"300 shits"

In case you ever had any doubt about what to do with tissue paper then this piece of advice, spotted in Iraqi Kurdistan, should help you out.

Odd-sounding English-language signs, names and slogans in foreign countries always make me giggle – clearly I am never going to grow up.
One company name caught my eye repeatedly while I was in the Kurdish north of Iraq over the past few weeks.

Arcelik, a leading Turkish household appliance manufacturer, has outlets and billboards advertising its services all over the region.
I also liked the look of this small store with big ideas.

As it happens, I’ve similarly been on the receiving end of the translation joke. As a university student in Japan, I found out that my name means “fatso” in Japanese.
A standard introduction would go something like this: “Hajimemashite, Debu desu”, which translates as: “Let me introduce myself, my name is fatso.”

Unable to speak Arabic or Kurdish, however, I found language in general a bit of a barrier in Iraqi Kurdistan. I was not alone. Some locals also have communication problems.
Despite being part of Iraq, some – including at one point, rather inconveniently, my translator – are unable to speak Arabic, while others who have perhaps come from elsewhere in the country are unable to speak Kurdish.
When confronted with an Arabic speaker with my non-Arabic speaking translator, I would have to find someone who had both languages. I would then pose a question in English, my guy would translate it into Kurdish and the third link would convert the words into Arabic. The answer would subsequently pass back along the chain, Chinese whispers-style, to me.

The same charade also played out when I visited the main vehicle crossing point between Iraq and Turkey at Ibrahim Khalil and tried to voxpop a Turkish lorry driver. We ended up calling over a Kurdish security guard who also spoke Turkish to act as the missing link.
Different dialects inside Iraqi Kurdistan are difficult even for some Kurdish people to decipher.
When I was interviewing a retired PKK fighter, my Kurdish translator at the time had to double check every now and then with my Kurdish driver to make sure he understood properly what was being said.

(Picture 1: Packet of tissues at the offices of a charity in Duhok, northern Iraq;
Picture 2: One of the many areclik signs that are dotted around the region;
Picture 3: A Paris store in a town in Iraqi Kurdistan;
Picture 4: Me, one of the four translators I used during my trip and two Turkish truck drivers.)

Comments

[Lloyd Walters]

"Picture 2: One of the many areclik signs that are dotted around the region;" - NOT.

Only an arceliker would praise your photography !!!

[Richard]

You many be interested to know that the shop in your photo, Paris, in Arabic actually says Baris, Arabic not possessing a P. This reminded me of the well known joke in Egypt that when Hosni Mubarak returned from a visit to the US he said that the president there was an excellent man who had had the great idea to have his name written clearly on every door.

[Candice]

re: Lloyd Walters. The photography is fine. If you mouse over the picture in the Blog and then click on it you will get a full size image that is clearly readable. Maybe it is your computer skills that need honing:-)

[Greg]

You risk your life for this type of story? Is it the thrill of being in danger? You need help.