Hopefully, I don’t wear a wall: Idioms     

Mama: “What should we name her?”

Baba: “Marwa”

Mama: “It’s an old name, and besides, that’s my cousin’s name. It’ll be confusing. ”

Mama: “We should name her Rahma (mercy).”

Baba: “I still think Marwa is better.”

Mama: “We should let her decide.”

Baba: “How so?”

Mama: “If she comes in the first 10 days of Ramadan (the month of fasting), we’ll name her Rahma; otherwise, Marwa.”

  As you can probably tell, I came during the first 10 days of Ramadan, aka the Days of Mercy. In fact, I came on the second day. I came to lighten up their lives (that part is from me; they said I was very difficult, but we are going to ignore that). I guess my mom really wanted me to live up to my name, so she chose “Mercy.” She is the closest person to me in the entire world; besides that, I look and sound like her. She always says, “you drank me,” a strange phrase to use if you ask me, but I know exactly what it means, which is that I resemble her in an uncanny way. As a matter of fact, the strange phrases don’t stop here in Egypt either. It’s weird to say things directly. If you do, you are not truly Egyptian; or, as an Egyptian would say, “you did not drink from her Nile.  

To be considered Egyptian has different parts to it. For example, if you’re biologically Egyptian but were not born and raised in Egypt then you’re not a “true Egyptian” because you don’t have the same speech and/or experiences as an Egyptian born and raised. Another example is the result of the massive wealth gap and classism in Egypt. The high class speaks in a way that differs from the rest of Egyptians (the majority) due to the difference in educational quality provided based on economic status. Therefore, most of the high class speak multiple languages and they don’t rely on idioms and phrases like most Egyptians do. Westernization has become a priority to them and they’re ribbing themselves from the culture little by little. When a person abandons their language and culture then their Identity is lost. Therefore, this implies that having significantly different experiences due to classism impacted the shaping of language for people living in same the country (Egypt). So that’s why some Egyptians aren’t considered “true Egyptians” by other Egyptians.  

Personally, I like to hold on to my culture, which includes numerous idioms. The frequent usage of idioms and phrases in the Egyptian dialect influenced my literacy and speech. I was heavily impacted, and it was evident in how I expressed myself. However, when I came to the United States, things had to change. I was required to learn English, as well as its idioms and slang when I was 12 years old. Language is enormously complicated in that it has many aspects, not all of which will fit together or make sense. Idioms, for example, make no sense unless you are familiar with them. In 7th grade (my first year in America), we were reading a novel in English class, and I had to write an essay about it. Initially, I had to translate practically everything I wrote, but that wasn’t the only concern because my thought process was fully in Arabic. The terms I was thinking of did not exist in the English language. If I had written down what was going through my head, it would have looked something like “He has no blood, he will wear a wall,” which indicates he is so nonchalant about critical matters and for that, he will fail. That made me realize that the language I used my entire life without giving it thought was confusing and hard to comprehend without context. Therefore, in my English writing, I tried using other figurative and literary devices, but I wasn’t satisfied since idioms deliver an exact message without the need for further explanation.  It’s something that I relied on but had to adapt to something else.  

However, I did not stop using Arabic idioms in my speech, instead, they increased. My connection to Egypt remains strong since I try to maintain my cultural identity. In one of my trials to do so, I began exploring idioms and phrases that are commonly used yet make no sense. They were in use for decades, if not centuries. They became phrases we understood when to use but not the precise meaning. For example, in women’s fights or disagreements, the term “Ahmed Ya Omar” is frequently used. During a war, all men left to fight, leaving their wives and daughters behind. Then a guy from outside the country moved into an Egyptian neighborhood where these men’s wives and daughters lived. The women approached the stranger and shared their gossip. Remember that it was a big deal back then; women were not permitted to interact with males outside their families. When the men returned, the women threatened each other by saying “Ahmed Ya Omar,” which means “I will tell your spouse you talked to another man.” The term is now used as a threat to expose secrets. This story was one of my new findings. Whether this narrative is totally factual, Egyptians have undoubtedly used it without hesitation for over a century, and many are unaware of the background. 

To sum it up, the relationship between language and thought is very complex, especially for bilingual and multilingual people. Your thoughts might be in one language, but you’re expected to speak them in another in order to communicate. In my definition the relation between thoughts and Speech is a representation of self-expression which is highly impacted by a person’s linguistic background and linguistic environment. and when we are talking about self-expression figurative language is a must for some but as it changes from one language to another it gets complicated as it makes it harder for people to communicate. Therefore, even if you learn a language, it doesn’t mean you will get a full understanding of what’s being conveyed in a certain text and/or situation. For example, idioms are very difficult to understand without prior knowledge, and that knowledge mostly comes from shared experiences.  You can learn them over time but it just would take longer because when it comes to figurative language it’s mostly gained over time in a natural manner. 

Some examples of Egyptian idioms: https://www.middleeasteye.net/gallery/bizarre-egyptian-phrases-expressions-sayings-idioms-illustrated  

A video of the process of how thoughts are turned into words and the new technology of non-bbbverbal communication: Thought to Speech