No?

Ask An Iranian

Iranians are not ones for saying no, but occasionally when they do say no, they don't actually say no. Having said that, they will either be polite with you while not saying no or will be impolite with you when indicating no. This is because Iranians, like others around the Middle East, will indicate no, with a "noch".

"Noch" is an onomatopoeia describing the sound made by Iranians when responding with a no to a yes/no question. This negative response is mostly accompanied by the raising of eyebrows and/or heads along with a slight pouting of lips while making a single click sound.

In this episode, we teach you how not to say no to an Iranian, by teaching you how to use "noch". We also walk you through the accompanying gesture while also playing listener examples of "noches" in all their wet juicy glory. Lastly, we let you know when and where to use a "noch", so you can either look cute or avoid looking rude.

Questions we also get answers to in this episode

• What onomatopoeias exist in the Persian language?
• Does the Persian language have click consonants?
• Did the Shirazi people invent the "noch"?
• What's an NFT and can I get one in Iran?
• How will an Iranian respond if you click at them?

Music credit: “Mahvash, Parivash”, Jalal Hemmati

Image credit: "Noch" written in Persian, design by Ask An Iranian.

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