What has the white language, or white dialect, done to us? And before that, dear reader, you might ask: What is this white language or white dialect you are talking about?

It is a common local vernacular, or the spoken language of the media. To put it sarcastically, it is the language of the people of Riyadh! The colloquial dialect of Riyadh has colored all media, and even the lives of all people. This is natural as it is the language of the capital, so it has become almost like classical Arabic. Hence it was called the white language, similar to the spoken media language in Lebanon, often referred to as Beiruti language, while the Lebanese street dialect is something different.

Be that as it may, this dialect – I mean the Saudi white dialect – despite the agreement that it works as a media language, it has destroyed the aesthetics of other dialects in the kingdom. Especially since the kingdom is rich in dialects, terms, and geographical expanse that gave it a large space for dialectal differences, even though we all speak one Arabic language!

- Generally, the dialect of Al-Qassim is almost disappearing because the girls of Qassim insist on getting rid of the merged 'kaf' and 'seen' related to femininity, especially like 'Washlonts, Akhbarts' or the youth's tendency to say 'Mahallat' instead of 'Dakatseen' which is 'Dakakim, plural of Dukan', where it becomes in plural 'Dakatseen' with a kaf in the first and a merged kaf and seen in the second, fleeing from the merger and approximating the language of Riyadh. Even the word 'Boh', the beautiful famous sentence in Qassim turned into 'Feeh' which has no taste or color, until we fear that the slogan of Al-Taawon 'Al-Taawon ma boh mithlah bil Qassim' will become 'Al-Taawon ma feeh mithlah bil Qassim', making the sentence bland and tasteless!

- The dialect of the people of Thadiq and Huraymila has disappeared in replacing words: from 'Yadhar' meaning to go out to the desert, to 'Khashtah', and the word 'Meedi' meaning mine or my own to 'Li' (possessive), and the famous word 'Fidha' turned into 'Huna', while 'Fidha' is more delicate and beautiful!

- For Ha'il and the north, especially a poetic, gentle dialect, turned by the power of God into a Riyadh dialect. Previously, you could recognize a person from Ha'il by the first two words, but now it is hard to know they are from Ha'il after replacing the word 'Aaniqni' meaning 'meet me', and dropping the 'ta' in plural like 'Shifit majmou'at trilay' instead of 'Shifit majmou'at triliat', and the word 'Wash feek' appeared instead of their famous 'Wash noohik', and they say about boys 'Al-awlad' and left the word 'Wughdan' which is much more delicate and beautiful!

- And the Hijazi dialect of Mecca, which we delight in its phrases like 'Andar nadrat ainak min haqqiha', has disappeared, replaced by words that are closest to a white Jeddawi dialect—refined but like water, tasteless and colorless!

Even the word 'Anwar' said after a feast has turned into a completely different white word: 'Sufrah da'imah'.

- And in the south, a beautiful southern language like the 'shin' in feminization, 'Aabah' instead of 'Baba', and the word 'Yuta'ni 'ansh' meaning 'made me a ransom for you', which is almost completely extinct, replaced by 'Fadaytak!!' And we should not forget the famous song 'Ya tayyarah ya bakht min huwa rakkib fish', not to mention the beautiful distinction between the Asiri, Qahtani, and Ghamdi dialects, which only their natives can master.

- And in Al-Ahsa, who is responsible for the disappearance of the distinctive dialect of Al-Hufuf and Al-Mubarraz? People in Al-Ahsa used to say 'Rooh lil-sooq hababij takhlas lil-eid' which turned into 'Yumkin talhaq aw ma talhaq', and the word 'Zatak or Zataj' meaning (hurry quickly) – these words that dripped with sweetness, grandeur, and simplicity have evaporated. Instead, a hybrid white media Riyadh dialect came, with no connection to Al-Ahsa.

And ironically, I hold two parties responsible:

The ladies, because they like to appear refined and 'cool' by adopting the other's dialect, especially the new generation. And the men who try to be closer to the Riyadh dialect than their local dialect. In the end, the local individual is responsible for that, whether man or woman!

@Halemalbaarrak