never write such a common phrase as “He gave him a crack on the nut.” He would write that “He hit him on the head,” which is exactly the ordinary polite way of putting it in speech. Egyptian, doubtless, has its slang, like every other language; I do not suggest that you should write that. But surely you are not prepared to say that the language of ordinary intercourse in Egypt is no better than slang?
SHEIKH: But why should we not try to go back to the classical Arabic? It is more beautiful, and purer than the language we speak now. Egyptian is full of foreign words -Turkish, Italian, I know not what. In the Ministries, the clerks learn to translate French idioms into Arabic. We must teach our people to use only words of Arabic origin.
CRITIC: I cannot judge whether classical Arabic is more beautiful than Egyptian. Anyhow, that is probably a question of taste. But if purity of language is what you seek after, then know that you are pursuing a will-o’-the-wisp. Do you think that the old Arabic was pure? Do you imagine that the Arabs who traded with every part of the Orient, who fought with the Abyssinians, the Greeks and the Persians, had no foreign words in their language? For a language to contain many foreign words is evidence that the nation which speaks it has had an eventful history, that it has exchanged ideas and commodities with the other nations of the world. Purity of language on the contrary, is a sign that it is a nation without a history, that it has led a dull and exclusive existence - the existence of a tribe of Esquimaux or Central African Pygmies. Why wish to uproot from the Arabic language words which are the memorials of many vicissitudes, but also of many glories?
You dislike foreign idioms. In language, as in law, the best standard of legality is use. A foreign word which is in common use is no longer foreign, it has become part of the language. I will1391 Minute of Dissent
