ديرة بطيخ
Gulf Arabic
Etymology
From Gulf Arabic ديرة (dīra, “city, state, place”) in the construct state and بطيخ (baṭṭīḵ, “cantaloupe”), literally "cantaloupe country". The phrase has an uncertain origin, with folk etymologies mentioning a story of a failed investment in Kuwait City, a British man of authority in Kuwait under the British role whose last name was Watermelon, a story of a man giving a cantaloupe to a guard of a cemetery, historical rights for cantaloupe and/or watermelon sellers to the gates of the historical Wall of Kuwait, and other stories. In Kuwaiti Arabic, cantaloupes are called بطيخ (baṭṭīḵ) but watermelons are رقي (raggi). However, most other varieties of Arabic call watermelons by the former, thus the original meaning of the phrase could have been "watermelon country" if the phrase is borrowed or if the distinction did not exist when the phrase emerged.
Pronunciation
- (Kuwait) IPA(key): /diːrət bətˤːiːχ/
Noun
ديرة بطيخ (dīrat baṭṭiḵ) f (dual ديرتين بطيخ (dīrtēn baṭṭiḵ), plural ديرات بطيخ (dīrāt baṭṭiḵ) or دير بطيخ (diyar baṭṭiḵ))
- a city, state in bad shape, a country rife with wasta (cronyism)
- 2016 March 3, علي البصيري [ʿali il-Bṣēri], “ديرة بطيخ”, in جريدة الشاهد [Alshahed Newspaper (Kuwait)]:
- تَحَسُّرًا عَلَىٰ بَلَدِهِ الَّذِي غَدَا دِيرَةْ بَطِّيخْ لَا يُحْتَرَمُ فِيهِ الْإِنْسَانُ
- taḥassuran ʿalā baladihi allaḏī ḡadā dīrat baṭṭīḵ lā yuḥtaramu fīhi l-ʾinsānu
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
- 2006 May 5, هيفاء الصقر [Haifaʾ iṣ-Ṣagir], “ديرة البطيخ”, in جريدة القيس [Alqabas Newspaper (Kuwait)]:
- كَثِيرًا مَا نَسْمَعُ فِي دِيرَتْنَا مَقُولَةَ 'دِيرَةْ بَطِّيخْ' وَالْكَثِيرُ مِنَ الْاَشْخَاصِ يَجْهَلُونَ مَعْنَىٰ هَذِهِ الْمَقُولَةِ. فَ'دِيرَةْ بَطِّيخْ' مَقُولَةٌ مُتَدَاوَلَةٌ كَثِيرًا لَدَىٰ الْمُتَشَائِمِينَ بِاَوْضَاعِ الْبَلَدِ مِنْ جَمِيعِ النَّوَاحِي، سِيَاسِيَّةً كَانَتْ أَوْ اِقْتِصَادِيَّةً أَوْ اِجْتِمَاعِيَّةً، فَالْمَقْصُودُ بِهَا اَنَّ قَوَانِينَ الْبَلَدِ وَاللَّوَائِحَ فِيهِ لَا تُطَبَّقُ اَيْ اَنَّهَا تَسِيرُ عَلَىٰ الْبَرَكَةِ وَتَكْثُرُ فِيهَا الْوَاسْطَاتْ، لِذٰلِكَ اَطْلَقَ عَلَيْهَا اَلْبَعْضُ 'دِيرَةْ بَطِّيخْ'
- kaṯīran mā nasmaʿu fī dīratnā maqūlata 'dīrat baṭṭīḵ' wālkaṯīru mina l-ašḵāṣi yajhalūna maʿnā haḏihi l-maqūlati. fa'dīrat baṭṭīḵ' maqūlatun mutadāwalatun kaṯīran ladā l-mutašāʾimīna biawḍāʿi l-baladi min jamīʿi n-nawāḥī, siyāsiyyatan kānat ʾaw iqtiṣādiyyatan ʾaw ijtimāʿiyyatan, fālmaqṣūdu bihā anna qawānīna l-baladi wallawāʾiḥa fīhi lā tuṭabbaqu ay annahā tasīru ʿalā l-barakati watakṯuru fīhā l-wāsṭāt, liḏālika aṭlaqa ʿalayhā l-baʿḍu 'dīrat baṭṭīḵ'
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
-