# اقرع يقول الاقرع جيب البصل دنزرع



## klaxette

Hey there,

My grandmother emigrated from Iraq around sixty years ago, and has unfortunately lost much of her Arabic. While she can still communicate, she was lamenting to me the other day that she can't remember the figurative meaning of this phrase. Can anyone help me out so I can tell her? She said it literally means something like, "one man says to another man, 'let's go plant some onions.'" The men might be bald too - I didn't write  down the translation, and thus can't remember the exact details. So a literal and figurative translation would be helpful. Thanks!

اقرع يقول الاقرع جيب البصل دنزرع


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## إسكندراني

An اقرع is a bald man, in Egypt anyway.


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## klaxette

I thought I remembered the bald man part. Thanks!

...but I still don't know the figurative meaning.


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## Masjeen

klaxette said:


> ...but I still don't know the figurative meaning.



We need an Iraqi for the figurative meaning although the literal meaning is clear.


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## Mahaodeh

I haven't heard that proverb; I asked the elderly people in my family and they haven't heard it either. I do know this though: the phrase راح يزرع بصل used to be used as an idiom for "he died" or "he's gone for good". So maybe (just a guess) it means something like "the bald guy said to the other bald guy: we're screwed" (excuse my French ).


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## WadiH

So does the "d" in "danizra3" indicate future or present?  I know that it's supposed to work like an Egyptian "b-," but in this sentence it seems like it indicates the future.


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## rayloom

Wadi Hanifa said:


> So does the "d" in "danizra3" indicate future or present?  I know that it's supposed to work like an Egyptian "b-," but in this sentence it seems like it indicates the future.



I think it's like Lebanese ta-, which is a contraction of 7atta.
ta-nizra3 --> so we can plant <-- حتى نزرع
The ta- could've changed into a da-.

Maybe Mahaodeh can shed some light on the matter.


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## klaxette

My grandmother could have gotten it wrong too. Like I said, she rarely speaks/writes arabic anymore . . . and hasn't since she was 13 or 14.


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## klaxette

Mahaodeh said:


> I haven't heard that proverb; I asked the elderly people in my family and they haven't heard it either. I do know this though: the phrase راح يزرع بصل used to be used as an idiom for "he died" or "he's gone for good". So maybe (just a guess) it means something like "the bald guy said to the other bald guy: we're screwed" (excuse my French ).


 
That could make sense. I'll float it by her and maybe it'll ring a bell. Thanks!


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## Mahaodeh

rayloom said:


> I think it's like Lebanese ta-, which is a contraction of 7atta.
> ta-nizra3 --> so we can plant <-- حتى نزرع
> The ta- could've changed into a da-.
> 
> Maybe Mahaodeh can shed some light on the matter.



The d- prefix is usually used to indicate the present, but in this case it is indeed similar to the Levantine ta-; it means "so that we can" or "in order to".


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## إسكندراني

Is this د commonly used in place of حتى in Iraq?


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## Mahaodeh

Not in all cases, but in cases similar to this it is. It's also not exclusive, it's interchangeable with 7atta.


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## WadiH

Mahaodeh said:


> The d- prefix is usually used to indicate the present, but in this case it is indeed similar to the Levantine ta-; it means "so that we can" or "in order to".



So, I'm guessing this د may be unrelated to the one for present tense?  A reflex of نريد, perhaps?


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## Mahaodeh

Maybe, I don't know, but the pronunciation is identical and they are both only used with present tense.


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## sidagist

may be it is like جيب البصل ده (هذا) نزرعه as الاقرع is a man with no hair so that it is a connotation for the hair to be planted in his head


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## إسكندراني

sidagist said:


> may be it is like جيب البصل ده (هذا) نزرعه as الاقرع is a man with no hair so that it is a connotation for the hair to be planted in his head


Hahaha I like this suggestion!


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## WadiH

Mahaodeh said:


> Maybe, I don't know, but the pronunciation is identical and they are both only used with present tense.



But this د does not indicate present tense.  It's more like لام التعليل in FuS7a.

(Obviously it is not the demonstrative دا)

As for the saying itself, I've found one usage of it online, and basically it's like a variation on "birds of a feather flock together."


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## klaxette

Wadi Hanifa said:


> As for the saying itself, I've found one usage of it online, and basically it's like a variation on "birds of a feather flock together."



Hahahahahaha. That was my original guess. Thanks so much for your help guys!


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## Mahaodeh

Can you give us the link for the online usage please?


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## WadiH

Mahaodeh said:


> Can you give us the link for the online usage please?


 
http://www.flowersbaghdad.com/vb/archive/index.php/t-8732.html


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## Mahaodeh

The reason I asked is that it does not seem to mean something like "birds of feather", it seems much more negative meaning involved; I may be wrong but I think the context in the link you gave me also allows for a more negative meaning.


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## WadiH

Mahaodeh said:


> The reason I asked is that it does not seem to mean something like "birds of feather", it seems much more negative meaning involved; I may be wrong but I think the context in the link you gave me also allows for a more negative meaning.


 
I've never heard "birds of a feather ..." used as a compliment but sure let's say this is an extra-negative equivalent of "birds of a feather ...".


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