Posts tagged ‘vocabulary’
The one Arabic term I have learned working construction in the Middle East
Inshallah
The literal translation of this is something like “If God is willing”. Technically a Muslim is supposed to say this whenever making a statement about a planned future act. “I will excavate this trench tomorrow, inshallah”.
I guess that this is supposed to be an acknowledgment of God as the ultimate authority in the Universe. You can make all the plans you want, but God has to sign off on all of it.
This is a bit of a different mindset than your average American. If I plan on excavating a trench tomorrow it’s gonna be me that’s responsible, not God. God is strictly in charge of the outcome of the Super Bowl.
The conflict between these two different views becomes interesting when you are trying to build a multi-billion dollar gas plant on a schedule. “Inshallah” starts to be translated in the American mind as “Up yours, asshole. It’ll get done whenever I feel like it”. We use it as a way of negating the statement it is used with, or at least calling it into question. “He said that we will get the oilfield passes tomorrow, inshallah” really means that we don’t believe that the passes will actually be coming anytime in the foreseeable future. Also we don’t believe that he gives a shit about it anyway.
Now all I need to learn to say is “which way to the airport?” and I will be all set for my Arabic.