Tag Archives: hans wehr

Four Weeks, and Three Arabic Phrases

العَوْم root: ع-و-م / form I verbal noun / definition: floating I returned to London yesterday with my glasses broken, heart full, and mind a mess. Those four weeks in Majorca, in my childhood home and bedroom with the sea-blue curtains I’ve had for the past twenty years, felt like too little time to honourContinue reading “Four Weeks, and Three Arabic Phrases”

Dictionary Finds: A Page of Woe

مُخَلِّص root: خ-ل-ص / form II active participle / definition: saviour, Salvador These days, I’ve been thinking a lot about Salvador—the diabetic former boxer who drove my mum and I to the airport two years ago. He was driving between motorway lanes whilst scrolling through photos on his phone to share with us and pullingContinue reading “Dictionary Finds: A Page of Woe”

From an Airport, into the Blur

مَطار root: ط-ي-ر / noun of place / plural: مَطارات / definition: airport I’m writing this from a quiet(er) corner of Gatwick’s North Terminal after arriving four hours early, burdened with overstuffed cabin bags and guilt from having to throw away an unopened pint of milk before I left home. Even after a sit-down matchaContinue reading “From an Airport, into the Blur”

Dictionary Finds: بقيت دار لقمان على حالها

دار root: د-و-ر / noun / plural: دِيار / definition: home I had this idea a few days ago to vlog a week in my life as a PhD student. And now, every action poses a conundrum. Like, do I record the aftermath of my disastrous attempt to bake a sugar-free brownie without a recipeContinue reading “Dictionary Finds: بقيت دار لقمان على حالها”