zodiac1 Aug 2005

I know. But it took me about 15 minutes after leaving the internet cafe to realize you were probably thinking of the expression "صانع ذهب" (Saana' dhahab), or goldsmith. If that's the case صانع means "smith, maker, or manufacturer", not gold. Since posting the message above, I've asked Jordanians, Iraqis, Saudis, Egyptians, Syrians, and Lebanese if they know any other word for gold than "dhahab". They don't.

I know exactly what Arabs say for "hot" and "cool", slang and otherwise. In fact, I'm pretty weak at standard and Quraanic Arabic, spending most of my time communicating in a slangy dialect my wife and I call Arabic Jive.