Word: fils
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...hasty decisions from being made. The centralization of government that led to Watergate has spread to economic institutions and beyond, making procrastination a worldwide way of life. Many languages are studded with phrases that refer to putting things off-from the Spanish mañana to the Arabic bukra fil mishmish (literally "tomorrow in apricots," more loosely "leave it for the soft spring weather when the apricots are blooming...
Every day 90 million Arabs intone the word inshallah-God willing. It is Allah who will reform society, not a Brezhnev or a Mao, and the typical Arab has little enthusiasm for tinkering with changes himself. A famous Arab expression is "Bookrah fil mishmish," which means that the apricots will be blooming tomorrow; it indicates a mahana attitude rivaling that of even Latin Americans. In such a culture, Communism has slim chance of succeeding. Understanding this, the Soviet Union up to now has been willing to sacrifice one Arab Communist Party after an- other in return for broader geopolitical gains...