[Ads-l] Shufti/Shufti kush and 'Soldiers' Arabic'

[Martin Purdy]

I could perhaps add that I've also heard "let's have a shufti kush" from BE speakers, also with a general referent, the two words having become combined - at least for the speakers in question - into a set expression meaning "look", regardless of the object in question.
Martin NZ

 

    On Sunday, November 10, 2019, 11:34:25 AM GMT+13, Martin Purdy <martin_lists at yahoo.com> wrote:  
 
 Sorry for reviving an ancient thread but it was a search for references to the above that first led me to an archive of postings from this group.
In one of the older messages a contributor questioned the concept of 'soldiers' Arabic', and I thought I could maybe add my own two piastres' worth even at this late stage: an uncle who served with the British forces in North Africa in WW2 gave me his own understanding of "shufti" about 30 years ago.  While I'd previously been familiar with "shufti" as a noun in English ("let's have a shufti", for example, with regard to any object), he said the full expression as he learned it was "shufti kush", which in his words translated as "show me your private parts".  This seems to tally with what others have said, and like other contributors I've had difficulty tracing the word "kush" in any of the Arabic references at my disposal.
Martin 
NZ

  

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