Oryx Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Gentlemen, you're missing one vital fact; it's entirely likely that, in Arabic, which is the gentleman's native language, there is only a single method of writing his name, which, to our Western eyes, will look complete gibberish. When spoken, the language can be extremely gutteral, and it could well be that the first "letter," of his name, sounds like someone clearing their throat, and trying to translate that into our script will be a near-impossibility, in fact, he might derive as much amusement at our attempts, as we do. There is at least one language, in the South African continent, which seems to consist largely of clicks (look up "The Click Song," by Miriam Makeba - I think); try translating that into English.Edgar Actually, I think you are confusing two languages here. The "click song" (Qongqothwane) is in Xhosa. Xhosa uses the click sound, but it is just one consonant used by that language and not nearly as dominating as in the Khoisan languages. The language you were thinking of that consist largely of clicks (at least it is the most common consonant), is actually the Khoisan language family (which, although denoted as a "family" consist of a bunch of mostly unrelated languages). If I remember correctly, in the movie the "Gods Must be Crazy", the bushman were speaking Juǀʼhoansi which is one of the Khoisan languages. Juǀʼhoansi has something like 48 different click consonants. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moggy Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 That is a disturbing picture... strangely reminiscent of Elizabeth II... (a conspiracy, I know) Donning my lead undewear, Moggy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
4scourge7 Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 That is a disturbing picture... strangely reminiscent of Elizabeth II... (a conspiracy, I know)Donning my lead undewear, Moggy "I wonder if we might `ave a quick word in your shell-like, Mr Moggy" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SinisterVampire319 Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 His wife spells it Quedoffmee LMAO! One of the neat things about old bad guys being in the headlines again is you get to use old jokes like their new. You can bet I used every gulf war joke I knew in 2003! I had to! i mean it was pretty clear I wouldn't get the chance to use them anymore since that bad guy was going down LOL There wouldn't be any sequels this time. Ah give it time. There will be another Dictator popping up in a country near you. (As the saying goes.) Darn you tornado64! You beat me to it! That's how I remember him back in the 1980's. (Can't stop laughing!) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 It is not possible to translate Arabic into English. The process (common with many other languages) is called transliteration. Since there is *enormous* variation in the pronunciation of Arabic across the Arabic speaking world, transliterations also vary widely. I've seen Saudi Arabia transliterated "Sawoudi" before. In some instances there are accepted transliterations, but in others (like Qadaffi, Ghadaffi, Gaddafi, Kaddhafi, etc, etc) there are not. None of them is any more or less correct than any other. The important part is the Arabic pronunciation. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ikar Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 That is a disturbing picture... strangely reminiscent of Elizabeth II... (a conspiracy, I know)Donning my lead undewear, Moggy Looks like he's ready for his tryout for Victor Victoria. or could he actually be Prince Humperdink or the Cowboy from innerspace? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Johnopfor Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 But, but , but ... I thought he was the US's friend in the world wide anti-Islamic terrorists struggle. And his son's like Mariah Carey. So why do we dislike him now? The only reason I can think of is that he is a "sick f.." in the mold of Saddam and Sons. Let's see here........ He takes over Libya in a coup in 1969 and forces the US out of the country..... He was involved in providing money, training and arms to numerous terrorist organizations including FARC, Black September, the IRA and the Red Brigades....... His agents were involved in a German Discoteque bombing in 1986 that was a favorite for US servicemen...... The US did some TNT redecoration on some military targets in Libya, including his "moble home" in 1986...... His agents were directly involved in the bombing of PAN AM flight 103 in 1988......... The dude has bigger visions of granduer that would leave the world's biggest stoner jeolous...... Yeah, some "friend"...... Just because that buttmonkey hates Al Queda as well as the US doen't make him a "friend". I seroiusly doubt that we ever "liked" him. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Concerning the queen joke, I seem to recall reading somewhere that Momar was a Queen level scout in the English version of the Boy Scouts (not sure what that translates to on the BSA scouting ranks though). He does seem to like bright pastel colors these days as he's ditched the Idi Amin inspired getups from the 1980s. I prefer to think of him as Mr. Soontobedeadguy. Likely it will be somebody in Khadaffy's inner circle that caps him as he seems to want to go down with a fight, rather than leave and live in exhile somwhere. BTW, did the guy ever lift the calls for death of the four Naval aviators that were involved in shooting down two of his MiG-23s over the gulf of Sidra in 1989? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Edgar Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Apparently, in 1986, he wrote to some Minnesota 2nd.-graders, and signed his name, in English script, "Moammar El-Gadhafi." So, now you know. Edgar Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SBARC Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 I prefer to think of him as Mr. Soontobedeadguy. :) Yup....I keep tuning into the news each day to see if he has been strung up. He might be able to hold Tripoli for a while but sooner or later....they'll get him. The only question is whether he will be permitted to fly in exile. I seriously doubt the Libyans are going to let him wander off to his village....pitch a tent in the desert and retire. Of course trying to fly into exile could be tricky if some of his air force is now backing the rebel side.....they just might set up their own no-fly zone and shoot down his plane. Safe to say........he's probably being crossed off everyones New Years Eve parties as he'll be a "no show" anyways. ;) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
giacomo Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 The italianized version is "Gheddafi"... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The_Animal Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Still remember when he drew his so-called "Line of Death". "Cross this line and we will shoot to kill" and VF-41 sent two of his Su-22s to serve as "toys for fishies". Then of course he got uppity again...and Reagan had to send the Swordsmen in to send two more MiG 23s to add to the fishies' toy collection. Ah, those were the days. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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