A fact from Taarof appeared on Wikipedia's
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I added some provisional subheadings, as requested on a banner (which I've since removed). The content still needs some editing, and I'm not familiar enough with the subject matter. In any case, the last citation not only needs to be properly cited, but also condensed and paraphrased into encyclopedic format. Have fun! Rod ESQ 01:18, 27 February 2006 (UTC)
Article states:
As much as I would agree that the abolition of T'aarof indeed will demystify capitalist social relations (i e, T'aarof serves as a tool for the ruling class to oppress the working class in a capitalist or pre-capitalist society), I'm not so extremely radical I take it as definitive encyclopedic truth, and it might not be a suitable comment for an encyclopedic entry. Jobjörn 01:20, 27 February 2006 (UTC)
Well, pretty much the whole article is written from a Marxist POV, focussing on t'aarof as a means on controlling lower classes and working conditions and describes an almost exclusively negative view of t'arrof. Other forms of t'aarof such as opening doors for women are only mentioned in the opening sentence.
Additionally, the section on jurisprudence makes very little mention of t'aarof or jurisprudence, but goes off on a tangent about the concept of civility as a means of social control, including a quote by Mussolini! Ashmoo 03:05, 27 February 2006 (UTC)
The article should be rewritten to explain T'aarof simply in neutral language. I have no objection to seeing Eco's analysis, but the political theory should be summarized in a separate, properly-labelled section, rather than strewn through the article. David 03:02, 27 February 2006 (UTC)
This is the worst article I have ever seen on Wikipedia. "Consequently the only mode of communication available to proletarians is epidictic discourse..." -- what?
It's painfully obvious some pedantic academic type wrote this. Fuck off, communists.
1) I go into a store and ask the vendor the price of an item. He tells me ghabeli nadareh (essentially meaning "it doesn't cost anything, take it"). I ask him again a couple of more times, perhaps even a few more times, and he repeats the same claim. Finally, after pressing further, he tells me the price. When prepared to purchase the item and give the vendor money, he again repeats the claim. After insisting that he take the money, he does. In reality, if I were to walk away with the item without paying, he would come after me and scold me for taking him literally. However that never happens since everyone in Iran is aware of this protocol and are accustomed to it, and thus it is a non-issue in day-to-day life.
2) I'm a guest at someone's house and the host asks if I would like anything to eat. I'm hungry and actually would like something, but since I don't want to impose upon the host, I tell him that I'm not hungry. He asks me, taarof mekoni (essentially meaning, "Are you being honest, or do you actually want something?"). This is taarof on my part.
Those are the two most common meanings of taarof. SouthernComfort 14:06, 4 March 2006 (UTC)
It has been proposed that Iranian etiquette be merged into this article. Please see [1]. Agha Nader 03:48, 8 February 2007 (UTC)Agha Nader
What happened to the artcile "Iranian etiquette"??? (it has disappeared all of a sudden - the article was not really MERGED with Taarof) 69.116.234.208 00:09, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
I had to revert the re-direct for the Iranian etiquette page, so I could see it first and make comments on its talk page if needed, second. Listen, there is no original research as anybody who is familiar about Iranian culture knows those things that are mentionned in this article. For the rest, references have since been given for the point you contested in its discussion page (about the Persian Gulf naming dispute). For the rest, I suggest we go ahead with the merger ONLY if we keep the article "as is" under the title "Iranian etiquette" (since "Taarof" is one part of it). The long explanation at the end that starts with "The headscarf or chador has been worn since ancient times..." can be deleted since it could belong to the culture of Iran article (also I don't mind keeping it). 69.116.234.208 05:55, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
Quite sure the origin of the word is Arabic. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.111.196.3 ( talk) 14:00, 10 June 2015 (UTC)
More on tarof unless these points are already found in the entry:
It is not a crude ethnic joke or slur to talk about taarof, but a cultural reality that Iranians say stems from centuries under foreign occupation. Whether it was the Arabs, the Mongols or the French and the British, foreign hegemony taught Iranians the value of hiding their true face. The principle is also enshrined in the majority religion here, Shiite Islam, which in other lands is a minority religion, often at odds with the majority. There is a concept known as takiya in which Shiites are permitted, even encouraged, to hide their belief or faith to protect their life, honor or property.
In the West, “yes” generally means yes. In Iran, “yes” can mean yes, but it often means maybe or no. In Iran, Dr. Tajbakhsh said, listeners are expected to understand that words don’t necessarily mean exactly what they mean. “This creates a rich, poetic linguistic culture,” he said. “It creates a multidimensional culture where people are adept at picking up on nuances. On the other hand, it makes for bad political discourse. In political discourse people don’t know what to trust.”
Hi all. When I joined wiki as a new editor today it suggested I work on this article. I spent many hours researching about taarof, and then added a bunch of content, while keeping existing content. If I inadvertently offended anyone, I mean no harm or disrespect to anyone here, as I am truly a third party to this very interesting topic. I do think that I added some points that were missing from the article. From what I saw, the content was more about the most common social manifestations of taarof, but didn't include much on the hierarchical aspect to it. It also didn't have much on the positive and negative manifestations of taarof, so I tried to add those in. I kept imagining if someone from outside Iran read this entry, would they get a complete picture of it? I was very unsure about how to handles subheadings and subsections, so please fix them, and point out areas for my improvement. Remember I am one day old wiki editor. Good day and good night. Mityoak ( talk) 02:35, 25 August 2019 (UTC)