As part of our mission to bridge cultures, promote our regional heritage and inspire/enlighten our Readers, Khaleejesque has collaborated with renown blog "7achy" that aims to collect and display essential artifacts and terms from the Kuwaiti dialect as well as shared local Khaleeji phrases.
We'll have regular installments from "7achy", so check this space regularly!
Here's our first "7achy" post on Khaleejesque:
In ode to the terrible dusty weather we're having here in Kuwait, let us fill you in on the different names Kuwaitis used to classify and dub the various types of wind the country gets over the year.
"Bard Al-Ayooz"/"(برد العجو(العيوز" : Strong and cold wind, usually blows between 26th of February till the 8th of March.
"Toz"/"طوز": Dusty weather, and sand storms. (Exactly what we are going through those days)
"Kowss"/"كوس": Humid and hot wind coming from south, usually blows in the summer between July and the end of August and raises the temperature accordingly In the winter, it blows between February and March but in this case warms up the weather. Some suggest that the origin of this word, is the English word "Coast", seeing as how the words sound the same.
Now you can go ahead and act like you're a know it all, and not grimace/ask that Elder Kuwaiti what he/she meant when he/she start talking about the weather.
Oh, also helps with deciphering what the Weatherman says on those Weather Forecasts that no one tunes into except when we get bad dust-storms or sudden rain; hey we're in Kuwait, the weather doesn't change that much anyways, it merely gives us a surprise every now and then, scarcely wet and dusty most of the time.
As a joke we heard today goes, "قلنا نموت على ترابك يا كويت بس عاد لا تطيحين الميانه"
In loosely translated English, "We said we'd die for your sand (meaning ground symbolizing entity and freedom), but don't abuse that (suggesting that we're fed up with the dusty weather/sandstorms in other words your sand."
