by Daividh (guest)
3/29/2003, 4:06 PM
I don't know the meaning of Saddam, but back during the Gulf War, I assumed like most people that Geo. H.W. Bush was simply getting the name wrong (like Baby Doc Bush sez "nucular", or the Guvmint sez "al-kayda" despite most folks, including the Arabs, saying "al-kyda" or "al-ky'eeda").
Anyhow, sometime around '94, I heard a bit of commentary on TV that the mispronunciation was deliberate, and that the Arabic word pronounced "sodom" meant "bootblack" or "shoeshine boy". So Bush was actually dissing Hussein by purposely demeaning his name.
Can any Arabic-speakers substantiate the above?
Sorry I don't recall where I saw this, but at the time it came from what I considered a legit source of information.
- Da.