their palm. For anyone who didn't grow up in Kuwait, this sight is fairly mysterious but as I've recently learned, the gesture is the bonafide Kuwaiti way of children yaTaffruun and making each other ghayurriin.

The grinding palm action has its British equivalent when children stick out their tongue at someone and say "naa naa na naa naa."

When you get older, the same sentiment tends to be communicated by saying inta ghayuur or intay ghayuurah? Or even, after Theyab teases me into silence, he says, with a wry smile, "aTaffar-ich waayid, Sij wallah muu Sij?"

But grinding a fist into your palm and heckling Hirrah maHirrah is far more fun.

Verb	انا اطفر	ana aTaffir	I tease
	انت تطفر	inta taTaffir	You (m) tease
	انتي تطفرين	intay taTaffriin	You (f) tease
	انتو تطفرون	intaw taTaffruun	You (pl) tease
	احنا نطفر	aHnaa naTaffir	We tease
	هو يطفر	uhuwa yaTaffir	He teases
	هي تطفر	ihiya taTaffir	She teases
	اهما يطفرون	uhuma yaTaffruun	They tease
	غيور	ghayuur	Jealous (m)
Adjectives	غيورة	ghayuurah	Jealous (f)
	غيورين	ghayurriin	Jealous (pl)
	مرتاح بنفسه	mirtaaH bi nafs-ah	Comfortable (in himself)
	ساحة	saaHah	The playground
Nouns	نكتة	niktah	A joke
	شوية نكت	shwayyat nikkat	Some jokes
Phrase	اطفرچ وايد، مو صج؟	aTaffar-ich waayid, muu Sij?	I tease you a lot, right (>f)?