What are the customs and traditions of the UAE?

To discuss all of the customs and traditions of the United Arab Emirates would require an entire book, if not more than one, but I can certainly describe a few cultural practices here which are distinctive to the UAE.

A custom may be thought of as particularities in everyday behaviors and actions that is shared by an ethnic or national group. Traditions are slightly different because they are the enactment of rituals within a particular space and time. Sometimes the two can overlap, as in the Arab custom of hospitality. In the Arab world, and especially the UAE, hospitality and generosity are taken very seriously. If you were to visit a person's home or place of work in the UAE, they would demonstrate this custom of hospitality through the tradition of offering you coffee or tea and perhaps something sweet to eat. It is very unusual for even a casual visit to not involve sitting down to share something to eat and drink.

A custom which some Westerners may find unusual involves handling food with only the right hand. In Muslim culture, the left hand is used for ritual cleansing before prayer and is considered unclean for handling food. It is a violation of social norms to take food or eat with the left hand, so if you ever visit the UAE, be sure to only eat with your right!

A custom unique to the UAE is a kind of nose-rubbing greeting. When good friends or family members greet each other, they may rub noses together rather than (or in addition to) shaking hands or hugging. The nose is considered a noble, beautiful, and personal part of the body in Emirati culture, so to rub noses with someone implies a lot of trust and respect for one another.

The UAE is a Muslim-majority nation, so there are many traditions surrounding Muslim holidays. For example, the holiday of Eid al-Fitr (the end of Ramadan) is a major celebration where most people have the day off and will spend it with family and friends. This holiday carries the same importance in the UAE as Christmas does in the United Kingdom. Children may receive a gift such as a doll or other toy, and most people are gifted or purchase a new outfit for the occasion. It is also traditional to have a big meal with your family to celebrate.

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...

nouns - what do you call the person who passes the trophies to the prize giver/presenter?

The person who gives out the trophies to the winners are called award presenters. So what do u call the person who passes the trophies to the presenter? Thanks!

Is 'efficate' a word in English?

I routinely hear the word "efficate" being used. For example, "The most powerful way to efficate a change in the system is to participate." I do not find entries for this word in common English dictionaries, but I do not have an unabridged dictionary. I have checked the OED (I'm not sure if it is considered unabridged), and it has no entry for "efficate". It does have an entry for "efficiate", which is used in the same way. Wordnik has an entry for "efficate" with over 1800 hits, thus providing some evidence for the frequency of use. I personally like the word and find the meaning very clear and obvious when others use it. If it's not currently an "officially documented" word, perhaps its continued use will result in it being better documented.

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