khaddam

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

Growing up outside of Kuwait, I wasn't familiar with having household khadaamaat. So upon finishing dinner at a Kuwaiti house, it was second nature for me to take my plate to the kitchen sink, but the gesture was met with cries of protest.

"Let the khaddam take it!" was the explanation.

I went with the flow, but my reservations about using the word "servant" lingered. So I asked someone for advice.

"What's a better word than al-khaddaamah?"

The reply: "maadrii ... filibiiniyyah?"

Looking for the perfect come back to this, in Kuwaiti?

Refer to this earlier post.

خدامات	khadaamaat	Services
خدم	khaddam	Servants
الخدامة	al-khaddaamah	The servant
مادري	maadrii	I don’t know
فلبينية	filibiiniyyah	Filipino lady (f)