3ishtaw!

kalimat al-yawm means well, but a9-9araa7ah it veers towards sarcasm.

Imagine for a moment there's a cute yaahil who wants to show you they can do a back flip. You are genuinely impressed that this tiny creature can execute a move that, let's face it, you've not mastered yourself. However, when al-yaahil does the flip again, and again, and again, each time seeking the same approval from you, it's time to nip things in the bud and say: "3ishtaw!"

Arabic	Pronounced?	English
ياهل	yaahil	a child
الياهل	al-yaahil	the child
اليهال	al-yahaal	the children
كلمة	kalimah	a word
كلمة اليوم	kalimat al-yawm	today’s word
الصراحة	a9-9araa7ah	honestly | basically

ighniyah

You know that trust levels in your relationship are not doing too badly when your other half yaghanii to you, totally out of tune, and constantly - even when you're practically begging him to stop.

It was a different story during our first dates. Even in the car with music blasting, when aghanii the lyrics and made a fool of myself, he never joined in, preferring to remain silent, brooding. Mysterious.

So one day, again in the car, a Pink Floyd ighniyah came on and I dared him to make tajrubah at singing it. He laughed because he knew I'd made it my personal mission to get him to sing, and at the choice of igniyah, he said, ya3jib-nii tafkiir-ich.

Encouraged, I cranked up the volume and sure enough, as soon the chorus kicked in, it was like a plug had been pulled: ghanaa and ghanaa and ghanaa.

Although I've grown quite fond of the warbling, I don't tend to protest as much when, in the car, he switches from the music station to the BBC.

Arabic	Pronounced?	English
أغني	aghanii	I sing
غنيت	ghanayt	I sung
يغني	yaghanii	He sings
غنى	ghanaa	He sung
تجربة	tajrubah	an attempt
يعجبني تفكيرج	ya3jib-nii tafkiir-ich	I like the way you think (>f)

yan wa ga3ad!

Today’s phrase literally means "he went crazy - and sat."

It took me a while to get my head around the image being conjured up, but it helped to remember a story bi l-maa'6ii when my French teacher used to get abuse from the class. One day, she went off on such an impassioned rant at us brats that mid-swing she caught the back of a chair and slumped into it, out of breath. She quite literally yanat wa ga3adat.

bi l-7aa'9iir, I can think of a few examples where the phrase might apply. When friends goes shopping - and return home with three times as much stuff as they set out to buy, you could say yanaw wa ga3adaw since the shopping frenzy brings on a feeling of dizziness.

And lastly, bi l-mustaghbal, when I finally dare myself to recount a story aloud in Kuwaiti, today's phrase would be a good one to round off any amusing anecdote. In three succinct words - yan wa ga3ad -  the point is driven home and 3ayal muu laazim to stutter or stammer to a tongue-tied finish.

Arabic	Pronounced?	English
ين و قعد!	yan wa ga3ad!	he went crazy!
ينت و قعدت!	yanat wa ga3adat!	she went crazy!
ينوا و قعدوا!	yanaw wa ga3adaw!	they went crazy!
بالماظي	bi l-maa’6ii	in the past
بالحاضر	bi l-7aa’9ir	at present
بالمستغبل	bi l-mustaghbal	in the future
عيل مو لازم	3ayal muu laazim	then there’s no need

9ghantuut

This cutesy slang word finds its swiftest application on small dogs and for al-baby over there that looks no more than half-a-day old. shuuf al-baby, the people coo, 9ghantuut!

Or if the baby is a girl, 9ghantuutah!

Another dimension of cuteness that seems to crop up often in Kuwait is when something is ba66ah, which incidentally is also the word for 'duck.' So when a baby 9ghantuut is also ba66ah, they're destined to hit the jackpot when it comes to post-Ramadan cash presents.

And to end the post, we have a musical interlude in which today's word is sung by some kids doing the locomotive.

Arabic	Pronounced?	English
صغنتوت	9ghantuut	teeny weeny (m)
صغنتوتة	9ghantuutah	teeny weeny (f)
بطة	ba66ah	fat | a duck
شوف البيبي، صغنتوت	shuuf al-baby, 9ghantuut!	look at the teeny weeny baby!

mirtaa7

Whereas in English you use the same word to describe a person or an object, in Kuwaiti, the adjective is often slightly different. If a person is feeling cold, he is bardaan or she is badaanah, but if you are describing an object that is cold to the touch, or the weather, then you would use the word baarid.

The same goes for this word. If a person is feeling comfortable, he or she can say they are mirtaa7 or mirtaa7ah respectively. But if al-ghanafah is comfortable, you would say it was murii7ah. 

Arabic	Pronounced?	English
مرتاح	mirtaa7	comfortable (m. per)
مرتاحة	mirtaa7ah	comfortable (f. per)
مرتاحين	mirtaa7iin	comfortable (pl. per)
مريح	murii7	comfortable (m. obj.)
مريحة	murii7ah	comfortable (f. obj.)
مريحين	murii7iin	comfortable (pl. obj.)
الغنفة	al-ghanafah	the sofa