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hey guys, dunno if u had read this article in 7 days , its really funny:)

cheers,

Jerry



Can we get Dubai in the dictionary?
There are few places where you can hear as many different Englishes as Dubai. What’s more, some linguists believe it may be developing one of its own. Even the freshest expats already pepper their chat with “khallas”, “yani” or “yallah” and answer the phone with “tell me”. Phrases like “today itself” also have a cunning way of sneaking across linguistic and cultural boundaries.

Yet, if Dubai is going to make its mark on the English language, we all need to get a bit more creative. It is surely high time for the city to start contributing its own words to the international dictionary. Luckily, that is a lot easier than it was. Today lexicographers no longer regard new coinages as interlopers but as valuable publicity tools. Last week, for instance, Merriam-Webster trumpeted their dictionary’s latest edition with “unibrow”, “mouse potato”, “to google” and “soul patch” (and if that last one needs a definition, it’s a tiny beard on the lower lip).

Webster’s rivals also reveal how rapidly the language is now being enriched with both handy and utterly pointless new terminology. At the chocolate teapot end of the lexicon, bahookie - a Scottish term for the buttocks - somehow got into the Oxford Concise this year (even if you do jemmy this into a conversation, the response is pretty much guaranteed to be “!?”). On the other hand, ‘shoulder-surfing’ (also new to the Oxford Concise) has a lot going for it. Even in Dubai, spying over a shoulder to pick up ID numbers or passwords could use a handy shorthand.

But what new words is Dubai crying out for? For Sam, an American of Lebanese descent, the term her husband coined on visiting Dubai was “to be lebbed out.” “I just took him to a lot of places and one evening he just said, ‘Look. I’m getting totally lebbed out’,” she says. Janet, a PR executive, feels that the one Dubai moment calling out for a neologism is the glance motorists give each other in traffic jams.

“It’s so odd - we need a word for that,” she says. In any case, Dubai must have a wealth of unique phenomena in need of naming. To stimulate the city’s creativity in doing so, here are some ideas for getting a UAE-branded word into a future edition of the English dictionary.

HOW TO SPEAK DINGLISH (THAT’S DUBAI ENGLISH BY THE WAY)

AhlanificatioN - The process of an everyday expat discovering his or her inner Paris Hilton through the party pages of local magazines.

TO DO AN AUSTIN - To get away with something.

Bank Street blackjack -The dilemma of whether to take a parking space or hope to find one nearer your destination.

black marker madness -Neurotic concern about offending cultural sensibilities.

BR time - An arrangement made with a degree of flexibility as in, “Let’s say eight, o’clock BR time (BR is an acronym of Beach Road).

cineplex complex - A psychological condition associated with extreme rage. The victim hears a multitude of loud voices although he is in the theoretically silent environment of a cinema.

Creek-averse - An unwillingness to go Deira (see also Deiraphobic and Deirosis).

cruiser bruisers -Aggressive drivers in Land Cruisers.

deckered - A state of shambling incoherence common among British expats.

Deira stare rage -Annoyance due to being looked at like a visiting alien (see also Dub-eye-contact and Du-eye-strain).

Deira staremaster - A gentleman with a penetrating gaze.

Dinglish - Dubai English.

to dingle - To speak Dinglish inadvertently, as in, “I’ll do that today itself. Sorry, just an attack of the dingles.”

double zero hero - A term of sincere admiration for a member of the Hot 100

Dubiquity -The state of being seen at every single event in Dubai (adj duquitious).

to play Dub-I spy -To check out the drivers of the car next to you in the queue for a traffic light (aka Dub-eyeballing).

duperlative - A dubious claim that something is the tallest, biggest etc in the world.

eau de taxi - A distinctive scent associated with the words Dubai Transport

Gulf bore syndrome - The inability to talk about anything apart from rents, traffic and the fact “it’s such a cultural desert out here.”

to be hot hundreded - To be publicly humiliated, as in, “I walked across the bar with my skirt tucked into my knickers. I felt totally hot-hundreded!”

how much? - A colloquial Bur Dubai greeting.

Ittihadic breakdown -Mental collapse induced by commuting to Sharjah on Ittihad Road.

jane drain - The migration of long-term expats from Jumeirah to the exurbs of the Springs and the Greens.

jess stress - Adverse reaction to hyper-competitive parenting associated with Jumeirah English-Speaking School.

Jumeirah MC’s - UAE-based micro-celebrities (see Ahlanification).

karama chameleon -Someone who regularly updates their wardrobe with flashy but suspect labels.

lebbed out - State of exhaustion sometimes associated with Peppermint nightclub.

Lime Tree mumster trucker - A Jumeirah Jane-type behind the wheel of an outsize 4WD.

Media City Cedar effect -The tendency of managers in media companies to employ cousins.

modhesh-fatigue - The state of irritability currently afflicting many Dubai-residents.

my friend - A total stranger.

OIDY - From acronym for “only in Dubai”, as in, “It’s been a really oidy days.”

Palm pirate - A real estate marauder.

Splurge al Arab - The tendency for expats to blow their entire wagepacket every week.

stresspat - An expat addicted to moaning about the UAE.

trolley-chasers - Men who pursue Emirates girls.

Article printed from 7DAYS: http://www.7days.ae

URL to article: http://www.7days.ae/2006/07/16/can-we-g ... onary.html

Good one Jeevan

sage & onion wrote:Good one Jeevan

your just agreeing as you have no friends