saudis reject pakistani diplomat because of his name..

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2c2933%2c584807%2c00.html


Owing to an unfortunate matter of translation, Pakistani diplomat
Akbar Zeb will not become the next Pakistani ambassador to Saudi
Arabia.

Mr Zeb's credentials are impressive: he is the former envoy to the
United States, India, South Africa and Canada. But despite his
impressive career, his name proved to be an immovable hurdle



When translated into Arabic, it means "Large penis".

In a region that stresses modesty in public, this could not stand.

Akbar is a customary Muslim name meaning "great", and while Zeb is not
an uncommon Pakistani name, in Arabic it is a slang
reference to the penis and never used in polite conversation.

Obviously the diplomat's Arab hosts felt that references to "His
Excellency the Big Dick" would not go over well.

A Saudi cultural critic said, "The media wouldn't dare to publish a
name like this So every time he would be in the media they
would have to face the name issue, and it would make it difficult to
work with him.

That would be an embarrassment for Pakistan."

Said an analyst, "You cannot just pronounce that name. It's too awkward.

How would he be announced at events? How would he be written about?"

According to the Arab Times, this is the third instance of an
Arabic-speaking country refusing Mr. Zeb's ambassadorship David Kenner
of Foreign Policy magazine wrote that the issue was a source of
embarrassment for Pakistan. "One can only assume that submitting Zeb's
name to Arabic-speaking countries is some unique form of punishment
designed by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry," he wrote, "Or the result
of a particularly egregious cock- up."


...............................

We in sri lanka are more civilized, modern and penis (Zeb) neutral,
whether large or small.

We have accepted Indian Diplomats sporting the entire spectrum of
Zebs!, i.e. Mahalingam (big Zeb), Kuda lingam (small Zeb),
Panchalingam (five bloody Zebs!) Bahulingam (multi-Zeb), Shivalingam
(Holy Zeb) and even Paskaralingam (mother of all Zebs!)