a9rif

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

Nuria is a self-confessed car crash. One too many privileges later, she has wound up in group therapy. The group's title: Overspenders' Anonymous.

This is her explanation to the group as to what's going wrong:

"raaH aSrif today just like Saraft yesterday. Even aS-Sarraaf at the store says Sarf-ii is ridiculous.  I really should take his advice because al-maSruuf that I get every month just isn't enough to cover my habit.  I keep on hoping that the government will roll out a surprise birthday bonus but they've been tight recently. You would think aS-Sarf is fun but it's become a curse. My spending batteries are maSruufah."

I should introduce Nuria to the Kuwaiti guy below.

راح اصرف	raaH aSrif	I will spend
سرفت	Saraft	I spent
الصراف	aS-Sarraaf	The cashier
صرفي	Sarf-ii	My spending
المصروف	al-maSruuf	The allowance
مصروف	maSruufah	Spent, flat (f)
بسرعة	b-sir:ah	Quickly

اصرف	aSrif	I spend
تصرف	tSrif	You spend (>m)
تصرفين	tSrifiin	You spend (>f)
تصرفون	tSrifuun	You spend (>pl)
نصرف	nSrif	We spend
يصرف	ySrif	He spends
تصرف	tSrif	She spends
تصرفون	ySrifuun	They spend

mufiid

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

Thanks to the laziest of weekends, the extra sleep faad-naa.

Because the long ceaseless hours of work last week maa kaan mufiid. And McDonalds lunches had just about finished us off. How did it happen?

"Where do you want to have lunch?" he had asked.

"Somewhere mufiid," I would reply.

And then he takes me exactly where I am afraid he is going to take me. The pearly gates of McDonalds swing open before us.

"maa min-ik faayidah," I grumble. 

فادنا	faad-naa	It helped us
كان مفيد	kaan mufiid	It was helping
ما منك فايدة	maa min-ik faayidah	Thanks for nothing (>m)
الفوائد	al-fuwaa’id	The benefits
مافي فايدة	maafii faayidah	It’s not helpful

nawm

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

Due to today's end of week fatigue, this post will be a little meditation on sleep, or nawm. 

What do you say when you realise it's midnight and that "award-winning film" you're watching still has three and half hours' of running time? raaH anaam.

Or when the persistent person is calling (again) and your friend has already turned in? gaa:id yinaam (or gaa:dah tinaam if speaking of a girl).

Finally, there's a handy saying in Arabic that means "each to his own":

راح انام	raaH anaam	I'm going to sleep
قاعد ينام	gaa:ad yinaam	He is sleeping
شبعت نوم؟	shaba:t an-nawm?	Did you get enough sleep?
كل واحد	kul waaHid	Each person
ينام	yinaam	He sleeps
على	:alaa	On
اليمب	al-yamb	The side
إلي	illi	That
يريحا	yiriiHaa	He relaxes

juutii

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

I don't really like juuaatii so much but ana jaahizah to admit their power
over me. It all began when my mother would tell stories about her child-
hood in South America - conditions were tough, and among other things,
her parents couldn't afford to buy her shoes. This left it's mark: whenever
my sister and I would play barefoot in the garden, she would tell us to
put on shoes fawran or "immediately."

Years later, I began to travel. It was then that I noticed all the abandoned
shoes in the world. Some were mashed-up and left at the side of the road
bas others were barely scratched. It stirred my curiosity - but not much more.

Then, one afternoon as I was walking in Barcelona's old town, I happened
upon a shoemaker's workshop. maadrii why but I couldn't peel myself away.
I must have been standing at the workshop door for an eternity because the man
stopped his work and waited for me to say something.

These days albis an apron and sit beside the shoemaker with a last and knife
in hand. I won't recount how many plasters were required in that first week
(or even now), only that making something that takes care of you and yours -
possibly for life - seems entirely worth the trouble.

جواتي	juuaatii	Shoes
انا جاهز	ana jaahiz(ah)	I’m ready (m/f)
بس	bas	But
مادري	maadrii	I don’t know
اي	ay	Which
البس	albis	To wear (lit. I wear)

kursii

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

Today we're going to talk about chairs, or karaasii.

A little chair-talk is often very mufiid. How might you say, for instance,
"pull up a kursii" or "is this kursii free" in Kuwaiti Arabic?*

After all, the chair is the very threshold to a social life.

It's no surprise then, that a kursii was named after Barcelona, possibly
one of Europe's most sociable mudin. Believe it or not, al-mudayl of the
Barcelona Chair is over 80 years old:

It was designed in 1929 to show off the levels of creativity and innovation
taking place in Barcelona at the time. The humble designer of the Barcelona Chair
also happened to be one of the founders of modern architecture, Mies van der Rohe,
who probably spoke about as much Catalan as I do, and even less Spanish.

Mies van der Rohe based al-mudayl of the kursii on the rather debonair karaasii
of the Roman Emperors:

Despite the glacial perfection of its shakl, the Barcelona Chair is something that
even design gurus would never dream of putting in their home. Most will be found
gracing the lobbies of corporate empires in London or New York, and for better
or worse, they sort of say: "stay back - and simply gaze at me."

Many people who visit Barcelona would probably struggle to correlate this
plush, meticulously polished number with a city that is wild, fun, and to put it
mildly, a little rough around the edges.

That is, until you began to see the playfulness in its arched legs.
Or the stand-back-look-at-me austerity of Barcelona's other landmarks:

كرسي	kursii	Chair
كرسيين	kursiiayn	Two chairs
كراسي	karaasii	Chairs (three - ten)
مدينه	madiinah	City
مدينتين	madiintayn	Two cities
مدن	mudin	Cities (three - ten)
المديل	al-mudayl	The design
شكل	shakl	The shape

*
"pull up a chair" - isHab-l-ik kursii (>m), siHbii-l-ich (>f)
"is this chair free" - al-kursii faaDHii? 

chadhaab

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

"I need a new computer," Theyab announced one day. "Using your laptop isn't 
working out. It's not mufiid for what I need to do."

"I knew this arrangement would only last li-muddat five minutes," I sigh.

"I can't do this li-ghaayat next year. I'll go crazy."

"Hadd-ik you're crazy."

"maafii daa:ii you tell me that! I'm going to buy a computer right now."

I roll my eyes. "We've got no space in our apartment for a humongous machine."

He shrugs. "I'll get something really small. laa ta:biin nafs-ich."

Begrudgingly, I agree.

When the next day, a box arrives larger than Theyab and myself put together,
I can barely believe my eyes. It blocks the hallway and I can no longer access the 
kitchen, nor the bathroom, nor the front door.

Theyab starts laughing when he sees my face. "Don't worry, half of the box
is faaDHii."

"Get rid of it fii asra: waqt mumkin!" I tell.

Needless to say, the computer is huge, and looks like a breeze block.

"At least I don't have to use your laptop anymore," he chuckles.

"Uff, you meanie!" I pout. "chadhaab Theyab!"

مفيد	mufiid	Useful
لمدة	li-muddat	For a period of
لغاية	li-ghaayyat	Until
حدك	Hadd-ik	Totally (>m)
مافي داعي	maafii daa:ii	There’s no need
لا تعبين نفسچ	laa ta:biin nafs-ich	Don’t worry yourself (>f)
فاظي	faaDHii	Empty
في اسرع وقت ممكن	fii asra: waqt mumkin	As soon as possible
الوحش	al-waHsh	The monster

7aliim

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

aHyaanan there is no direct translation of a word.

An example of this is al-Haliim which sits somewhere between calmness,

gentleness and patience, without being exclusively one or the other.

So to explain the sense of this word, al-Haliim, I will hand over to another 

language, that of music, where another Haliim - that's to say, Egyptian singer

Abdal Halim Hafez - will give you not a dictionary definition, but a feeling

of what this kalimah is about:

احيانا	aHyaanan	Sometimes
كلمة	kalimah	Word

ayyabaa7

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

Today's word has to be said with feeling, so check out the pronunciation guide
in the link above. 

How and when is ayyabaa-h used? Let me alaargii some examples.

If you're a girl in Kuwait taking an innocent stroll on your own, you may find
a mounting chorus of guys in tow heckling ayyabaa-h !

Or after a long day of work, having not eaten a satisfying breakfast -
you arrive home and see a steaming plate of luumii-infused stew waiting 
for you. You smile and sigh: ayyabaa-h !

Or after accidentally dropping your flatmate's kambiyuutar in the kitchen sink,
you pull the old rice trick and the machine finally switches back on. Fate has
smiled upon you because he hasn't returned from work yet. ayyabaa-h !

And then as the machine loads, it reveals on his desktop enough porn files
to make even Larry Flint blush.

That's when you say: maa yijuuz.

هذا	hadhaa	This
فيديو	fiidiiuu	Video
نانسي عجرم	naansii :ajram	Nancy Ajram
اليديد	al-yadiid	The new one

kambiyuutar

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

How do you ask someone in Arabic to print something on the kambiyuutar for you?

When learning a language, nine times out of ten the first lesson is about the house,
food, or the family. Why? These days, what is the most relevant and pressing set
of words that are good to know after ee and laa?

Words related to the kambiyuutar, of course.

Imagine you need a print-out of your qaalib. You need it badly. There's a plane to catch
and it requires a printed paper ticket. And you cannot even begin to ask for it.

The mental lamentations begin: why did you spend so much time memorising the Arabic
for "grandson" and "banana" when you could have learned:

"tagdr  tiTba:lii  faayl-ii?"

But you thought ahead, you did commit these words to memory. Not only this, you are
asking the Arabic-speaking internet cafe guy with a sexy Apple kambiyuutar to iDqaT
File then isHab the cursor down to Tibaa:ah. The printer comes to life. And suddenly,
you have your faayl and your flight. 

Historically, al-kambiyuutar has not always assumed the sexiest of forms. Check out
Theyab's childhood one from 1980s, a commercial success in Kuwait:

The brand of this computer was called Sakhr, which equates to:

And since trends move in circles, who knows, maybe we'll be holding this thing
to our ears in fifty years' time - and charming our local bank manager for the
necessary loan to acquire it.

إي	ee	Yes
لا	laa	No
قالب	qaalib	Document
تقدر	tagdr	Can you
تطبعلي	tiTba:l-ii	You print for me
فايلي	faayl-ii	My file
اضقت	iDqat	Click!
إسحب	isHab	Drag!
طباعة	Tibaa:ah	Print
صخر	Sakhr	Rocks
وين	wain	Where is
حاسوبچ الآلي	Haasuub-ich al-aalii	Your (>f) electronic calculator