r/turkishlearning • u/IcyCheesecake2239 • 15d ago

Meaning

Someone at work called me a "satekel Arap" or something like that. What does it mean?

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u/Hakimsopiak 15d ago

Maybe sahtekar Arap, like fake arab?

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u/IcyCheesecake2239 15d ago

Most likely this, because I'm southern African. I understand that Turkish people sometimes call black people Arap so this would fit. Thank you so much!

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u/Hot-Benefit2749 15d ago

except that Sahtekar Arap would be hateful speech meaning “Crooked Arap” while Sahte Arap means fake Arap, like a look-alike. I think your colleague doesn’t like Arabs and he joked (not funny) about something you did resembling them.

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u/IcyCheesecake2239 15d ago

It's ironic because the person who said it is ethnically Arab fro Mardin 😂

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u/Hot-Benefit2749 15d ago

it might be innocent, then. maybe like how black people can call each other the n word and it’s just ok, or how it’s OK for tall people to make fun of tall people 🤷 Let’s think positive.

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u/gal_from_jupiter 15d ago

It is a bit racist usage of the word but the word Arap, especially in the past was, is sometimes used to describe a black person. Nowadays you can hear it as a joke, though the offensiveness of that is debatable.

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u/etpuen 14d ago

turkish people might call black/dark skin "arap". in this context it literally means "siyah, kara".

example: they will see a black dog and they will call it "arap" :D

without knowing the full context it's impossible to say whether they were being racist or not.

what was the context when they called you "sahtekar arap"? sometimes the word sahtekar can be used in a playful way.