I thought I'd share with you an email from my dear friend AK (not 47) clarifying some of my "confusions in translation" (the transliterations are mine):
oh, and a few things regarding your confusions in translation
zebra actually translates as 'monster donkey' (side note, its a good insult to a guy hitting on you to say ya wahash (you monster), then you could add on ikwe (this may be palestinian dialect, but it means get lost, but literally is the command for 'Iron!'). there are lots of fun combinations to make. [I actually went to the zoo in qalqilya where i saw the sign for zebra in arabic, and laughed]
Also, قفل {Kafala}, as I learned it doesn't mean 'to ensure'; it means to block up or close, غلق {Ghalaq} same as, if your phone is in arabic, when you unlock it the screen says (إغلاء قفل) or cancelling the locking, or at least mine does. To ensure would be more like امن {Amina} which is to insure or ضمن {Daumin} which is to guarantee, or in quranic arabic إشترى (Ishtarey) as I saw on a شهيد poster someplace in my travels and i'm sure there are a million other ways to say all of these and that قفل {Kafala} has lots of other meanings...
later chiquita,
avi
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