Iraq’s Kurds Nickname Cars the Obama

From the WSJ

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Foreign cars have flooded into Iraq’s Kurdish north since Saddam Hussein ’s fall in 2003, thanks to free trade and economic gains. But the Kurds have trouble pronouncing some of the marques. So they use nicknames that roll more easily off the local tongue. Wanawsha is the screen name of a famous Kurdish actress and singer who is generally thought classy, like the sometimes-swanky Toyota Land Cruiser.

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The Obama, a popular sedan in Iraqi Kurdistan, is a car Americans know as the Chrysler 300. “When he became president, that car first came to the Kurdish region,” Mr. Azad said. “No, no, no, people saw him driving it before he became president,” Mr. Kamal snapped back, leading to heated bickering between the friends over vehicular appellations and the career arc of U.S. President Barack Obama.

Either way, one won’t hear many people calling the car a Chrysler in Erbil. “Meet me outside,” a driver will say into his cellphone, “I’m driving the Obama.” The White House and Chrysler declined to comment on the sedan’s sobriquet.

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Drivers can choose cars like the Sabaw, a Toyota Corolla renamed after a Kurdish actress with sleek facial features. The Kurds call a species of wide four-door pickup truck the Marzia after a late Kurdish singer who was full-figured.

The Potin, or military boot, is a Kia Soul known for its boxy shape. An old Mercedes model is the Neiw Dinar, or dinar and a half, because each of its big headlights has a smaller one next to it. An old BMW 3 Series is the Chowbro, or eyebrow, for its angular front end. Mercedes and BMW said they weren’t aware of the renaming phenomenon. It is “nice that people make the effort to create names for our products that emphasize certain aspects,” a BMW spokeswoman said. Kia didn’t respond to inquiries.

In the late 1990s, before the Land Cruiser became the Wanawsha, Kurds gave it the name Monica... No one in Erbil could recall how Ms. Lewinsky became associated with a Toyota.

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http://online.wsj.com/articles/iraqs-kurds-nickname-cars-the-obama-eyebrow-and-monica-as-in-lewinsky-1415670496