Un-American Weatherman Uses Arab Word: It's The End of Civilization!

[evildevil]

Haboobs to Be Renamed "Freedom Desert Dust".

‘Haboobs’ Stir Critics in Arizona

The massive dust storms that swept through central Arizona this month have stirred up not just clouds of sand but a debate over what to call them.

The blinding waves of brown particles, the most recent of which hit Phoenix on Monday, are caused by thunderstorms that emit

Comments

[iamrosalita]

What gives him the right to use that word? The First Amendment, bitch.

[jasonbeast]

Stay classy, Arizona.

[krazykat88]

"David Wilson of Goodyear, Ariz., said those who wanted to avoid Arabic terms should steer clear of algebra, zero, pajamas and khaki, as well."

IRL LOL. waiting for someone to demand we invent new words or something because "those words came from terrorist language!!!" *facepalm* (sadly, I know at least one person who would say something like that)

[quizzicalsphinx]

THEY'RE NOT PAJAMAS, THEY'RE FREEDOM FLANNELS

[nykeyoung]

And that's not a zero. That's a FREEDOM NOTHING!

The creation of the FREEDOM NOTHING will be the greatest thing in the year 2AMERICAFUCKYEAH11.

[thedorkygirl]

+1

[breexbree]

What US soldier wants to hear some Middle Eastern term? I dunno, why don't you ask all the Middle East-descended US soldiers?

[chaeri]

That's also a good point. The broadcaster seems to be assuming that all soldiers are white with blue eyes or something. In reality, the US military is more diverse than any other organization.

[fenris_lorsrai]

That and ones that served in Middle East may have gotten used to calling it that while IN the service.

it's like pointing at something you don't have a good word for an english and just using the local vernacular. Like foods, animals, clothing, whatever. rather than just calling it "thingy" all the time.

[antiotter]

Or any soldier. GIs LOVE to add foreign words to the already nearly incomprehensible military-speak. It's like a bragging, "I've been there" way of showing other guys where you've been.

The guys who had been stationed in South Korean with the 2nd Infantry Division throw in Korean slang. Guys who had been in Germany with the 1st Infantry Division throw in German slang. Guys who were in Italy with the 173rd Airborne Brigade throw in Italian slang. Guys who have been to Iraq throw in Arabic slang.

When I was in the Army, if I heard a guy throw in some German slang, I'd ask him where he was stationed in Germany, then we'd instantly have something to bond over.

After we got back from Iraq, we'd use Arabic slang in front of the new guys who just got out of boot camp and hadn't yet been to war, and smirk when they had no idea what the hell we were saying.

My uncle still uses Vietnamese slang.

[lavenderfrost]

[leap_at_sun]

Perfect .gif use.

Are you from AZ too? I swear sometimes the people here make me want to cry, the level of idiocy that abounds.

[lavenderfrost]

I live here, yes - for the past 11 years now. I'm originally from TX, so I've never really known a home state that DIDN'T make me want to break things.