# Arab Curses **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 17, 2001, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-curses/62222 "2001-04-17T00:47:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@Ell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ell)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-curses/62222/1 "2001-04-17T00:47:35Z")
We were just discussing these at work. Does anyone know any Arab Curses? ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-curses/62222/2 "2001-04-17T00:56:04Z")
“May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits.” “May you be sewn up alive in the belly of a dead camel.” ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-curses/62222/3 "2001-04-17T03:31:10Z")
It isn’t Arab, but my favorite curse is “May you have a sprained back and sneezing fits”. ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-curses/62222/4 "2001-04-17T05:29:54Z")
“The master gets raped, but it’s the slave’s butt that hurts.” Testy. ---
**Author:** ![panzermanpanzerman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9bcb4/32.png) [@panzermanpanzerman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panzermanpanzerman)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-curses/62222/5 "2001-04-17T05:51:59Z")
“Your mother’s vagina is the stable of a thousand camels.” Actually, there’s an insult, too–call your “target” “The 10th man,” referring to the youngest (and prettiest) member of a squad in any number of Arab armies, who’s lot it was to be the “bitch” for his squadmates, in the absence of a suitable sheep. This on authority of my best friend, who studied Arabic at the Defense Language Institute for 18 months. ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-curses/62222/6 "2001-04-17T06:55:13Z")
> [@](#): > > " Ibrizah herself held [Mother-of-Calamity] in detestation for many reasons: her foul breath, the smell of fermented piss which rose from her armpits and her groin, the putrid aura, like that of rotten garlic, which remained from the many times she had broken wind, her hairiness which was more than that of a hedgehog, and the palm-fibre-like testure of her skin. Excellently applicable to her are the words of a certain poet: > > All her perfumes with their scented arts > Could not disguise the fetor of her farts." > > - The Tale of King Umar Al-Numan ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-curses/62222/7 "2001-04-17T14:16:17Z")
IIRC, “Cus ummak” isn’t a terribly polite thing to say. Probably mispelled and ungrammatical, though. I got the impression it means “Fuck your mother.” Another good one is “Boos teezee,” meaning “Kiss my ass.” Or how about “katha ath nan”? “Caress my genitalia?” There’s some more examples here: [ur][http://www.notam.uio.no/~hcholm/altlang/ht/Arabic.html](http://www.notam.uio.no/~hcholm/altlang/ht/Arabic.html) In my opinion, this is the only real reason to learn other languages. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tommy\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Tommy\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tommy_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-curses/62222/8 "2001-04-17T14:38:50Z")
One of my good friends is Arabic. The sum of what he taught me is: “Tel Hastizi” - Kiss my ass “Arrifique” - F\*\*\* You “Huddah” - S\*\*\* Head “Mous Zibbee” - Suck my dick “Walleh, shimallac” - Hey, what’s with you? “Eyibida ana” - She wants me “Eyebida enta” - She wants you All of these are spelled phonetically. This is just what he told me they mean. Have fun. ---
**Author:** ![RalfCoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@RalfCoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RalfCoder)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arab-curses/62222/9 "2001-04-17T14:40:21Z")
I don’t know any Arab curses specifically, but I remember another one that I always liked: “May you inherit a houseful of jewels, and may they be not enough to pay your medical bills”. And if you really want the definitive word on curses, go do a search at [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) for “Maledicta”. Reinhold Aman researched, collected, and wrote on the topic of curses and insults, and apparently has several volumes out on the topic. Here’s some exerpts from the table of contents in the review for “Maledicta 12”: -Medieval Maledicta -On the Historical Longevity of One Four-Letter Word: The Interplay of Phonology and Semantics -Dutch Soldiers’ Latrinalia -Sh\*t Happens