Wanayt
A friend of mine was telling me that the word “wanayt” meaning pickup in local slang was actually based on an old pickup truck model number 1 8. He wasn’t sure if the engine size was 1.8 or why they used to call that truck 1 8 but the interesting part is how 1 8 became wanayt.
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Oct 31, 2007
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1. steve_leb | October 31st, 2007 at 2:21 pm
In Lebanese you say dhar “ضهار” when you ask someone to leave a room, it comes from french “dehors”
2. mushroom | October 31st, 2007 at 2:31 pm
i believe it came from a van called VANETTE. its nissan/toyota or whatever..
the guys most probably cant pronounce it that well so instead of saying vanette, they pronouced it as waneyt.. and now wanayt.
3. Mark | October 31st, 2007 at 2:36 pm
mushroom i just checked and the Nissan Vanette was introduced in 1981 and I think the word wanayt was used long before that. Also the Vanette is a van while wanayt refers to a pickup truck. Vanette does sound like Wanayt though so you never know..
4. Я | October 31st, 2007 at 2:48 pm
It actually came from the engine size: 1.8 = one-eight.
According to dad their english back then didn’t include the word “point” ;)
5. Ansam | October 31st, 2007 at 3:12 pm
When Aramco (Saudi Arabian Oil Company) was in its first years and early stages of oil production and exploration.. they did so many of their business in remote areas. Pick-up trucks were their useful solution for that they are roomy enough to bring in supplies to them. All Aramco trucks carried a serial number that started with 18XXX and they were the first to bring such trucks in Saudi. It was then that employees who decided to call those trucks one-eight and with time (and accent) it eventually became wanayt even outside Aramco’s borders.
6. Ansam | October 31st, 2007 at 3:13 pm
My dad worked in the Oil business and he told me that story long time ago ;-)
7. shargawi | October 31st, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Ansam got the right story. it had nothing to do with engine size.
8. tj | October 31st, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Yeah man thats bullshit. Its vanette meaning “small-van” just like kichenette means “small-kitchen” its just adapted English.
9. B | October 31st, 2007 at 4:56 pm
I’ve heard that it refers to the engine - 1.8L, just as you see on the back of most pickups today. The ARAMCO story seems plausible, but how do you extend that to other countries that also use “wanayt”? As for the “Vanette”, I’m not convinced - not only is the “wanayt” not a small van, but then wouldn’t it be “fanayt” instead?
10. STING | October 31st, 2007 at 5:19 pm
mm
I`m sure that Mr Bader Bourisli had the right answer .
any body know him ?
11. lfc-q8 | October 31st, 2007 at 6:54 pm
like the army area near showaikh its called gewan …. as it was before G1 from the british presence in the past
12. sfsa78 | October 31st, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Why are bed covers called kembell??? anyone?
13. snookie | October 31st, 2007 at 8:11 pm
im pretty sure that it refers to a 1.8L.. pretty interesting..
14. sabah | October 31st, 2007 at 8:50 pm
A soldier is called Jawan (literally - youngster) in India and Pakistan. It was probably then propagated by the British.
Kembal is basically blanket in Urdu.
15. sabah | October 31st, 2007 at 8:55 pm
..and Mark, have you posted a similar post before or have I read it somewhere else way back?
16. Mark | October 31st, 2007 at 9:20 pm
The wanayt? No I think this is the first time… I think lol
17. Ansam | October 31st, 2007 at 10:25 pm
I am sticking to my story
18. Don Veto | October 31st, 2007 at 11:13 pm
This reminds me of an old post with pics that I did on how to hitch a ride on a wannette.
http://don-veto.blogspot.com/2006/03/fine-art-of-wanette-riding.html
19. Mark | October 31st, 2007 at 11:18 pm
hahaha thats cool!
20. RaZ | November 1st, 2007 at 8:04 am
For the kuwaiti card sharks, you will know “bawan” whn playing kout bu sitta, well bawan in urdu is 52, hence all the cards (i guess they didnt do jokers and makers back then).
21. blackout | November 1st, 2007 at 11:36 am
i heard something about “chub” being derivative of “shut up”
22. spooner | November 1st, 2007 at 1:07 pm
lol i think the aramco story is right…
i heard it was the plate of the first pick-up in Kuwait hmmm.
23. B | November 1st, 2007 at 4:16 pm
I’ve never heard of the “Bawen” story before, but I like it! It’s sort of like the word “jinjifa” which comes from the princely Indian game “ganjifa” (http://www.harmonyindia.org/hportal/VirtualPageView.jsp?page_id=1163) or “jooti” (shoe) which I heard came from the time when the British were training Omani soldiers and asked them to wear their boots to military “duty”. Another Arabized English word here in Kuwait is “midgar”, which refers to the plastic part that lines the lower part of some of our cars - or the “mud guard.”
24. RaZ | November 1st, 2007 at 4:44 pm
anothr good one that the translator screwed up is “Gaari” in kuwait bicycle in urdu car
25. fatfukka | November 2nd, 2007 at 4:36 am
maybe a blowjob used to cost 1.8
inflation’s a bitch
26. Muh'd M. Mansour | November 5th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
The word came from the Ford pick-up one eight produce in the fifty’s, people in Kuwait used to say the word one-eight till it finally became one word be widespread in the whole Arabia.
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