All the needful words for living in Dubai…

Dubai slang is a strange old patois. Part of the reason why is the incredibly diverse multicultural make up of the population. According to a 2024 survey, Dubai’s population is 88.5 per cent expat. That means along with English and Arabic, many other language roots are thrown into the semantic salad. This leaves the street vernacular with a distinctively international flavour and a thesaurus-busting number of ways to vocalise our love for the city. To help you navigate the living lexicon of Dubaisms, and nail your Dubai-lingo streak, we’ve compiled a list of some of the key slang phrases.

Did we miss any? Tell us in the comments.

Abwabu tuglag: Doors closing. Taken from the Dubai Metro announcement which warns passengers of the carriage’s closing doors. It’s also used ironically in public spaces when, rather than being held open, doors are left to close in a person’s face.

AC/PC: The occupant of the desk closest to the office AC unit, and guardian of the default ambient temperature.

And it’s only February/March/April: A common social media caption accompanying screenshots of weather forecasts.

Barracuda run: The old ‘big black bag’ road trip to Umm Al Quwain’s famous beach resort and beverage shop. It’s the old school expat destination of choice for picking up discounted adult refreshments and experiencing gag reactions to niche European liquor you’ve not seen since Tenerife ’08.

Boss: Friend, sir, mate – it’s a common call sign for males, usually mutually deployed in conversations between customers and business owners. And shawarma joints. Always in shawarma joints.

Brunch: Not to be confused by the portmanteau of breakfast and lunch. Dubai brunches are essentially Sultan-tier banquets with a heavily disproportionate lobster-to-human head count.

Callass: How non-native Arabic speakers pronounce Khalas. Enough, finished, done, stop, whatever.

Chamak: It’s a regional variation of a British chav, or French racaille – a rascal, a delinquent, or abrasive youth. See also: permed mallrat.

Dizzas, dizz bucks, Ds: Synonyms for the UAE’s national currency, the dirham.

Dodgy box: A black market gadget that will allow you to access IPTV streams from international broadcasters. Commonly (though not exclusively) sold in the comment section of expat Facebook Groups by men named Keith, Nigel or Graham.

Dubai problems: Not the meme page, rather the concept the meme page was based on. Dubai problems are an extension of first world problems, but with more geographical relevance. “It’s 40 degrees out and my poor driver just broke down whilst he was taking the nanny to pick up Mister Whiskers from the five-star cat hotel (we should really call them Chat-eaus, non?)”.

Fax machine: Boomer technology. A prologue to the internet that allowed you to send pictures via the medium of robotic screeching down a phoneline. The numbers for which still inexplicably appear on a sizable quantity of business cards. Straight fax.

Full special (/special full): Gas station forecourt lingo. “Would you like your tank filled with the lower cost leaded petrol option?” Whether you go for the premium tier Super or the Special, it’s still a fraction of the cost of most other countries’ fuel prices.

Globey Vs: Global Village. The long running theme park / fairground / market / street eat dine around. Beloved by residents for its nostalgic feels, weekly fireworks and huge theatrical stage shows. It’s also home to the largest community of honey salespeople I’ve ever seen.

Got the Alfreds: An earworm, a song or jingle that gets stuck in your head.

Hassan Mattar: The secret shawarma hack. Basically a shawarma with cheese. And they say you can’t build on perfection.

Hatt-over: Getting up at 4am for a weekend hike up the Hatta hills.

Hatta-wood sign: The big ‘HATTA’ you hike to on a Hatt-over.

Habibi: Arabic for ‘my love’ or ‘darling’. Popularised by the viral ‘Habibi, come to Dubai’ TikTok sound.

Howzit: South African slang for ‘how’s it going?’ / ‘how are you?’

Karama Gucci: See ‘original fake’.

Kabayan: Borrowed from Tagalog, to mean kinsman or compatriot.

Karak?: An offer you can’t refuse. Unless you don’t like cardamon based tea.

Khalli walli: The anglophonic adaptation of an Arabic phrase which essentially means ‘foget about it’ or ‘whatever’. Try throwing it in the mix next time you’re tempted to say ‘it is what it is’.

Last best price: A haggling technique used in online second-hand goods trading, that tends to leave vendors on their last best nerve.

Maamsir: A gender-neutral pronoun.

MyDubai: The personalisation of a profound love for our host city.

Needful: Dubai emailese for ‘necessary’.

Of Arabia: A common suffix for expat Instagram handles that seems less and less like a good idea the more time you spend in ‘Arabia’.

Old Lexus: Just keep an eye out for them on the roads.

Original fake: The top tier of counterfeit goods.

RAKcident: What happens at the Ras Al Khaimah all-inclusive, stays at the Ras Al Khaimah all inclusive.

Same price: The claim of freelance taxi drivers – “same price as RTA taxi”. Spoiler alert, it isn’t.

Same same: The same, but double.

Send Location Plz: A delivery driver salutation and request for a WhatsApp pin drop.

Squeeze Burja: The tourists standing in front of the Burj Khalifa trying to squeeze themselves into a photo they’ll later use in their profile.

Shifting: Moving house/apartment.

Sige-sige: Tagalog for OK or I’ll do it. It’s an acknowledgement of a request. Best used sparingly and only when you really really really wanna sige-sige-hah.

Spritz ninjas: The perfume salespeople that work out of mall kiosks. If you’ve made even peripheral eye contact, it’s already too late.

SZR: The anachronym that abridges our much-loved Sheikh Zayed Road

The Dubai stone: The extra body weight that’s often put on in the initial few months after arriving in Dubai and discovering how incredible the food is.

The sandpit: An overused though sincere term of endearment for Dubai.

Troppy storms: Contraction of ‘tropical storms’. Dubai’s winter storms literally do ‘hit different’.

VPN: Incognito mode pro max. Also see ‘illegal’.

Wasta: An Arabic term meaning clout or street cred. It’s the Mastercard of personal favour.

Yani: Filler phrase for a cognitive lull in conversation. It’s similar to “ummm” or “like” or “what I mean to say is”. Just be careful, as with all of these words – it’s use can be highly addictive. Over-Yaniing is rife.

Images: Provided