Thursday, March 18, 2010

and now for something light-hearted: a major cock-up?

mar 17th, 2010

no wonder they sent this guy to india and the us as envoy. the pakistanis think they are big in certain departments. 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: A P
----- Original Message -----
From: 
Subject: Fw: Fwd: Fw: Fw: One could not make this one up!!!

Subject: Fw: Saudi Arabia rejects Pakistani diplomat because of his name



 

 

 

Saudi Arabia rejects Pakistani diplomat because of his name.


 
  
 
  
  
See 
http://www.foxnews. com/story/ 0,2933,584807, 00.html 
  

  
Owing to an unfortunate matter of translation, Pakistani diplomat 
Akbar Zeb will not become the next Pakistani ambassador to 
Saudi Arabia. 
  
Mr Zeb's credentials are impressive: he is the former envoy to 
the United States, India, South Africa and Canada. But despite 
his impressive career, his name proved to be an immovable 
hurdle. 
  
When translated into Arabic, it means "Large penis". 
  
In a region that stresses modesty in public, this could not stand. 
  
Akbar is a customary Muslim name meaning "great", and while 
Zeb is not an uncommon Pakistani name, in Arabic it is a slang 
reference to the penis and never used in polite conversation. 
  
Obviously the diplomat's Arab hosts felt that references to "His 
Excellency the Big Dick" would not go over well. 
  
A Saudi cultural critic said, "The media wouldn't dare to publish 
a name like this. So every time he would be in the media they 
would have to face the name issue, and it would make it difficult 
to work with him. That would be an embarrassment for Pakistan." 
  
Said an analyst, "You cannot just pronounce that name. It's too 
awkward. 
  
How would he be announced at events? How would he be written 
about?" 
  
According to the Arab Times, this is the third instance of an 
Arabic-speaking country refusing Mr. Zeb's ambassadorship 
David Kenner of Foreign Policy magazine wrote that the issue was 
a source of embarrassment for Pakistan. "One can only assume 
that submitting Zeb's name to Arabic-speaking countries is some 
unique form of punishment designed by the Pakistani Foreign 
Ministry," he wrote, "Or the result of a particularly egregious cock- 
up." 

 

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Many converts to I-slam in other pats of the world, like Malaysia, for example, have also wondered what their names mean.
The major mess called I-slam insists on Arabic names for all converts, most of whom don't know any Arabic. A million more cock-ups loom over the horizon.

Unknown said...

In the same space what will
Aurang Zeb, the Hindu torturer stand for?

What will Pakis who revere him so much have to say about that?

L. Venkata Subramaniam said...

this sounds like a joke. Are you serious?

Truth Always Wins said...

Hilarious!!! You can always be 100% sure of the pakis doing such a thing. Shooting themselves in the foot or mouth is a activity they have taken to artistic levels and perfected it.

http://sowingseedsofthought.blogspot.com/

Anand Rajadhyaksha said...

would the name Zeb-un-nisa mean? Common name amongst Muslim ladies. Does it mean a Zeb Lover or a slave of the Zeb or the like, in light of the elucidation of Zeb above ?

Truth Always Wins said...

Zeb un Nisa in Arabic means dick of the woman. Because Nisa means woman and Zeb we know what it means.

Truth Always Wins said...

Aurangzeb would mean colorful dick