Much like its English counterpart, sweet, the Arabic word "helu" has connotations that extend far beyond the realms of taste.
It can mean beautiful. A haircut can be helu. A person can be helu or helwe, depending on whether they are male or female. The word can be used as a compliment, or, with the right inflection, be used sarcastically or even with a sneer.
Helu is used in colloquial Arabic to describe everything from knafeh to the weather and even a friend’s new car. It appears without fail in almost every Arabic pop song about love. Several even have the word in their titles, from Lebanese singer Ziad Bourji’s Shou Helu (How Sweet) to Dalida’s Helwa Ya Baladi (My Beautiful Country) and Tamer Hosny's Helu al Makan (The Place is Nice).
Because Arabic nouns are gendered, adjectives such as helu transform to be in agreement with the gender in question.
A car – or siara – is helwe. Taste – ta’m – is helu. Weather – taqs – is helu. A scent – reeha – is helwe.
Used in the plural, the word takes the form helween. A couple that look good together can be helween sawwa.
Circling back to knafehs and other desserts, a person who makes and sells sweets is called a halawani. Whatever is cooked with sugar is usually called halawe. Get someone a present for graduating from university or getting a job promotion, and you’ve presented them with halawat alnajah (sweets of success).
The word can have more scathing overtones. If someone does something that’s worthy of frown, accentuate the first letter and extend the last and you’ll surely have them rethink their actions. Say it with a smile and it’ll be taken as a compliment.
Have a friend who’s particularly good with words? His/her tongue is lisano/lisanha helu/helwe.
In essence, helu does not differ too much from the English word. As much as we can use the word "sweet" in several instances and with a plethora of meanings, helu can be a dependable word to keep at the tip of your tongue. Just be mindful of your intonation.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
MATCH DETAILS
Liverpool 2
Wijnaldum (14), Oxlade-Chamberlain (52)
Genk 1
Samatta (40)
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
