# Lawrence of Arabia was NOT Arabian **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 9, 2013, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616 "2013-01-09T11:45:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/1 "2013-01-09T11:45:05Z")
[He wasn’t even an Arab](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=678266)! [Or Persian](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=677543)! Or Turkish! In fact he was Welsh, though I grant his complexion may have been darkened to appear more Mediterranean by the sun. I am outraged! ---
**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/2 "2013-01-09T12:30:36Z")
Yes! And…? … Jesus wasn’t White! The Tooth Fairy is not real either… Santa Claus doen’t live at the North Pole… ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/3 "2013-01-09T12:31:23Z")
That’s a lie, every word of it! His first name wasn’t Lawrence, he wasn’t Arabian, and since when was he an ‘of’? I’m twice the of he ever was. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/4 "2013-01-09T12:37:55Z")
I may have gone to school with Lorenzo Varabya. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/5 "2013-01-09T13:00:19Z")
But the movie was Great! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/6 "2013-01-09T13:42:03Z")
Sloppy motorcyclist, though. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/7 "2013-01-09T14:12:27Z")
I guess it’s Great Week. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/8 "2013-01-09T14:28:25Z")
He was a real Tool. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/9 "2013-01-09T14:36:45Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > He was a real Tool. After all, in Arabia he was legally obliged to be Sober. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/10 "2013-01-09T14:39:38Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > He was a real Tool. Groucho Marx once commented on Peter O’Toole’s name being redundant. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/11 "2013-01-09T15:13:25Z")
What next, Harry wasn’t a Potter? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/12 "2013-01-09T15:32:50Z")
In the village my grandparents came from, the O’Toole family never failed to point out that the name (“Of The Tool”) referred to the patriarch of their family being one of the first to be conceived by artificial insemination. Back then, I’m sure it was just a turkey baster, but that didn’t stop them from bragging. I guess they felt that meant they were ahead tech-wise since Ye Olden Dayes. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/13 "2013-01-09T15:36:57Z")
We really think this concept is funny enough to support a second spoof thread? ---
**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:** [January 9, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/14 "2013-01-09T15:39:52Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > We really think this concept is funny enough to support a second spoof thread? So, what you’re saying is that you don’t think this is a terribly great idea? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/15 "2013-01-09T15:44:33Z")
It is time to clear this up. I prefer movies based on true stories like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Night of the Living Dead. I hate finding out they just made things up like Lawrence being Arabian. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/16 "2013-01-09T15:50:48Z")
Funny, he doesn’t _look_ Arabian! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/17 "2013-01-09T15:52:12Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Funny, he doesn’t _look_ Arabian! Well he did in the white pajamas and hood thing. Most Arabs have blue eyes don’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/18 "2013-01-09T16:08:07Z")
Hurray! Another stupid fucking ass thread in the pit. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/19 "2013-01-09T16:10:35Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Well he did in the white pajamas and hood thing. Most Arabs have blue eyes don’t they? Yes. That’s why Arabian women have to cover their faces. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616/20 "2013-01-09T16:14:38Z")
Who wears a white robe and rides a pig? Lawrence of West Virginia! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawrence-of-arabia-was-not-arabian/646616.md?page=2)