The other day, I was reading a British etiquette guide. It mentioned the British tendency to understate things. Commenting on how they describe things, the piece mentioned that the British way of speaking “resolutely refuses to succumb to drama, excitement, or high emotion.” I couldn’t help but smile when I compared this with the Arab inclination to do the exact opposite: We tend to pour massive amounts of emotion, hyperbole and exaggeration, sometimes in the smallest of things. If you’ve spoken to an Arab, surely you’ve noticed that.
For example, the article mentions how the British pepper their talk with tempering expressions such as “quite,” “rather,” “a bit,” “actually.” We are also informed that in English conversations, “Not bad” is high praise, and “not bad at all” is positively euphoric. When one time I used “not bad” in Arabic to praise something, it didn’t go well with my friend: “Just ‘not bad’? Are you kidding? This thing is spectacular!”
The last word is the kind you see a lot in Arabic conversations. When talking, a guy might heap praise on a car and say it’s “incredible,” or a girl might tell you how a certain blouse is “amazing,” or that a particular cell phone is “mind blowing.” Is the weather better than normal today? You might hear someone describe it as “wondrous.” If the two of you have a brief interaction with a stranger who impressed you with his courtesy and friendliness, your buddy might describe him as “great guy, out of this world!” Moderating words aren’t that common in our communication — if the food you just ate is delicious, then it’s not “rather good,” it’s “explosively delicious!”
In undesirable situations, the same style applies. Did someone keep you waiting for half an hour? You’ll find yourself telling others that you’d been waiting “min as-subh!” (since morning). Bad rice dish? Then that restaurant is “the worst in the world!” This kind of language use tends to put everything in black and white, either good or bad, either absolutely indispensable or completely useless! That’s not what’s meant, of course, and people actually have a more nuanced view of things, but someone who’s not familiar with Arab expressions might think so.
It’s part of us to use such animated speech. I don’t know if it’s because Arabs are generally enthusiastic and hot-blooded people or some other reason, but it’s firmly ingrained into our language culture. The downside is that these vivid words lose part of their strength when overused — they should be reserved for situations that really require that kind of passionate description. But the good thing is that this style intensifies the conversation and adds excitement to what’s being described. What kind do you use? Do you overstate or understate?
