Kheshneh willa na3meh?
The person? No clue.
The t-shirt? Another brilliantly on-spot cultural reference from Jo Bedu.
Keshneh willa na3meh, which literally translates to “Do you want that coarse or soft?”, is a question along the same lines as “How are you doing?” for many people with a tie to the city of Nablus.
You see, the very idea of knafeh is a case of blatant pride; the cheese, the color, the texture, the way its flipped. It is also served in every single social occassion; graduation parties, funerals, family Fridays, weddings, weekend outings. Many dessert shops sell nothing but knafeh, competing for centuries over who is better at producing the best tasting orange dessert.
Yet, regardless of whether the knafeh is made by a villager or a city dweller, with white Nabulsi cheese or bechamel sauce, served in a sad occasion or a happy one, the phrase remains the same: “Do you want that knafeh na3meh or kheshneh?”
I’ll take that na3meh, please.
Tweets that mention Kheshneh willa na3meh? | And Far Away -- Topsy.com
July 29, 2010 @ 2:05 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Ahmad Humeid, Qwaider Planet. Qwaider Planet said: Kheshneh willa na3meh? #Arabisms (@RobaAssi) And Far Away → http://bit.ly/9Vfu0M [...]
Chris
July 29, 2010 @ 4:58 am
I got many shops around here that provide my most ravenous tummy with worldly treats… one of ‘em happens to be owned by some PJs that make a pretty mean knafeh, or at least I think they do. I make it real soft by pouring extra syrup on it, so, soft. :P
Mesh
July 29, 2010 @ 11:11 am
tb what about mabroomah ? (aka metkarfeteh)
beddek eyyahaaaai bekmajeeeeeeeeeeh ?
The latest from Mesh´s blog ..Feeling 80′s
Salam
July 30, 2010 @ 9:18 pm
Hey very nice article, and btw the guy in the picture is named Majeeed Ghanma, a very cool awesome, funny guy :) i thought you should add that to the note ;) hehe
Noura
August 3, 2010 @ 1:59 pm
Emfasta2a (ya3ni w/ fusto2 7alabi)