Helpful Arabic Phrases For Plane Travelers

The Street Hustle

The nearly successful Detroit Airline bombing on Christmas day has thrown the airlines, security and hijackers back onto the front pages and cable news leads. The question for many of us remains: what would we do if we were in a hijack situation? What would we do if we were sitting next to the airline bomber?

Here are some helpful phrases I’ve had translated into Arabic to help if you should find yourself in just such a situation.

*الله اكبر – Allah Akbar– Translation: Duck

* وأعتقد أن كل ما لديك من أي وقت مضى الفكر أو قال في حياتك – I believe everything you have ever said or thought in your life.

*واسمحوا لي أن الاستلقاء مع فيتنام لامعة العصر ام 16 في مؤخرة رأسي – Please let me lie down with your shiny Vietnam era M-16 at the back of my head.

* هل وضعت بقية سي 4 في حقيبتك؟ – Did you put the rest of your C-4 in your luggage?

* هل الرعاية لاستخدام بلدي أخف بك بدلا من المباريات على المألوف تنفجر الملابس الداخلية؟ – Would you care to use my lighter instead of your matches on your fashionable exploding underwear?

* أنا الفرنسية ، وذلك من أمثالك ، وأنا أكره الاميركيين. – I am French, so like you, I hate the Americans.

* أنا لست يهوديا. – I am not a Jew.

Given the state of our current airline security I wouldn’t knock myself out trying to find the phonetic translation. I’m sure the plane will have hit the ground before you get to show off your newly learned counter-terrorism capabilities.