Qatariïsms: Same-Same

About a month ago some friends of mine filled me in on the phrase “same-same,” and now I hear it at least twice a week.  Other cultures could possess something similar, but from my experience the term is uniquely Qatari.

The term “same-same” can apply in many ways, and is in itself contradictory.  I have not yet learned the origins, but its use can be summed up this way: two things have nothing in common, until someone decides that they do.

Only an example can demonstrate this concept.  Let’s say you are at a restaurant.  You order a beef hamburger, made of beef.  The server tells you “oh, no beef.”  You ask, “you have no more beef?”  He replies, “no, but we have chicken burger – same-same.”  Now you know that good beef and decent chicken have little in common flavor-wise.  You may even like chicken, but you know it is definitely not beef, and therefore not the same.  In Qatar, it’s a different story.  One learns that beef and chicken are actually the same; even beef and fish can be the same; by that reasoning, I suppose one can count chicken and vegetables as “the same” too.

How does one then receive such news, that two completely different things are actually the same?  In reality, it means “accept what we have or get nothing.”  As with so many things in Qatar, you go with it.