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Comment by nindalf | Hacker News Reader

It sounds similar to kaffir which is a derogatory term used in the Middle East for people who don’t practice a certain religion. It is also used in South Africa in a manner similar to the n-word in America.

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Here in the US, I can go to many grocery stores, and have my choice of kefir.

As an actual Hindu who has lived in a Muslim majority Middle Eastern country, I'm not the tiniest bit offended, because a fermented yogurt drink happens to have a somewhat similar name as an insult based on religious bigotry..

Here in Iran, the slur is pronounced as Kaafar, and the drink as kefir. They sound distinct enough.

In many european languages it definitely does not sounds similar. A is a and e is e.

Why is it derogatory? And what is the non-derogatory alternative to that word in Arabic?

I choose not to answer you because you're either a troll or ignorant. Hopefully it's just the latter, in which case feel free to use google to educate yourself.

Not many people in the US or the EU speak Arabic. If I'm ignorant of it and you're a speaker of Arabic, then why don't you just enlighten me? Since when is removing one's ignorance not the point of asking questions?

In South Africa it’s equivalent to using N word.

I'm quite obviously asking about Arabic as it is being used in the Middle East. I've even spelled it out, and so did the comment I was responding to. The irrelevant South African fringe usage was also already mentioned in the comment I was responding to (hence your repetition of it bringing zero new information) but of no interest to me (unless you believe that Arabic is a widespread language in South Africa), hence me not referring to it.

If you weren’t allergic to Google you would have learned that the South African word was picked up from Arabic. So yeah, it is relevant.

Maybe people don’t spoon feed you explanations because you’re rude even to the people who try to explain.

No, the fringe usage half a globe away still doesn't make it relevant if I'm asking how some things are called in a Middle-Eastern language. Likewise, the Czech word "Polák" for a citizen of Poland with no alternative to it in that language does not become suddenly offensive or inappropriate just because the cognate "Polack" happens to be offensive in the US. And as one can clearly see, I'm not even being rude to people with inconsequential segues.

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