14:02 Dec 27, 2011 

Negative :(

12:17 Dec 27, 2011 

Thank you for taking part in this discussion. By the way,do you have a clue how
سيران is pronounced?

12:04 Dec 27, 2011 

Still Picnic is not and English word, but it is derived from the French word Pique-nique, which is by no means a one word expression, but a compound word. Therefore, I think that the Arabic equivalents proposed by my colleagues are very rich. At least we did not resort to calque, which is exactly the case here in English.

10:36 Dec 27, 2011 

هل أهل سوريا في هذا الزمن الحاضر يفهمون "سيران" بالمعنى كما يفهمه القدماء في السابق
هل كلمة "سيران" تستخدم خارج سوريا ؟
and how is it pronounced? siran or sa-ya-ran ?

10:23 Dec 27, 2011 

Thank you so much for your participation in this discussion. your input is very very useful.

10:20 Dec 27, 2011 

Hello Dear Dima,

I do not mean any offenses. Don't take it personal please. What I mean is that those words are simply dialects and not known to all Arab speakers:))

10:20 Dec 27, 2011 

as stated in my post, I would like to find out if there is an Arabic word matching the meaning of "picnic", it doesn't matter it is standard Arabic or عامية . So far, it seems to me that " ka-sh-ta-h" is the closest word according to the images shown on google image search.

10:16 Dec 27, 2011 

Actually the word شطحة is mainly used in Palestine.

10:15 Dec 27, 2011 

As I hope it's obvious, my comment was more of a discussion of the meaning of the word نزهة and not an answer. The synonyms provided were specifically stated as those used in the "Levant & Gulf Regions" and to further confirm that the word نزهة does not necessarily mean an outing and that the general conception for a picnic is an outing and a barbecue.
Honestly, I feel offended since your comment is implying you don't think that we know that كشتة is not standard Arabic.

10:14 Dec 27, 2011 

They may be from Persia and Turkey. I looked at them in Arabic dictionaries and I couldn't find them.

10:13 Dec 27, 2011 

in which countries is this word used?

10:12 Dec 27, 2011 

http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/سيران
this link explains its usage in the past.

10:06 Dec 27, 2011 

I beleive the origin of the word كشتة is Persian and the origin of سيران is Turkish.

09:50 Dec 27, 2011 

Dear all,
Please note that كشتة is not a standard Arabic term. You may only use it if your target audience are based in the Gulf area. Otherwise, you need to choose a standard Arabic term that can be understood by all Arab speakers.

09:33 Dec 27, 2011 

thank you very very much indeed. your suggestion is excellent! specially the word you suggested ----- كشتة
and do you know what the origin of this word is?
http://ahlalhdeeth.com/vb/showthread.php?t=162892
Here is a discussion about this word "ka-sh-ta-h", but no one knows its origin.

05:53 Dec 27, 2011 

There might be some merit to your point but I wouldn't go as far as generalising. In the Levant and Gulf regions, the general conception of the word نزهة or its sysnonyms thereof (رحلة، شطحة، سيران، كشتة) entails an outing and a barbecue.