"Somalis’ Penchant for Name-calling - More Complicated than Meets the Eye" Mustafa Awad
Almost all societies are known to have a general characteristic that is unique to them at the collective level - a national-level skill of some sort, a set of shared values imbued in all aspects of daily life, etc. We Somalis - let’s just say: we’re not known for too many great things, i.e. war, poverty, piracy, terrorism, etc. If that wasn’t enough, it seems we have also mastered the art and science of ruthless nicknaming - a practice or phenomenon that is entirely subjective but technically-speaking objective, even if seemingly mean-spirited and just downright wrong!
Nearly all the nicknames given to people in the Somali peninsula relate to some sort of a physical deficiency - I’d say about 85% of all nicknames fall in this category. The remaining 15% are more about the person’s character (good or bad), an event the individual (or his/her family) was involved in or their place of origin.
Almost all the nicknames given though are ‘seemingly’ negative in nature - naturally of course as most point to a physical imperfection. Here are some examples:
faruur (harelip) / afwayne (bigmouthed) / afyare (small-mouthed)
indhowayne (big eyes) / indhoyare or Shiine (small eyes or Chinese) / weershe (cross-eyed) / cawar (missing eye);
dhegowayne (big ears) / dhegoyare (small ears) / or simply ‘dhego' which goes either way / dhagool (deaf)
garwayne (big bearded or chinned) / garyare (small-chinned)
___dheere (tall someone) / gaabane or aw-gaab (shorty)
gawso-wayne (big teethed) / ilko-yare (small teethed) / fanax (gap-toothed or missing tooth)
madaxwayne (big-head) / madaxyare (small-head) / timoadag (kinky hair)
futowayne (big-bottomed) / futoyare (small-bottomed)
mijoyare (small legged) / qaadowayne (big legged) / jiis or laangadhe (limper)
When a nickname reflects a person’s character, though, it rarely expresses an inadequacy as is the case when, in turn, a nickname points out a physical defect. Nevertheless, the label sticks just as profusely and as long, lasting nearly a person’s entire lifespan - even if the concerned individual has managed to make drastic changes that render the label inapt. A few common and popular examples include:
waraabe (hyena)
jab-libaax (half a lion)
shimbirolaaye (ladies’ man)
afkuxoogsade (braggart)
I should point out that some of these nicknames are actually well-sought-after! By the same token, examined through a gender lens, this is one of the few topics that would actually help us Somalis score a few points with the international community as Somalis tend to steer clear from giving women a bad nickname.
As for places, labels aren’t always necessarily meant to be derogatory but to simply point out the non-indigenousness of someone, i.e. the fact that they’re not from the particular place where they reside. As such: Xamarawi (from Mogadishu) / Hargeysawi (from Hargeysa) / Burcaawi (from Burco) and so on.
This subject matter is of critical contemporary importance, especially in the context of our increasingly Political-Correctness-(PC)-obsessed global culture. At face value, the labels I’ve listed above all seem like awful things to call another human being and Somalis’ cringe-worthy penchant for negative name-calling is certainly not a national character any society should ever strive to embrace. But, a quick close assessment of how this plays out within the Somali context is, I think, quite timely, particularly given the great lengths to which the aid/development community goes to ensure inclusivity in the efforts they support in Somalia. It’s important that we understand the complex ways in which Somalis interface with this issue.
Examined closely, a pattern emerges which points to the fact that the intention isn’t necessarily always negative, ill, malignant or intolerance. The name-calling, ironically, comes from a place of acceptance and a need to regulate the awkwardness that often stems from exceptionality. I’m no psychologist or a specialist on this subject matter, but, here, I believe anyway, you have a society that at the collective level is making a deliberate effort to call out someone for a defect they had no hand in and to say, yes, so what?! Within this context, the person is being primed for a lifelong struggle that could otherwise go down much worse unless they respond with an equally deliberate effort to own it. This is easily corroborated by the fact that those on the receiving end of such deplorable labels often come to terms with the matter of fact at hand and own the seemingly ill-intended, awful-sounding labels society has thrown their way.
A case in point is a driver for an NGO I once worked for, who was widely known as “Cawar” (cross-eyed). Based on a moral principle I held deeply, I always called him by his real name - A/Rahman. Sadly though (or not), he rarely ever answered me when I called by his real name. Having confronted him once about it, he told me bluntly: “just call me Cawar man.” It confused me for a while. However, long after, I came to realise that the ‘victimizing’ was all my own and that he never felt belittled or demeaned for being called “Cawar”. He may have even perceived the negative name-calling as a source of empowerment as difficult as it may have been for me to fathom it initially.
I share this with you not because ‘inclusion’ isn’t such an important facet of our work as development practitioners - it is of course and particularly with regards to persons with disabilities. Quite the contrary! My point is that left to their own whims, it’s hardly ever a topic of discussion in the dog-eat-dog-world of Somalis living inside the Somali peninsula - not at dinner tables, in business circles, at institutions of higher education, or even mosques. Here, persons with disabilities are forced to confront the unpleasant consequences of not living to the standards of everyday society.
However, it’s a hugely complex issue that merits not only the various brainstorming sessions undertaken by various donor-supported efforts, but perhaps the commissioning of a full, deep-dive case study that could help identify key entry points for further engagement. Entry points that aim to initiate a nationwide conversation and which are attentive to not only our perceptions of the circumstances of persons with disabilities in Somalia but also aligned with the true beliefs Somalis hold regarding persons with disabilities.
But before I end here, I’d like to share a couple of unfortunate but really funny anecdotes regarding Somalis’ culture of negative nicknaming.
Reer Xilli Xun Ciye – so the story goes there was once a young man who lived in a village near Hargeysa. He had traveled to Harar, Ethiopia, which was back then an important center of Islamic studies in the region. Having spent there a few years, he returned to his village as a learned Sheikh who was hell-bent on turning his village entirely pious. On his first night back, he stood on top of a hill right next to the village and delivered the first-ever morning call to prayer in that village. Needless to say, fellow villagers, already perplexed by his new attire, gathered around him and asked why he chose such an ungodly hour to holler and scream in this new and unintelligible language. He was of course successful later in rendering his village more religious: unfortunately, his descendants are to this day known as Reer Xilli Xun Ciye – "screamers at ungodly hour!"
Reer Lax W*#e – as the story goes, a wonderful shepherd (whose actual name evades most people today) got a little excited one afternoon and decided that nothing was off-limits when it came to a man’s choice for a mating partner. No need to delve into the details of what happened exactly, except the fact that he was caught in a compromising position you wouldn’t want to wish onto even your worst sworn enemy - let’s just say he showed one of his sheep more affection than the moral compass of any of us would ever permit. Needless to say, the name given to him all those years ago is still borne by his great grandchildren to this day.