Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

It's our own strain of strine, habib. "Welcome to Lebanese-Australian English - English with Arabic flavourings. 'Shoo' is 'what's up?', 'yallah' is 'let's go/goodbye' and 'habib', Arabic for 'darling', is almost 'mate'. As one Lebanese man explains, 'habib and mate differ' because 'mate is like a friend, just to make fun with them. But with the term 'habib' when you're talking to him, is like a serious talk.'"