Whisperer

For Brits living in the kingdom it’s a joy that so many people speak and understand English, although the use of words can prove puzzling at times with Arab, Indian and, of course, Americanisms often getting dropped in the conversation.

The editor came unstuck when a friend voiced her concern over last week’s P5 headline which read: Homely girl making music about the arrival of Bahraini-British jazz performer Yazz Ahmed.

“Homely? That’s very unfair – she’s actually very attractive as well as extremely talented!” the lady protested.

Confused, what can the matter be? The performer is coming back ‘home’ to Bahrain and the Brits regard ‘homely’ as comfortable, warm, pleasant and cheerful.

Not so the Yanks, it was pointed out. For some reason they use the word to describe a person as unattractive, unlovely, ill-favoured and ugly!

Well, for the record, The Whisperer would like to point out on behalf of the editor that Yazz is very much the British version … as our review on Page 9 will testify.