Of Spellings
One thing about the Gulf region is that people here are not too concerned about word spellings. Sometimes you see different spellings of the same word and you get confused as to what the real spelling really is. Like for instance, sometimes it is shawarma, other times shawerma; kebab-kabab. So I searched the web and found out that indeed shawarma can have both spellings, there’s even a third one, that is shoarma. Whereas in the case of kebab, I found out that it can also spelled as “kabob” but not kabab. Come to think of it, being not too concerned with spellings is not a bad thing. However, if it concerns important details like names, it becomes a problem. For instance, my name is Mavis, but back in Bahrain someone mistook the “v” for a “y”. From then on, I became “Mayis”. The same thing happened when we transferred here. They got my Bahrain ID and just copied the same name, without even cross referencing it first with my passport. The residence permit that’s stamped on my passport has Mayis on it, as well as my health card and eventually my driver’s license. The things is, I’ll be Mayis for as long as we intend to stay here in Qatar. Sometimes I just wish that people here were more conscious of the way things are spelled.
Comments
Posted by: Sandro T. Rafael | July 28, 2006 09:09 AM
Posted by: Nigel | July 29, 2006 04:54 PM