Nonverbal Messages

Some Iranian terms (a.k.a. slurs) for dual nationality.

حتماً اصطلاحاى بيشترى براى دو رگه بودن وجود دارد. لطف كنيد دو سه تا عرض فرماييد .

This website was designed by an Iranian+American. In English we have terms like happa-haole, oreo, and so forth to categorize various multi-ethnic distinctions. Not to be outdone, Persian expressions for dual ethnicity abound. Yes. I have only two expressions here, so that’s not exactly “abounding”, is it? Feel free to send more. Let’s auto-slur!

This one means “two-veined”. It makes you think of Frankenstein, woven together from the veins of two cadavers. And, of course, there’s the (not so) subtle purity of bloodline connotation. Is there a judgement here about your purity? Is it a good thing? A bad thing? Just a statement of the practical reality that you embody two cultures that are sometimes seen to be at odds?

Note that this is a flexible expression. You can specify how many veins/ethnic strains you have, in the event you are the product of diverse multi-veined people yourself. But don’t spend too much time trying to calculate how many veins you have, just find out what your blood type is and then GIVE IT AWAY! People can always use some blood. Usually when they need it, they aren’t too picky about how many veins the person giving it had.

This one I learned last year in Iran. Together, these two words mean “Joint Venture.” A dual national is the product of a joint venture. I like it more than “two veined”, because of the partnership, business, adventure and enterprise connotations.