you are arab if...

Uncle Bens
By Uncle Bens

1. You refer to your dad's friends as Amoo "Uncle"
2. You curse at your teachers or strangers in Arabic.
3. After a family meal, the women fight to the death over who should wash the dishes while the men sit on their behinds and discuss politics, waiting for their tea...
4. Your parents want you to become a doctor or engineer
5. You use your forehead and eyebrows to point something out
6. Your mother yells at the top of her lungs to call you to dinner even if you're in the next room
7. You have at least 30 cousins
8. You talk for an hour at the front door when leaving someone's house
9. You say bye 20 times on the phone
10. Your parents don't realize phone connections to foreign countries have improved in the last two decades, and still scream at the top of their lungs when making long distance calls
11. Your mother does everything for you if you are male
12. You do all the housework and cooking if you are female
13. Your relatives alone could populate a small city
14. You still came back home to live with your parents after you graduate
15. You teach Westerners swearwords in Arabic
16. You always say "open the light" instead of "turn the light on"
17. Your parents drink 6 cups of tea a day
18. You've had a shoe thrown at you by your mother
19. You refuse to drive anything but a BMW or Mercedes.
20. Your wardrobe consists of black, black, and more black
21. Your father is a doctor, engineer or accountant
22. You have a Persian rug in every room
23. You actually like yogurt drinks
24. You hug and kiss relatives you have never seen before in your life
25. You wonder whether a cute girl is Arabic and go up to ask her just to start a conversation
26. You have told your kid not to walk the floor barefoot or they'll catch a cold
27. Your friends tell you to be quiet when you are on the phone with your family because now you are screaming at the top of your lungs
28. Your mother has a minor disagreement with her (or your dad's) sister and doesn't talk to her for ten years
29. You hide everything from your parents
30. Everyone is a family friend
31. You're walking out of customs with your trolley at the airport and you see at least twenty-five members of your family who have come to pick you up
32. One of your aunt's weighs over 300 pounds
33. Your family, relatives and close family friends keep on bugging you to get married and when you finally think you found the right person, they don't like him/her.
34. You're proud to be an Arab!

So do you have things in common with that ?

By tnaljam• 15 Oct 2008 16:35
tnaljam

1- I'm proud to be arabic guy...when i get married...more than 1000 of my relative attend my marriage celebration. by the way i know all of them very well.

2- you can find fat poeple wherever you go, and this is not shame.

3- when i come back to my home country in vacation, i found around 5 cars waiting me and more than 100 person at home. this is honorable.

4- when i was graduted from the university, 50-70 car participate in driving me home. more than 150 person.

and after what i mentioned, do you think that is shame or honor.

By Amoud• 15 Oct 2008 15:55
Amoud

Hmmm... Australians....First let me apologize to all those from the land down under who may take offense.

I found this rant and thought you might enjoy.

You know you're Australian if ...

1. You know the meaning of the word 'girt'.

2. You believe that stubbies can be either drunk or worn.

3. You think it's normal to have a leader called Kevin.

4. You waddle when you walk due to the 53 expired petrol discount vouchers stuffed in your wallet or purse.

5. You've made a bong out of your garden hose rather than use it for something illegal such as watering the garden.

6. You believe it is appropriate to put a rubber in your son's pencil case when he first attends school.

7. When you hear that an American 'roots for his team' you wonder how often and with whom.

8. You understand that the phrase 'a group of women wearing black thongs' refers to footwear and may be less alluring than it sounds.

9. You pronounce Melbourne as 'Mel-bin'.

10. You pronounce Penrith as 'Pen-riff'.

11. You believe the 'l' in the word 'Australia' is optional.

12. You can translate: 'Dazza and Shazza played Acca Dacca on the way to Maccas.'

13. You believe it makes perfect sense for a nation to decorate its highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns and sheep.

14. You call your best friend 'a total bastard' but someone you really, truly despise is just 'a bit of a bastard'.

15. You think 'Woolloomooloo' is a perfectly reasonable name for a place.

16. You're secretly proud of our killer wildlife.

17. You believe it makes sense for a country to have a $1 coin that's twice as big as its $2 coin.

18. You understand that 'Wagga Wagga' can be abbreviated to 'Wagga' but 'Woy Woy' can't be called 'Woy'.

19. You believe that cooked-down axle grease makes a good breakfast spread.

20. You believe all famous Kiwis are actually Australian, until they stuff up, at which point they again become Kiwis.

21. Hamburger. Beetroot. Of course.

22. You know that certain words must, by law, be shouted out during any rendition of the Angels' song 'Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again'.

23. You believe, as an article of faith, that the confectionery known as the Wagon Wheel has become smaller with every passing year.

24. You still don't get why the 'Labor' in 'Australian Labor Party' is not spelt with a 'u'.

25. You wear ugh boots outside the house.

26. You believe, as an article of faith, that every important discovery in the world was made by an Australian but then sold off to the Yanks for a pittance.

27. You believe that the more you shorten someone's name the more you like them.

28. Whatever your linguistic skills, you find yourself able to order takeaway fluently in every Asian language.

29. You understand that 'excuse me' can sound rude, while 'scuse me' is always polite.

30. You know what it's like to swallow a fly, on occasion via your nose.

31. You understand that 'you' has a plural and that it's 'youse'.

32. You know it's not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to handle.

33. Your biggest family argument over the summer concerned the rules for beach cricket.

34. You shake your head in horror when companies try to market what they call 'Anzac cookies'.

35. You still think of Kylie as 'that girl off Neighbours'.

36. When returning home from overseas, you expect to be brutally strip-searched by Customs - just in case you're trying to sneak in fruit.

37. You believe the phrase 'smart casual' refers to a pair of black tracky-daks, suitably laundered.

38. You understand that all train timetables are works of fiction.

39. When working on a bar, you understand male customers will feel the need to offer an excuse whenever they order low-alcohol beer.

40. You get choked up with emotion by the first verse of the national anthem and then have trouble remembering the second.

41. You find yourself ignorant of nearly all the facts deemed essential in the government's new test for migrants.

42. You know, whatever the tourist books say, that no one says 'cobber'.

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"

By Uncle Bens• 15 Oct 2008 14:00
Uncle Bens

what about australians !?

By Amoud• 15 Oct 2008 13:21
Amoud

lol... our Egyptian Mandoob brought me a present from Egypt also, a frozen turkey and a frozen chicken, both with their tiny little heads still attached.

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"

By britexpat• 15 Oct 2008 13:14
britexpat

This is a true story that happened to me and I am relating it for fun, without any intention to insult anyone..

I arrived at Riyadh Airport at the same time as an Egyptian Airways flight. So the passengers merged when we got to customs..

The lady in front of me had "two goat's heads and a couple of cooked chickens" in her luggage.

We were in stitches when the argument ensued between her and the customs guy..

By Amoud• 15 Oct 2008 13:01
Amoud

lol Brit, .. or how about if you bring present for your family and extended family when you go home for a visit.

...or... if you go on vacation the baggage scan will show at least 5 food items in your luggage.

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"

By britexpat• 15 Oct 2008 12:11
britexpat

You know you are Arab, If you standing next to the largest suitcases at conveyor belt !

By anonymous• 15 Oct 2008 09:33
anonymous

You know you are Arab when you answer the phone and the caller asks "How are you, How is the family, How are the kids" at least 6 or 7 times before getting around to what they're calling about! :-)

By Uncle Bens• 14 Oct 2008 23:00
Uncle Bens

Absolutly right Amoud :))

By Amoud• 14 Oct 2008 22:19
Amoud

Hmm, lets see.

You know you are arab if you have to offer someone the same piece of cake 10 times before they accept it when they really wanted to take it the first time you offered.

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"

By abbbes• 14 Oct 2008 21:40
abbbes

HOW ABOUT IF YOUR ARE NOT ARAB???

By aprilfamily• 14 Oct 2008 21:25
aprilfamily

and this fits him and his family to a T! C'mon people, it wasn't meant to be unkind, it was just a joke. We just spent the summer with them and I would say that probably 90% of this list is true of them.

Actually it made me feel better knowing that throwing shoes at your kids is "normal" as when my sister-in-law did it, I was horrified!! LOL!!

Every nationality has their own little quirks. Why not just acknowledge them and get a laugh out of it rather than try to pretend we are all perfect.

By Shahrzad• 14 Oct 2008 21:12
Shahrzad

Arabs have many cousins, bcs they have tribes and strong ties among themselves. I have some Arab relatives also

I have some very nice Arab friends from Lebanon, Palestine, Morocco and Egypt..

BTW, lebanes culture is the most liberal one in the arab world..

Some of what you said is individually about Arabs of Arabian peninsula anyway.

By Platao36• 14 Oct 2008 20:01
Platao36

lol uncle ben that's so funny :)

You are portuguese if you:

2. You curse at your teachers or strangers in Portuguese

8. You talk for an hour at the front door when leaving someone's house

I'll try to add some more later :)

Only God Can Judge Me

الله فقط يمكنه محاكمتي

I am you and you are me, if you love i love, if you suffer i suffer

أنا أنت, و أنت أنا, إذا أحببت نفسك أحببت نفسي, إذا عانيتَ عانيتُ

By britexpat• 14 Oct 2008 19:54
britexpat

Sad thing is that many apply to my family as well, so I could be an Arab..

By Uncle Bens• 14 Oct 2008 19:15
Uncle Bens

So we can conclude from this joke that Arab culture is family oriented, warmth and hospitality is in everyday life...

How about others, tell us more about your culture :

- You are Kabayan if...

- You are french if...

- You are indian if...

Close minded people, this topic is not 4 u !!

take it easy guys ;)

By askme• 14 Oct 2008 17:28
askme

Nice but true............

By nazek• 14 Oct 2008 16:23
nazek

I'm partially Arabic I took no offense actually it was a very nice joke and I've heard it ages ago on other nationalities, no need to take offense take it easy guys.

By Flammable• 14 Oct 2008 16:16
Flammable

ohh common.. only 34 reasons?

-- F L A M M A B L E --

By davidpearlshaun• 14 Oct 2008 16:14
davidpearlshaun

I want to learn some Arabic swear-PM me. THX

By davidpearlshaun• 14 Oct 2008 16:11
davidpearlshaun

I see some of my American heritage in there as well as my wife's (Filipina) and some Italian and some european. So what's the big deal-laugh at yourself-it's fun. Hehehehe I'm American and our President can't speak proper English. He contradicts himself every other sentence and he still claims the Iraqi war is not about oil. Where's the horrific weapons? HAHAHAHA

You know you're a redneck if your working TV is sitting on top of a broken TV.

By manishapant• 14 Oct 2008 16:04
manishapant

some one posted "how to spot an indian".so many points were same........

By عبد الرحمن قطر• 14 Oct 2008 15:52
عبد الرحمن قطر

thank you ; your jokes make me laughing deeply

I swear , I swear , I swear , I swear , I swear ,.... I'm A'Arab only five times swearing I think you need to add ( 0 ) to be ( 50 ) times .

Thanks again, nice jokes

By dacount1229• 14 Oct 2008 14:41
dacount1229

It was just light hearted humor. Some of you people need to chill out.

By svelte_saggi• 13 Oct 2008 13:16
svelte_saggi

that was so funny,really!!!!hahahaha!

Keep smiling!

Saggi!

By amnesia• 13 Oct 2008 13:05
amnesia

lol a few corrections about Gulf Arabs

1. You refer to your dad's friends as Amoo "Uncle"

We say Amee for uncle and call dad's friend Khalee not amoo.

19. You refuse to drive anything but a BMW or Mercedes.

Is this a syrian or lebanese thing?

Alot of them are quite true though :P

__________________________

Mr. Q's Blog - A Qatari's view on Qatar.

By anonymous• 13 Oct 2008 10:36
anonymous

Maybe you can add as point no 35.

35.Your uncle cannot take a joke, he gets angry, then when you tell him it is only a joke, he acts as if he is pacified, but still remains angry:)

By Uncle Bens• 13 Oct 2008 10:17
Uncle Bens

For this jacki, dwelle and Ilhama..:

1. I'll not come down to ur level, because I'm arab and I'm very proud of my identity and my culture, so different from yours..

2. I feel really sorry for your biased mind

3. As the title indicate, this topic is NOT FOR YOU

4. The most important thing to me that my arab brothers take it positively and everyone of us find himself in this joke, and I don't care about ur opinion…

5. Once again I'm ARAB and I'm very proud of it especially when :

- My relatives alone could populate a small city :p

- My parents drink 6 cups of tea a day

- I see at least twenty-five members of my family who have come to pick me up from the airport :)

- One of my aunt's weighs over 300 pounds

I'm different, I’m proud of it ;)

By zayd• 13 Oct 2008 08:55
zayd

you know there's been too much in-breeding in your family when...

1)you overreact to a thread like this.

By Andrews• 13 Oct 2008 08:51
Andrews

Gopalestine.. .why u are over reacting

this is a joke..if you do a little search in Qatar living you will get similar kind of jokes about every nationalities ..Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others..

By anonymous• 13 Oct 2008 08:39
anonymous

This was funny! As an honorary Arab by marriage, I could sooo relate! And like some others pointed out, plenty of other nationalities can identify with parts of this.

Innocent fun.

Amoud, we never wear shoes in our house, my kids just aren't used to it. But when we go to the in-laws, my kids have learned to wear shoes or at least flip-flops, otherwise they know Mama (their grandma) will put a pair of her slippers on them, lol!

By Amoud• 13 Oct 2008 08:27
Amoud

This is so funny.... I love the no shoes part, big one in our house....

How come no one gets upset at the whole US "You might be a redneck" stint. Thats far more insulting.

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"

By baldrick2dogs• 13 Oct 2008 06:38
baldrick2dogs

is available at the Old Manor in the Mercure hotel ... and very nice it is too :O)

Did you Google it first?

By anonymous• 13 Oct 2008 01:21
anonymous

Uncle bens you should thank your god that you are here in Arab country ,And you have to remember Arab giving you a big salary and an Arab let you drive a nice car and you don't pay any taxes here, unlike your country. This is the problem with people like you. When we feed them they talk bad about us and because we are jealous people they think we are crazy. Really you have to look at your self before you talk about your Arab uncles

By nadt• 13 Oct 2008 00:13
nadt

lol Alexa, try a a big pot(raqwa)and yep still dont shake...

By Oryx• 13 Oct 2008 00:11
Oryx

a lot of it applies to Mexicans as well...esp the cousin bit...

By daiwai• 13 Oct 2008 00:10
daiwai

Chinese

If you're living life on the edge, you've got too much room.

By Mira• 13 Oct 2008 00:07
Mira

I am an Arab too and loved it. Will be forwarding it to my siblings. Thanks for sharing :)

By Oryx• 12 Oct 2008 22:58
Oryx

You know your Arab if you like 5 spoons of sugar in your tea!

It made me laugh because some we can all identify with...like number 26

Lighten up Jacki...geezzzzzzzzz

By jacki• 12 Oct 2008 22:43
jacki

not everybody will take things here as a joke,and making jokes between yourselves arabs is fun but when you announce it to the world as here i do not think everybody will consider it as a joke

By qatarisun• 12 Oct 2008 22:37
qatarisun

oh.. i know all swearing in arabic... I never say it though.. :(

can i still be considered an arab? :(

By anonymous• 12 Oct 2008 22:15
anonymous

you are arab if...... u swear 50 times per hour.

By qatarisun• 12 Oct 2008 21:47
qatarisun

Good evening Alexa... long time..:) how r u doing??

By fishermanalex• 12 Oct 2008 21:45
fishermanalex

it is nice from my point of view a am an Arab ..Egyptian and u fined it funny ...other QL members plz cool down ...

By Mandilulur• 12 Oct 2008 21:35
Mandilulur

Haven't been there yet, will try it! Thanks. My husband prefers it without the renal matter, too.

Mandi

By tallg• 12 Oct 2008 21:34
tallg

Good steak pie at the golf club, no kidney in it though.

By qatarisun• 12 Oct 2008 21:33
qatarisun

i liked the joke as well... nothing is insulting...light cute irony..

I even started thinking, based on these jokes may be I am an Arab too?? :):)

By Mandilulur• 12 Oct 2008 21:30
Mandilulur

I LOVE steak and kidney pie - where can you get it here in Qatar? (And yes, before you ask, I am trying to hijack this thread.)

Mandi

By dweller• 12 Oct 2008 21:17
dweller

I thought it was!

By nadt• 12 Oct 2008 21:07
nadt

I thought this was funny, and im Arab, come one its only a joke, and i might add something that was very familair and funny growing up in our household..

By mr_listener• 12 Oct 2008 21:04
mr_listener

'Amoo Bens' guess thats who u r in real life :P

seems like the story of ur life in 34 points!

coz non else can list-in so easy... it must be very hard being urself...

By anonymous• 12 Oct 2008 21:04
anonymous

Maybe they should renamed the site Qatar Living Reactionaries....... and before anyone asks I'll be happy to read something similar about the Brits. I could do with a good laugh....

I'll start you off.

You know you are British if you think steak and kidney pie is a delicacy...

By tallg• 12 Oct 2008 20:58
tallg

Man, some people on QL need to lighten up a bit. Jokes are jokes, and this one's pretty tame. Most nations/religions/races have learnt to laugh at themselves a bit every now and then. Try it, it's good for you.

By dweller• 12 Oct 2008 20:54
dweller

could only come from a consultant with too much time on his hands and that likes salsa, likes to dine out and speaks French?

By jacki• 12 Oct 2008 20:51
jacki

shame on you i don't know were are you from but again i am not an arab but you are here eating there food and earning money you should have better topics to discuss.we all have bad things in our cultures and an aunt who is over 300kg is very common in america and england just an example ok??????????

By Mandilulur• 12 Oct 2008 20:37
Mandilulur

Uh oh, here we go again?

Mandi

By Ilhama• 12 Oct 2008 20:35
Ilhama

It is very mean to post smth like that and I hope you will apologise for this.

And I AM NOT ARAB AT ALL AND DOESNT MATTER WHAT NATIONALITY I AM.

PEOPLE, PLEASE BE MORE INCLUSIVE WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?

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