# Another Arabic question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 14, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-arabic-question/392112 "2007-02-14T00:01:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-arabic-question/392112/1 "2007-02-14T00:01:56Z")
Out of curiousity, what does the text in this brilliant link say? [http://www.dumphead.com/videos/countdown.swf](http://www.dumphead.com/videos/countdown.swf) ---
**Author:** ![Premysl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Premysl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Premysl)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-arabic-question/392112/2 "2007-02-14T00:12:57Z")
I don’t think it says anything – they seem to be randomly placed letters. I don’t recognize any of the words, but then I’m still in my 2nd semester of Arabic. Still, the letters don’t connect properly, and there’s a taa marbuutah at the beginning of a word, which really shouldn’t be. To answser your question, it says, insofar as it doesn’t say anything: “Ldaabt mna’laa tauuf na’ ahiirsm”. “Ldaabt” might refer to something belonging to an army officer, but I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-arabic-question/392112/3 "2007-02-14T00:31:48Z")
Yeah, it’s bullshit. It’s just a combination of Arabic letters by someone who isn’t actually trying to say anything in Arabic. The absence of the proper medial and final forms of the letters in combination is a giveaway. (Most Arabic letters have somewhat different forms depending on whether they appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a word, and this distinction is totally ignored in the fake-Arabic of the link.) And yes, putting the final-form “taa-marbuta” at the start of a word is especially egregious. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-arabic-question/392112/4 "2007-02-14T00:37:16Z")
> [@Premysl](#): > > To answser your question, it says, insofar as it doesn’t say anything: “Ldaabt mna’laa tauuf na’ ahiirsm” I “read” it as “ldaabt n.ha’laa taawaq na’ tiir.s.h”. Those look like standalone “.haa” letters to me rather than final “mim” ones. But maybe you are “reading” it as an approximation of what it would look like if it had correct letter-forms? ---
**Author:** ![Premysl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Premysl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Premysl)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-arabic-question/392112/5 "2007-02-14T00:55:47Z")
Yes, that is what I was tying to do. But those certainly look like miims to me; they’re identical to the ones in my textbook. ---
**Author:** ![Premysl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Premysl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Premysl)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-arabic-question/392112/6 "2007-02-14T00:56:48Z")
\*er, trying. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-arabic-question/392112/7 "2007-02-14T01:24:54Z")
Weird: those look exactly like final .haa’s to me, not final miim’s. (What’s your textbook? EMSA? Haywood and Nahmad?) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-arabic-question/392112/8 "2007-02-14T01:28:03Z")
No, actually, you’re right—final miim it is. (Those blinky numbers make it hard for me to read.) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-arabic-question/392112/9 "2007-02-14T08:03:58Z")
Am I missing something in that link? Should there be sound or something? Or should something happen after the countdown? Otherwise… WTF? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-arabic-question/392112/10 "2007-02-14T08:09:18Z")
Oh, something else just occurred to me – might it say something in English, but typed with the Arabic keyboard layout? Anyone work that out? ---
**Author:** ![Premysl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Premysl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Premysl)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-arabic-question/392112/11 "2007-02-14T08:10:17Z")
It works the same way for me. I think it’s just something to play with while you’re waiting for the subway. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-arabic-question/392112/12 "2007-02-14T14:49:33Z")
OK, I found the answer, by searching for “countdown” on the Dumphead homepage (NParticularlySFW). It had some dumb thing like “Want to get a seat to yourself on a plane or subway? Simply open up your laptop and run this video”. I get it – Arabic letters are a sure way to spot something that’s about to blow up. Ain’t that a scream? Damn furriners with their funny writing! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-arabic-question/392112/13 "2007-02-14T14:54:53Z")
It looks more like the style of script one might see when writing a non-Arabic language in Arabic script-- more rounded. Maybe Urdu, Farsi or even Indonesian? Given the strange letter combinations, I would think maybe Indonesian or one of the Malay languages. That is, if it isn’t just made up. ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2007, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-arabic-question/392112/14 "2007-02-15T01:46:16Z")
Yeah. Like I said, brilliant. That’s the answer I expected, but I really hoped maybe there’d be some subtle depth. Oh well.