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So, while reading Tintin with my 3.5-year old son, he asked me yet another in a long series of questions that leave me stumped. At least with this one, I can turn to you all.
There was an Arab character wearing one of those traditional Arab head-coverings. It looks like a white kerchief or something, and it is held in place with a sort of padded band, often with some subdued decoration on the band, and I believe they are worn only by men. Arab heads of state (punsters, have at it!) are often seen wearing them, and I even picked one up in Egypt years ago and it has since gone the way of the dodo (which I'm sure is around here somewhere), but I just don't remember what the things are called. Any help?
While we're at it - Yassir Arafat is often seen wearing a black and white checked scarf, which is also common among a lot of Arab men - what's it called? Is there any significance to who's wearing what when in regards to these various items?
My reputation with my kid is on the line here folks, and I've got to make sure he still thinks of me as the dad who rarely answers a question right away, but once in a while can go off and ask someone smarter for help.
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Try kaffiyeh, or keffiyeh, for the traditional headgear. Transliteration seems to be a matter of whim from what I've seen. I have heard the name for Arafat's hanky, but I can't recall it at present. No doubt someone who actually knows something will be along shortly. 
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Dearest Hyla, Oh my dear, I think I am going to have to devise some other way of addressing you. I can't help it, that name just always carries a hint of menace, to me. I know I'm weird, but it really unnerves me. Perhaps H-man, unless you object. Okay--I found a place where I could actually get Google to work, and it gave me: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.jimwoll.com/trivia/trivia.htm+&hl=enThis is Jim Woll's Trivia. "Question: While we are on the subject of Arafat: What is the name of that Arab headgear that he wears? Answer: Kaffiyeh; pronounced kah-FEE-uh (spelling uncertain)" The same location provided the following interesting tidbits, as well: "Trivia 10/27/1998 Question: Why do we see varied spelling for foreign names? Answer: Foreign words and names often come into the English language phonetically. Take for example the name Yasir Arafat. We see "Yasir" spelled, "Yassir," "Yasser" and "Arafat" also appears with a double "r" or double "f." If there is an official spelling I am open for the spelling and source. "Kadaffi," "Qhedaffi, "Khadafi" also loses something in the translation. Until further notice - I conclude that there is no official spelling. Question: Can you provide a word that can be spoken but not written? Answer: How many spellings are there for (to, too, two)? There is no word that refers exclusively to the sound "tu." Employing "to," 'too," or "two," changes the question. Therefore, the question can be spoken but not written. The same holds true for any homonym. Example: How do you spell (pair, pare)? " So, my sweet Max, you were right, as usual. 
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I have heard that the peculiar way Yassir Arafat wears his keffiyah, with a dip over the forehead and coming down only over his right shoulder, recalls the actual shape of what would be a Palestinian state on the Western part of what is now Israel. When you look at a map of the area, it does appear to make sense... anyone else heard this?
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Hyla...that name just always carries a hint of menace...it really unnerves me
menace?? ya think??? i think he seems kinda docile. then again, i have hylas myself, and they're pretty gentle little things. they do pee on you when you hold them too much, but i don't suppose that's the imagery that's bothering you in this case, nor do i suppose that's really of interest to anyone a-Board. my guess is you're thinking of a multiple-headed snake, hmm?
you could always call him hylidae. a bit less specific, but at least we'd know what you meant.
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Hylidae? Aack, sounds like a flower, or holiday. I'll see if he has any suggestions for me. Every time I come across that screen name, I just get this weird image of something
coming to swallow me up...
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you could always call him hylidae. a bit less specificQuibbling a bit here, but the hylidae are actually a very large family of frogs, so you could be referring to even very distant cousins of mine, with some very unsavory habits, some of them, I'm sure. The Hylas are included in a subfamily of the hylidae, known as the hylinae. In doing the a little web research just now to be sure I was using the proper terms for the taxonomic levels, I found the following tidbit: "Among the most bizarre hyline frogs are certain casque-headed genera, such as Triprion and Trachycephalus, in which the skull bones are elaborated into a solid helmet." See, I'm not menacing, just dense. Also- Hyla, the taxonomic name, apparently comes from Hylas, a companion of Hercules (some accounts say he was H's squire), who was lured to a limpid pool by a clutch of lovely water nymphs. They were so taken by his handsome visage that they ensorcelled him to stay with them forever. In some accounts of the myth there was just one nymph, but forever's a long time, so I prefer the other version. 
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You could always just rename yourself Toad of Toad Hall*. I always felt he was an understated hero in WITW! *Yes, I am aware that a frog and a toad are amphibians of quite different orders ...
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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old hand
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I can't help it, that name just
always carries a hint of menace, to me.Dear Jackie, You really ARE weird! But that's beside the point.  I can't remember too much of high school biology, but I seem to remember that "Hyla" is a genus of frog. And you're afraid that this guy's gonna make you croak?
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Hylas don't croak, they peep in a chorus audible for a long distance, happy harbingers of spring.
Because of my tinnitus I have been hearing them constantly for almost twenty years.
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