What the heck do the Arabs say?

March 19, 2008 6:28 AM

When men of Arab nations bow at the hip and roll their hand in front them (usually to dignitaries), what is it they say?
posted by PoopyDoop to Society & Culture (7 answers total)

Best answer: Asalaam aleikhum (traditional arab greeting: peace be upon you.)
posted by By The Grace of God at 6:39 AM on March 19, 2008

Best answer: Exactly. Traditional greeting is "A salaam aleikum"— peace be with you. The standard response is always “Aleikum salaam” — and also with you.
posted by miss lynnster at 7:09 AM on March 19, 2008 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you!
posted by PoopyDoop at 7:43 AM on March 19, 2008

That phrase is cognate to "sholom aleichem" (sp?) in Hebrew.
posted by Class Goat at 10:54 AM on March 19, 2008

Interesting. "Peace be with you" ... "And also with you" is what Catholics say when they shake hands with people around them during mass.
posted by good in a vacuum at 2:09 PM on March 19, 2008

Non-Muslim Arabs would not greet each other with "asalaam aleikum". They might greet one another with "ahlan wa salan," (upon arrival at a place- this is like "welcome", "make yourself at home" or "mi casa es su casa") just "salaam," or "marhaba".
posted by Pollomacho at 2:49 PM on March 19, 2008

Well, that's true. But usually Arabs aren't bowing at the hip the way the OP described when saying casual greetings. There are all sorts of general greetings just as in any language: sabah el-kheir, masa el-kheir, marhaba, ahlan wa sahlan, salaam... tasharafna to say "pleased to meet you"... those kinds of phrases are all really common. But I'm thinking people don't usually bow when saying those phrases because salaam alaikum is a formal greeting that refers to Allah and so it instills more respect.

I could be super wrong, tho. Stranger things have happened! :)
posted by miss lynnster at 7:43 AM on March 20, 2008