Yussuf Aiper (again)

[Wilmer Rivers]

For those who came in late:
David Gerstein asked whether the name of an Arab MM villain, Yussuf
Aiper, was a pun.  I said the name should be pronounced "Yussuf Viper",
to show that the character is like a snake.  Don Rosa then wrote:
>	I still need help. How do you get "Aiper" to be pronounced
> "eye-per"? It has to be "ay-per". And even if it was "eye-per", I still
> don't see the full pun in "Yussaf Aiper" -- how does the second syllable
> fit in? (I didn't wonder about all this until you tried explaining it!) 
>
	I agree that this is a feeble pun.  I still assume it has to be
pronounced "eye-per" rather than "ay-per", since "Yussuf Vapor" wouldn't
make much sense at all.  Also consider: normally within a word, "ei" makes
an "eye" sound ("height"), but at the start of a word it makes an "ay"
sound ("eight"), and conversely "ai" makes an "ay" sound within a word
("straight"), but at the start of a word it makes an "eye" sound ("aisle"),
so "Aiper" would be pronounced "eye-per" whereas "ay-per" would have to
be spelled "Eiper".  (All together now - "Huh???".)

	But you're right, the "Yussuf" part doesn't really work.  The only
way that I can interpret "Yussuf Aiper" is "You'se a viper", which would
be 1930's gangster-speak for "You're a snake", and this doesn't make sense.
His name should mean "**I'm** a snake", not "**You're** a snake".  [BTW,
in real 1930's gangster-speak, "You'se a viper" would actually be under-
stood to mean "You're a person who smokes marijuana a lot", as fans of Cab
Calloway's songs can attest (Mattias???).  This is in reference to the
snake-like hissing sound such a person produces when inhaling a deep drag
on a joint (Puff, the Magic Drag-On).  But I digress.]

	Anyway, we agree that "Yusuf Aiper", if in fact that means "You'se
a viper", doesn't work.  It would make more sense if his name were "Yusuf
Ik'Tim", maybe.  I suppose it should really be "Imaf Aiper", but I don't
believe that "Imaf" is a real Arabic name.  (Note, however, that apparent-
ly "Iman" is acceptable as a woman's name, since that is the sole name
used by the internationally famous Somali fashion model who is now Mrs.
David Bowie.  So a heroine in the story could be named "Iman Izgal".)

Meanwhile, Harry Fluks, our resident expert on 1990's gagster-speak, has
his own theory on "Yussuf Aiper":
> I think, if you pronounce it right, it's clear the name refers to us: we're 
> all making *use of a Per*.
>
	Ouch!!!!  Any more puns like that and we may be denied further use!

Wilmer Rivers