7asharaat

3ayaayiz

bunkaat

Talk about being oblivious. For the longest time I thought that today's work meant, well, 'a bunker' since it is pronounced bunkah ("a fan") in the singular.

To complicate things there is actually a bunker on top of a mountain near to where we live in Barcelona, and sometimes we visit as the views are spectacular. So when my husband and his family were speaking Kuwaiti and I caught the word bunkah in their conversation, I naturally assumed he was telling them about our picnic spot.

So imagine my confusion when one evening he told me he wanted to get a bunkah from the store.

I think he saw I was in shock because he asked me if I'd prefer he got not just one bunkah but bunkaat. 

"It does get really hot," he admitted.

"Mmm," I said.

dlaaghaat

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

7araamiyah

In this life, you have your average everyday 7araamiyah. And then, existing on another level entirely, you have start-up mobile phone companies. 

I consider myself rational but somehow when it comes to my phone... should I catch wind of 3ar'9 or a promotion in which some key-ring or biro is thrown in bi-balaash, there I am, giving away my bank details like stale bread to geese. 

This particular company promised two iPhone 6s for the price of one, with single-digit monthly payments and hundreds of free minutes. I almost choked with pleasure and furiously completed the paperwork. So was it any surprise when I received a package with one iPhone 6 and one iPhone 5s with extortionate rates for local and international calls?

While I should be cursing that sharikat al-taliifawn 7araamiyah, they did make good on their promise to take back the unwanted phone. After about six weeks of calling them to do so, using a phone plan that saw them laughing all the way to the bank.

Arabic	Pronounced?	English
حرامي	7araamii	thief (m)
حرامية	7araamiyah	thief (f)
حراميه	7araamiyah	thieves (pl)
حرام	7araam	taboo
العرض	3ar’9	a special offer
ببلاش	bi-balaash	for free
شركة التليفون حراميه	sharikat at-taliifawn 7araamiyah	the mobile phone company are thieves

al-muwaa3iin

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

Some phrases don't seem obvious ones to learn, but when you do

commit them to memory, they open doors and buy you time.

دورك	dawr-ik	Your turn (to a male)
دورچ	dawr-ich	Your turn (to a female)
تغسل	tighasl	You clean (to a male)
تغسلين	tighasliin	You clean (to a female)