minhibbakji

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic مِنْحِبَّكْجِيّ (minḥibbakjiyy), from North Levantine Arabic مِنْحِبَّك (minḥibbak, “we love you”) +‎ ـجِيّ (-jiyy). It was coined by protesters to Bashar al-Assad.

Noun

minhibbakji (plural minhibbakjis)

1. In the Arab World, a loyalist
   • 2015, Lisa Wedeen, Ambiguities of Domination:

     … minhibbakji[s]”—the name derived from a 2007 presidential “election” slogan designating good citizens' devotion to their leader. On the other hand, the complexities are apparent in the constant poking fun at the president on user …

   • 2016, Mohammed D. Cherkaoui, What Is Enlightenment?:

     … minhibbakji in reference to the Assad regime sympathizers. The origin of the new word was minhibbak (We love you), a slogan chanted during a campaign organized by the Syrian government. The demonstrators used this slogan and added …

   • 2020, Larbi Sadiki, Routledge Handbook of Middle East Politics:

     … minhibbakji, derisively indicating supporters of Bashar Assad, refers back to the image meme of the Syrian president, the word minhibbak lettered underneath. Attention to signs such as the protest cry degage! (get out), addressed

   • 2023, Eylaf Bader Eddin, Translating the Language of the Syrian Revolution (2011/12):

     … minhibbakji was not a negative word. Like the word shabbīḥa, minhibbakji was thus subverted in the Syrian public space, with posters springing up using the term positively